10 Tips for Lower Back Pain Relief: Tip #1 – Farmer’s Walks
Posted on | June 3, 2008 | 6 Comments
Farmer’s Walk is a great exercise that relieves lower back pain.
It is a great thing to do for light to moderate (0-4 on a 10 point pain scale) lower back pain.
What it is: Grab two kettlebells/dumbbells/weights, one in each hand. Stand tall, feel your hips loading with weight and start walking(watch video to see it done).
Why it works: Surprisingly, walking with heavy weights in your hands does wonders for the back. Heavy weights that you hold in your hands shift center of gravity/mass closer to the hip region which loads the hips. It is a good thing because it ‘reminds’ hips how to be in a neutral position(a lot of lower back tension is a result of improper pelvic tilt). Hips go to a more aligned, neutral position and tension is gone!
Too easy? Test it! Note the lower back pain prior to the farmer’s walk(give it a number on a scale from 0(no pain) to 10(maximum pain)). Do the exercise and note the pain level after the walk.
enjoy and let me know how it worked for you.
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Tags: back pain > farmer's walks > kettlebell training > kettlebells > lower back pain
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6 Responses to “10 Tips for Lower Back Pain Relief: Tip #1 – Farmer’s Walks”
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June 4th, 2008 @ 3:59 am
My husband has back pain. I will have to let him know about this. Great tip. Love your site.
June 4th, 2008 @ 5:05 am
Heidi – sorry to hear about your husband’s back aches… How severe/chronic is it?
Thank you for the feedback!
June 4th, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
I had low back pain radiating across my left side. It was a constant 4/10 pain, and felt like someone had punched me with a fist. I’d tried stretching and hanging from the monkey-bars, but that only provided minimal relief. Then, Denis suggested I help carry 12kg kettlebells to his car. I wasn’t concerned about the weight and obliged. A few yards later Denis asked me how my back feels. I told him, “Surprisingly, it feels really good.” He then explained how the Farmer’s Walk reminds your body of how it should move. By the time we’d completed the 50 m or so to the car, my back pain was gone. Its counter-intuitive, but it really works.
June 4th, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
I’m going to tell my husband about this one. He broke his back jumping out of airplanes in the army. Just a small fracture, and it’s healed completely now, but he still has pain sometimes. Also, he is an electrical lineman and does alot of physical labor which causes back pain. I think he’ll benefit from this exercise…If I can get him to do it..lol.
February 26th, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
lower right side back pain, distance runner, strength trainer and recently using KBs. how much weight and walk how long or how far? Im 5-6, 147 lbs
March 1st, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
Gary, use 12kg kettlebells. Walk as far as you can without compensations.
Workout your way to 20kg walks.
Have fun!
What other KB exercises are you doing?