exercise for bad back!

Nothing fast about weight loss. Sorry. SLow & steady wins the race. BUT....crunches are good, if your back can handle it. Bicycle crunches are even better. Talk to your PT about what you can do within the realms of your therapy. Best wishes!!

I used to have terrible back problems a few years ago, and ended up in PT, which helped some. What helped a lot more was getting to the gym and doing yoga and strength training. Developing good core strength is extremely important. And a good, firm bed. I can honestly say that I haven't had any lower back problems in years.

Hi!

I had back surgery about 13 months ago as I blew out 2 discs. I was in decent shape before as I had done the P90X program. I tried to start that again but, unfortunately, an hour work out is just too long for my back still at this point. I just bought the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution and it is just the first week but, her half hour workouts seem to be working really well for me. I have had no back pain and honestly my core feels stronger than it has in a while.

Bascially, do what you feel you can handle. As my PT person told me, your body will tell you when to stop. Don't push it too much at first but, do what you can and eventually you will be able to handle more than you thought you could.

Best of luck!!

LOL a firm bed?? I can't sleep on anything short of a cloud. I'm so used to my fluffy pillow top mattress I am in extreme pain when I sleep anywhere else. Which by the way is very often...

I found that a firm bed is the worst thing for my back. It puts my hips in a position that throws my back out of whack. I had to buy a sleep number bed so I could sleep at night.

I have had back problems due to injuries sustained from being a college athlete. Some of my teammates did as well. It is something that I still deal with occasionally. I have found that strength training has taken away most of the pain. ( I have a rotated pelvis that caused three of my vertebrae to rotate which caused a whole bunch of problems throughout my whole body, not just my back).

I was a swimmer, and thankfully it is typically an exercise you can do without straining your back.

Aqua jogging, swimming laps and water aerobics are good exercises for those with back injuries.

More Importantly, I suggest you ask your physical therapist what kind of exercises you can do. Depending on your specific issues, different things can be possible.

Noooooooo! I exercise to prevent a bad back. Don't come here trying to get me to cause myself pain!

You are receiving very good advice here from the other posters.

I also have a herniated disc, and here is what I would add to the discussion:

Since you are still in bad pain, your first priority should not be exercising and core strenghtening.
Your priority should be to reduce the inflamation that normally is directly related to the pain.

What I found out to work great for me, much more than any PT, was:

a) Reduce inflamation by applying COLD to the area. This is no time to apply Cold/Heat treatments.
The reason this worked for me, is that when I am in pain is because the herniated disc is inflamed and is being pinched by the column's bone structure.
Cold will reduce the inflamation, and thus the constant pinching of the disc, which allows the disc to return to a more "normal" size (does not fix the herniated state, of course)

b) Once you are not in constant pain, then you can begin thinking of core strengthening exercises.
Start slow. There are MANY videos and articles on the web available to show how to properly do this

c) Above all, what will help you the most is Weight reduction.
The weight reduction will allow a herniated disc to not be constantly stressed, and will alllow further reduction of the inflamation and consequent pain incidents.
Now that I have reduced my weight by 44 pounds, I feel MUCH better and have not had even a small hint of back pain for probably a month now.
This was NOT an instant process. Even after a 30 lbs loss, it took a while for my disc to "heal" enough. But you can be sure that weight reduction WORKS.

Wish you the best luck ! :bigsmile:

I vote for yoga or pilates. Good core work. Plus you can go as fast or slow as you need to. Look for slow (sometimes too slow for me) but steady improvement in weight, strength and core. My husband has had multiple abdominal surgeries and found yoga to be an excellent workout. He also works out in the pool as the water supports back and belly!

Good luck!