Your options for back extensions depends on the equipment available, of course. The most important are the Roman chair, a gate belt, and barbell weights. Using this routine I rehabilitated a compressed LL2 (lower lumbar 2) vertebrate over a period of about 3 months. At the end of 6 months I was free squatting 365lbs. and leg pressing 700lbs. Do not take my advice as a medical solution if you are suffering from any injury. Ask your GP for a referral to a specialist and have your injury tended to before trying these exercises. Then come back and read this article again once you have recovered.

The Roman chair is a funny looking device in the gym. It has a seat cushion and a pair of roller pads, attached to posts at about waist height. You should adjust the height and distance between the roller pads and seat to match your size. The height of the posts should be greater than the length of your torso and head combined. You will see later in the exercise why this is important.

As with any exercise, it is always important to warm up and stretch. These are not the same. A warm-up involves getting blood circulating in the particular part of the body you will be targeting. Stretching involves keeping that part of the body flexible so it does not cramp and the muscles remain activated. Warm-ups should be done before the actual exercise and can consist of the exercise itself with 40% of the weight you normally can do as one rep (repetition). Stretches should be done in between each set of exercises. So if you do 10 reps on your first set, you will precede that with a warm-up at 40% of the weight and follow it with a stretching exercise. The second set will not have a warm-up prior to execution, but will be followed by another stretching routine.

For the lower back a good stretch involves sitting on the floor with your legs together and in front of you. Reach your hands slowly toward your feet, hands side-by-side. Hold the stretch to a count of ten. Do not hold your breath though. Return to an upright sitting position. Repeat this at least three times. You should judge whether the stretching was enough or not before beginning the exercise.

In the starting position you are lying face down on the cushion, your abs in contact with it, and your heals are pushed up against the underside of the roller pads. Keeping your back stiff - your body should be flat with your torso extending out from the cushion toward the opposite side of the roller pads. Your arms should cross your chest in an 'X'.

The motion from this rigid position includes only the pivoting of your torso downward to a 90-degree angle with your legs. Your head will be closest to the floor at the peak of the exercise. Be careful! You should have adjusted the height of the posts to compensate for the length of your torso, not the length of your legs. Otherwise, if you have a longer torso than legs, you will hit your head on the floor.

Keeping your arms in place across your chest, use your abs and especially your lower back muscles to lift your torso back to a horizontal position. If you find this too difficult, unmount the bench, remount it and lower your torso only about 30 degrees before raising it again to the horizontal. The motion should be quite slow on the downward drop, but powerful and brisk on the upward pull. Do not go too slowly nor too quickly. Make just enough difference where a third person watching can tell the speeds are not the same.

When you start using this exercise you should perform it 2-3 times per week. If you have a routine for other parts of the body, then integrate this so it blends well. I preferred to use it as a kind of warm-up. When the exercise becomes too easy, as it quickly had for me, you should embrace a barbell weight to your chest, using a gate belt to protect you.

During my rehabilitation I worked up to both 45 lb. and 25 lb. weights held together in my exercise. Do not over exert yourself here, since lower back injuries are both painful and difficult to rehabilitate. Also, they will prevent you from making gains in other areas of your body, since you will not be able to exercise at all. If used properly, the back extensions can provide your body with the structural stability to perform amazingly well in all other areas of your body.