The Best Lower Back Pain Exercises
So what are the best lower back pain exercises? This is a question that I am often asked as a physiotherapist (physical therapist).
To answer to this question correctly some key factors need to be considered. For me, these factors are:
- Whether the back pain is of recent onset (acute)
- The amount of pain present
- What movements make the pain worse
On this page, I will outline my thinking behind prescribing exercises for my patients who have back pain.
Why Are Back Exercises Important?
The days of being recommended complete bed rest after a back injury are long gone. Complete bed rest has been found to cause many unwanted back problems. Some of these include developing back muscle weakness as well as considerable back stiffness.
Back exercises, when performed correctly and commenced early, will reduce muscle weakness, minimize back stiffness and speed up recovery.
There are many factors that need to be considered when prescribing lower back pain exercises. This is why it is essential that you see a qualified health care professional for an individual assessment before attempting any exercises for back pain.
Exercises for Acute Lower Back Pain
When patients first turn up to see me, they have usually just hurt their back and are in a lot of pain.
Before I do anything, I need to make sure that the patient does not have a condition that needs further investigation, such as cancer, infection or bone fracture.
Once I am certain that there is no serious underlying problem, I can focus on relieving their back pain. This often includes hands-on techniques and giving lower back pain exercises.
Exercise Without Pain
In my experience, in the early stages of back injury, people fit into three broad categories of movement ability. These are:
- Back pain that worsens when the back is flexed forwards (flexion pain).
- Back pain that worsens when the back is arched backwards or the back is upright (extension pain). These people often find it more comfortable to be slightly bent forward at the hips.
- Severe, acute back pain that worsens on both flexion and extension of the back.
In the first few treatment sessions after a back injury, my aim with the back exercises is to keep the back moving WITHOUT causing any pain.
In very simple terms, I give extension-based exercises to those who have flexion pain and flexion-based exercises to those who have extension pain. Once again, all the exercises are performed without causing any pain or with as little pain as possible.
In my opinion, these pain-free back exercises help to speed up the recovery process by reducing muscle spasm and minimising back stiffness.
For a detailed explanation of exercises for the aforementioned scenarios click on the appropriate link below:
Flexion Pain - Exercises for back pain
Extension Pain – Exercises for lower back pain
Severe, Acute Pain- Exercises for back pain
Exercises for Sub-Acute Lower Back Pain
Through proper treatment and regular, specific lower back pain exercises, most cases of back pain will improve dramatically within a few weeks.
When a patient’s pain starts to improve, I change the focus from the acute-stage exercises mentioned above, to adding in core strengthening exercises, posture exercises and back stretching exercises.
Core Strengthening Exercises
The muscles that move and support the abdomen are very important in lower back health. Not only do the abdominal muscles need to be strong, they also need to work together (coordinate) in a precise way to ensure that the lower back is properly supported at all times.
Teaching my patients how to perform core-strengthening exercises properly (they are not just doing ‘sit-ups’ or ‘crunches’) can take a considerable amount of time.
However, performing these exercises properly and building up good core strength is a critical component of good back health.
Posture Exercises
Bad posture can definitely predispose you to a back injury.
As a physiotherapist, I frequently see common patterns of bad posture. These common patterns are often referred to as ‘postural syndromes’.
The key to devising an effective postural exercise program is to first identify the postural syndrome and then do the appropriate exercises needed to correct it.
I will be adding additional pages on this website very soon that will outline how to identify the common postural syndromes and the exercises that are important to correct each one.
Back Stretching Exercises
Before I discharge a patient from treatment, I will leave them with a series of back stretching exercises that need to be done on daily basis.
The purpose of these exercises is to maintain and/or improve the flexibility of the lower back. These back stretching exercises can be performed by anyone (that does not have a back injury) who wants to improve the flexibility of their back.
To find out more about these exercises, click here: Back Stretching Exercises
Good lower back flexibility, along with good core strength and posture, are key elements in having a healthy, pain-free back.
This article was last reviewed and updated January 2011
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