Training plan for the prevention of lower back injuries.

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Disturbances at the level of the lower back, namely a slight back pain or serious injury, affecting much of the population. Treatment and especially the prevention of these require the monitoring of accredited and qualified professionals to good planning.

Few people have the facility to know if your pain is something light for an uncomfortable position if it is a delayed onset muscle soreness after training session, or a more severe pain that requires a doctor’s appointment. For this demand by a health care professional is essential for guidance in this regard.

In case of persistent lower back minor pain for a few days or annoyances that arise sporadically, coaches should start prevention work, to override a possible lower back injury resulting from these discomforts. In general, athletes and physical exercise should pay attention to strengthening the lower back and buttocks and train the flexibility of hips and hamstrings (JENKINS, 2003; Mc Gill, 2010).

Wheeler (2015) highlights three key variables for the prevention of back injuries, which are: Safety, sorting and strengthening.

Security

Considered primary in a training program, security is critical, and it is through care that all the exercises are performed correctly, minimizing risks (BAECHLE and EARLE, 2008). Coaches who work with performance should consider whether the risk of exercise is overcome by reward when developing the training routine.

The coach must guide the athlete to perform the task correctly, effectively guiding and correcting when necessary. It is natural athlete / student get tired of corrections in case you can not run easily, but the coach must be persistent and explain the importance of proper implementation (WHEELER, 2015).

Screening

Screening is an important moment in the prevention of lower back injuries at that time the coach must be alert to all possible risks involving its athlete / student and direct it to a specific activity properly. Trainers in a general appearance are not prepared to assess injuries, but one of his responsibilities is to develop safe and able training to achieve good results for the athlete / student (BAECHLE and EARLE, 2008).

Unlike a trial or Physiotherapist Fitness Coach in which evaluate a specific area of the body or movement, screening targets the movement as a whole seeking to identify elements that can alter the movement patterns, increasing the risk of injury (COMFORT, PEARSON and MATHER , 2011).

As a way of screening, it is recommended the use of functional exercises in attention to small groups, such as personal training or training room with weights (MINICK et al, 2010;. FROHM et al, 2012.). With respect to larger groups as sports teams, it is recommended to use the heating period to an analysis in this sense (WHEELER, 2015).

Strengthening

After the screening exercise aimed at strengthening to correct any imbalances should be used. As an example, the lower back and abdominal muscles often

need a direct stimulus to assist the individual improve his skills contraction. Such precautions are important and contribute to long-term prevention of back injuries (HIDES, JULI and RICHARDSON, 2001).

Not only specific exercises for the lower back are able to achieve strengthening of the area, but also exercises that use its stabilization as free Squats, for example (COMFORT, PEARSON and MATHER, 2011). Unilateral variations like Squats can be interesting because they help to strengthen the lateral hip and require more stability, thus strengthening the lumbar muscles (NADLER et al., 2002).

Considerations

Planning for the development of a training program be it individual, in small groups or in large groups, it is essential to minimize the risk of injury and increase yield. Following such aforesaid matters should be performed in a previous period to hypertrophy or specific preparation competitions therefore aims to prepare the athlete / student to the most intense activities.

Check the next regards the details of exercises suggested by Wheeler (2015) for the purpose of preventing lower back injuries.