Exercising with lower back pain

smae1980 · April 2010

So I just went through some of the past posts about exercising with lower back pain, and there was a lot of great advice on strengthening your core and stretching your legs to help prevent lower back pain from occurring. My question is for anyone who has had lower back pain, what kinds of low impact exercises have you tried that don't aggravate your back that you can do until the pain goes away and you can get back to "normal". Obviously I'll be avoiding things like lowerbody strength training and abdominal exercises for now. I just don't want to be completely sedentary , that usually makes my pain last longer and I feel like crap for not having worked out at all.

bella56 · April 2010

I found that moderately-paced walking, using an aerobic step and a stair-type treadmill not only alleviated the pain but eventually made it disappear altogether.

smae1980 · April 2010

Thanks, walking was the only thing I could think of

stephwoodward · August 2010

Also, stretching is key. I've found that if you take a tennis ball, and place it on the floor, and then lay on top it, moving so that the ball massages your lower back/hip area it really releases a lot of that tension which causes the pain. Also, make sure that you're "regular". That sounds odd, but if you're constipated, it will also cause pain in that area.

ivyjbres · August 2010

Yoga, pilates, swimming. I did some research after I threw out my back last time. Here's some resources and stretches/exercises for ya.

http://www.bigbackpain.com/post_injury.html
http://www.bigbackpain.com/back_exercises.html
http://www.videojug.com/film/pilates-how-to-prevent-and-relieve-lower-backache (also this site has how to warm up and cool down for pilates, and back exercises for women with bigger breasts)
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00302
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/back-pain/LB00001_D
http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/4-back-strengthening-exercises-10000001722657/index.html
http://www.exercisegoals.com/back-exercises-for-women.html

Roux420 · August 2010

For me, I found that yoga was the most useful thing for my back pain. I started out in a weekly community class to learn the basics and now I just do it at home a few times a week. In the gym, I love the elliptical machine - low impact and great at strengthening up your lower back, butt, and legs.

SarahElittlebit · August 2010

I've had back pain for the past 10 years. I found swimming, yoga, the elliptical, and the bike are the only things that don't put my back into orbit. Walking is out for me. I walk 5-10 minutes and I can't move easily because of the pain radiating from my lower back. My doctor told me never to use a treadmill until the pain was no longer there.

Exercising with lower back pain

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