Do you experience back pain?
You're not alone, about 80% of people will experience back pain at some point in their life. The good news is that it has been shown that about 80% of cases get better within 4 weeks! It's incredible how our bodies can heal.
Society often teaches us that if we have back pain we must rest and not do any activity, but I ensure you that is actually the worst thing you can do when you have an episode of back pain.
Whether you are within the initial first 4 week period or your low back pain has been holding on, we wanted to go over a few generalized exercises that are often helpful to people with back pain. We must emphasize that back pain is extremely individualized and what may help one person may make another person worse. We highly recommend that you seek an individualized physical therapy assessment with one of our doctors of physical therapy or with a physical therapist you trust in addition to the below exercises
Mobility
Cat/camel
This exercise is great at stimulating mobility of your spine in each spinal segment. Go as far as is comfortable 10x ea direction holding for 5 seconds. Only go as far as is comfortable
Prone on Elbows
Most frequently acute episodes of low back pain are often related to incidents of bending forward and/or twisting movements causing the joints and muscles of the spine to go into protect mode or spasm. Prone on elbows exercise is a great way to address joint mobility and allow the big muscles that go along your spine (erector spinae) to relax. Try this one in comfortable range only 10 times, holding each for anywhere from 5-30 seconds.
Stability
Core and back strength or lack thereof are often contributing factors toward back pain and is a huge part of rehabbing back pain. Now with that being said, if you are in active pain then core strength is not the ticket to getting you out of pain in the moment, instead we should be focusing on core and back strengthening exercises gently that are not bothering your symptoms while doing other mobility movements that are aiding in symptom relief.
The below exercise are a great starting point to engage your core, glutes, and back muscles. Over time these exercises should be progressed to more standing exercises and versions where we are moving some load or weight.
Bird/dog - 10x5 seconds ea side
Addresses core, back, and glute strength while challenging your stability and balance.
Bridge - 10x5 seconds, squeezing glutes together before lifting each rep
Addresses glute strength is crucial in taking load off of your back during everyday activities.
Core March Level 1 - draw in core towards floor without holding your breath and maintain that position entire time
Addresses ability to activate core without placing additional load on low back.
We hope these exercises and article serve as a good starting point for you to be able to begin exercising to address your low back pain and get you back to doing the things you love pain-free.
We always love chatting with our community and hearing about what you have going on, and how we can help. That’s why we offer FREE 15-minute phone consultations to find out if we're the right fit to help you reach your goals.