Injury Prevention: Low Back Pain and CrossFit

February 14, 2023

As a CrossFit athlete, it is essential to provide yourself with the proper tools for a strong and healthy back. The key to having a healthy back requires building core stability. However, there are other important variables that can factor into keeping your lower back healthy, such as strength and range of motion.

With the demands of an active lifestyle, adding the exercises outlined below as part of your prevention and maintenance program can help keep you pain free and in the box.

Mobility, Stability, and Strengthening

Keeping your back muscles loose and limber lessens your chance of injury. Working some back stretches and mobility exercises into your post-WOD recovery is a great way to keep your back pain free, as well as help increase stability and strength. Below are some easy and effective stretches and exercises to help keep your back loose and mobile. For all exercises, perform 1-2 times daily, for 30-60 seconds.

*Disclaimer: Always consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program. If you experience any numbness, tingling, or reproduction of your symptoms, please contact your doctor.

Core Wall Push Hands

For this exercise, you will be working on your core stabilizers. Having a strong core helps lessen the strain placed on your lower back and keeps your body balanced.

Lie up against the wall with your hands placed right above you, making sure your hands are flat on the wall.
First, rotate your pelvis back making that space between your low back and the ground disappear. To make sure you are in the right position, you can feel just inside your hips to make sure your ab muscles are contracting.
Place your hands back up on the wall, and now raise your legs up to where your knees are right above your hips and your lower legs are parallel to the floor.
Hold this position while breathing normally.
Apply a little bit of pressure through your hands into the wall. This will help you feel that activation all throughout your stomach and into those deep core muscles.
Relax and repeat. Perform 1-2 times daily, for 30-60 seconds.

Hip Knee Wall Stretch

For this exercise you will need a wall, as well as something that will cushion your knee. You are going to be stretching the quadriceps muscle or the front portion of your thigh and into the front portion of your hip. This will be done in two stages.

Stage #1

Place your knee up against the wall where it is butted on the wall and on the floor with your foot pointed straight up towards the ceiling.
Your other knee will be down, and your hands will be there for stability.
You may already feel a stretch throughout your quad, and if so, you can hold in this position making sure you are breathing normally.

Stage #2

As you progress through this exercise, you will be able to then place the other knee up so your foot is flat on the ground.
Your knee is going to be out to the side of your hand in this position.
You will always keep your hands on the floor. This is for stability.
Again, you are going to feel this through your quad and into your hip region.
Perform this exercise 1-2 times daily, for 30-60 seconds.

Glute Release Ball on the Wall

For this exercise you will need a lacrosse ball and a wall. You are going to be working through the glute muscle or the muscles around the hip region.

Take the lacrosse ball and place it in your upper glute region or upper hip area.
Then, go up against the wall and step away from the wall slightly, leaning into it so you are putting weight into the lacrosse ball.
Try to put weight into the leg that you are not working, that way it relaxes the muscle.
Look for any areas that are a little tender. When you find an area that is tender, hold on that spot, shifting your weight left and right or move up and down by bending your knees slightly until that tenderness lessens.
Make sure you do not roll over any bony areas.
Then take the lacrosse ball and place it into a different region on the glute by just taking your hand and moving it and then leaning back into the wall.
Perform 1-2 times daily, for 30-60 seconds.

Airrosti And CrossFit: A Perfect Match

Airrosti knows that missing a workout because of aches and pain isn’t an ideal option for most CrossFit enthusiasts.

At Airrosti, our Providers pinpoint the underlying cause of the pain to treat it directly at the source. This leads to fast and effective pain relief in an average of 3 visits, based on patient-reported outcomes. Airrosti also educates patients on the cause of their pain and equips them with the knowledge and skills to prevent future injuries or episodes of pain, so you can get back to the box!