Keep your lower back strong

When it comes to getting fit, we tend to think of the same general areas we would like to improve. For women, it's typically legs, butt, stomach, and sometimes arms. For men, it's usually arms, chest, stomach, and sometimes legs. But what about our lower backs? Anyone who has ever injured this area can attest to the fact that it can hinder almost every move you make. Therefore, all your effort to tighten and tone your target areas will be for naught if you don't also pay some attention this oft-forgotten part of the body.

To target your lower back, a particularly good exercise is the Hyperextension. To perform this move properly, you will need to utilize a specific piece of gym equipment. Basically, you need your feet and upper legs to be secured so that you can bend freely at the waist and not have to worry about tipping over. If, however, you don't have access to a gym, fear not. It is possible to perform this exercise at the end of any long, flat surface (like a bench or even a bed).

The tricky part is that you'll need something, or someone, to weigh down your legs. Whatever you ultimately use to secure yourself, the next step is to bend at the waist, so as to allow your head to come near the floor. From there, you want to slowly and steadily raise your upper body until it is completely in line with your lower body. An easy way to make sense of how this move should be performed is to think of it as sort of a reverse sit-up (not to be confused with the actual move known as the reverse sit-up), in that you are lifting the back of your head toward the ceiling rather than the front of your head.

Explaining an exercise with words alone sometimes doesn't quite do the trick. So, I scoured the internet to find a video demonstration of the Hyperextension. Click HERE to watch it.