Lower Back Pain Exercises for Strengthening and Pain Relief

Lower back pain is a common malady in the U.S. and elsewhere, and for those who experience it, such pain in one’s lower back can become excruciating, and at times debilitating.

The good news, however, is that physicians have put on their thinking caps and uncovered a wide assortment of lower back pain exercises capable of removing, or at lessening that pain which varies in severity from one individual to the next. And they have come up with many positive outcomes from those exercises.
The three general categories these exercises fall into are aerobic exercises, strengthening exercises, and stretching exercises.

Aerobic exercises speed recovery from back pain by strengthening one’s heart and muscles, thus providing an arena for improved overall body health, including one’s back. A byproduct of aerobic exercise—which commonly comes in the form of walking, swimming, or walking in knee-deep water—is the efficiency of oxygen intake which is healthy for the muscles, including back muscles, and one’s supply of blood.

Strengthening exercises focus on strengthening one’s back, stomach, and leg muscles. It’s readily apparent that stronger back, stomach, and leg muscles not only will help eliminate lower back pain one might be experiencing currently, but extend one’s improved back health into the future.

Stretching exercises provide the important function of keeping one’s muscles and supporting tissue flexible and less prone to injury. Some stretching exercises, even done properly, can initially provide some physical discomfort, yet most often will result with a sense of physical satisfaction after a short period of time.
Although there many exercises to reduce back pain, even exercises directed toward those who experience relief from their lower back in different manners, there are many exercises commonly used to novices to reduce back pain that can aggravate the situation rather than improve upon it.
Wrong exercises to implement for back pain include:

Straight leg sit-ups
Bent leg sit-ups or partial sit-ups (curl-ups) when one has acute back pain
Lifting both legs while lying on one’s back (leg lifts)
Lifting heavy weights above the waist (standing military press or biceps curls)
Toe touches while standing

There are significant lists of exercises to employ for persons experiencing back pain posted on the Web site WebMD. The site, before it goes into detail describing specific exercises, encourages individuals to consult with their physician or physical therapist before embarking on an exercise program.

Lower Back Pain Exercises

The site says a simple aerobic exercise such as walking, even in small measures, can prove healthful for lower back pain, especially if the individual gradually increases the length of their walks. Too, the site recommends implementing a few stretching and strengthening exercises each day.

The specific exercises itemized at that site, and there are 19 in all, are listed in three separate categories dependent in which physical position the patient feels the least pain. Those three categories are: 1) If your back pain is eased by standing or lying down; 2) If your back pain is eased by sitting down; and 3) When no position eases your back pain.

An example of a beneficial exercise for someone who experiences back relief in a standing or prone position is the hip flexor stretch. In this exercise the patient is asked to kneel on the floor with one knee bent and the other knee, while touching the floor, stretched in a backward direction. From that position, slowly push one’s hips forward until one feels tension on the upper thigh of the rear leg. Hold this position for 15 to 30 seconds, repeat the exercise with the second leg, and repeat this overall exercise two to four times.

If one’s back pain is eased while one is sitting, one exercise that could help would be the double knee-to-chest. Lie on one’s back with knees bent, both feet flat on the floor. Slowly raise one knee to the chest, then the second, but do NOT raise both of them at the same time. Lower those legs one at a time, rest 30 seconds, and then repeat the exercise two to four times.

One of many exercises that can be employed by persons who experience no relief from their back pain is the clamshell. In this exercise one lies on their side, feet and knees together with knees bent. Raise the upper leg with feet together without allowing one’s hips to roll. Hold that position for six seconds, slowly lower that leg, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat eight to 12 times.

There are many effective lower back pain exercises, but the key is finding which ones work best to serve an individual patient’s needs.