Strengthening the Back Muscles in Mature Women

Dr. Maninder Ahuja

MHT and Mid life

In menopause, the weakest part of the skeletal system is the backbone.

It is important because this is the central support system of our body.

If we have weak backbone then who would carry the weight of our axial skeletal system?

So strength of backbone is of utmost importance in our whole life but more so in menopause as our legs and arms are also getting weak because of loss of muscle mass and if we don’t have strong central support system consisting of backbone and abdominal muscles, our chances of falling down and sustaining fractures are also increased.

All of you must have seen most of the middle-aged women bent at the back, this is called kyphosis or dowager hump .you would be losing height, and you would be feeling fatigued. If there is loss of more than 1.5 inches then it means you already have had micro-fractures of the spine.

This hump is because of weak extensor muscles of the back along with very small fractures of the upper backbone which go unnoticed most of the time and are not diagnosed in more than 1/3 rd of cases.

What you have to do for prevention and treatment is back strengthening exercises along with calcium and Vit.D.

When should these exercises be started is in the early forties or mid-forties.

Why at this age as this is the age when you start losing your muscle strength and your bone mass.

Till what age you build up your muscle mass and bone mass is about 25 years of age. What happens then, there is almost a plateau till about let us say 35 years of age or so and from that age onwards you lose bone mass and muscle mass at the rate of about 0.5 to 0.75% /year and this loss increases to about 4-5% per year around the age of menopause

Fig -1 BONE MASS WITH AGE, (max BMD reached till 25 years and then plateau till 35 -40 years and then decrease starts)

You have micro fractures of your spine even while bending to lift up some weights.

Therefore take precaution to prevent these fractures:

You don’t bend yourself at the spine but at the knees when picking up some objects.
Secondly, train your back muscles by doing resistance exercises like seated rows or wide grip pulley press. While doing seated rows don’t bent forward at the back,
You can do back bridges.
You can do some yoga exercises also like cobra pose or Bhujang asan.
We should strengthen core muscle together. Core muscles are abdominal and back muscles and as they take the weight of our appendages or limbs, it is very important to strengthen our core muscles.

Fig: 1 Back Bridge.

Back bridge:

Lie straight on a mat. Bend your knees and raise your torso in a straight line as shown in the figure. Don’t arch hold for 10 sec and repeat it again 10 times and 3 sets of these 10 repetitions.

Fig.2 Wide grip pulley press

Wide grip pulley press

Sit on a stool with back straight and hold bar of the pulley with more than twice width of shoulders. Breathe in and bring the bar down to your nipple level and breathe out and let it go up again. Do 10 repetitions and three sets of 10 repetitions. The same exercise can be done with a pair of dumbbells also.

Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

This posture promotes flexibility in the spine and encourages the chest to open.

This asana helps to:

Strengthens the spine
Stretches chest and lungs, shoulders, and abdomen
Firms the buttocks
Stimulates abdominal organs
Helps relieve stress and fatigue
Opens the heart and lungs

Don’t do this asana if you have any of the following:

Back injury
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Headache
Pregnancy

Steps

Lie prone on the floor. Stretch your legs back, tops of the feet on the floor. Spread your hands on the floor under your shoulders. Hug the elbows back into your body.
Press the tops of the feet and thighs and the pubis firmly into the floor.
On an inhalation, begin to straighten the arms to lift the chest off the floor, going only to the height at which you can maintain a connection through your pubis to your legs. Better not to rise above the navel level. Press the tailbone toward the pubis and lift the pubis toward the navel. Narrow the hip points. Firm but don’t harden the buttocks.
Firm the shoulder blades against the back, puffing the side ribs forward. Lift through the top of the sternum but avoid pushing the front ribs forward, which only hardens the lower back. Distribute the backbend evenly throughout the entire spine.
Hold the pose anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds, breathing easily. Release back to the floor with an exhalation

If you do abdominal crunches and pull your belly button in even then your back muscles would be strengthened.

Again remember it is very important to strengthen our central supports that means our back muscles and our abdominal muscles as they support our body and our limbs. So please, don’t neglect them,