Kettlebell Exercises for Neck and Back Pain
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 10:01PM | tagged exercise, kettle bell, low back pain, lower back pain, neck pain, physician, workout Share Article | Email Article The Kettlebell is a cast-iron weight used for centuries to train Russian soldiers and athletes.
Kettlebell exercises for back and neck painIn the context of Crossfit and dynamic exercise programs, Kettlebell exercise programs are being applied in many different forms.
An interesting study recently published a study evaluating the potential for Kettlebell exercises to be helpful with back and neck pain.
The study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work and Health, looked at a group of 40 adults from occupations with a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain symptoms.[i]
The study participants were assigned to either a (1) Kettlebell training group where they did “full-body” kettlebell exercises 3 times per week for 8 weeks or (2) a control group.
The researchers found improvements in the Kettlebell training group in terms of:
- Increased strength of trunk extensors
- Decreased pain intensity of the neck/shoulders
- Decreased low back pain intensity
These findings are important in several respects.
- The spine extensors are critically important to stabilization. Studies have demonstrated a clear connection between decreased endurance in the spine extensors and back pain (The Importance of Endurance in Spine Extensors for Runners)
- Endurance of the spine extensors for the neck and upper back similarly have demonstrated importance in the treatment of neck pain (More Evidence for the Importance of Endurance of Spine Extensors for Neck and Back Pain)
I will post some additional video soon on the topic of which exercises with Kettlebells make the most sense for people with back and neck pain.
[i] Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011 May;37(3):196-203. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3136. Epub 2010 Nov 25.
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