Do’s and don’ts exercising with back pain

I will go over do’s and don’ts exercising with back pain. There are so many people who have lower back pain. In fact  it’s the leading cause for activity limitation and work absence throughout most of the world. According to WHO there are several studies done on the impact lower back pain has on us. In the UK over 100 million workdays were lost per year due to lower back pain.  It’s a disability that affects work performance and overall wellbeing. I hear from people on a regular basis.

To get long term pain relief for the lower back, adherence to exercises is the most important factor. Many find it hard to stay consistent for many reasons. One of them is pain worsening from activity. Quite understandable this results in a reluctance to be active. A natural response to any pain is to take it easy. However not being active will make things worse. It’s always hard to determine the exact cause of lower back pain. Most of the time it’s a combination of a few things. Worth keeping in mind is that not everyone will have the same level of pain, same symptoms, same cause of lower back pain etc. 

Benefits of exercising with back pain

• Keeps the muscles strong around the spine to take pressure of the discs and facet joints
• Help with stiffness, inflammation and mobility.
• Improves blood circulation so that nutrients can better circulate through the body – including the discs in the spine. 
• Reduces frequency of pain episodes, length and level of pain when it does occur.

Do’s and don’ts exercising with back pain.

To say specifically what to do and not do is hard since tolerance can vary a lot amongst people. Also lifestyle will also have a big effect on this. But generally speaking, here are some guidelines. 

• Don’t work through pain
• If you have pain the next day that’s an indicator something was too much for the back. 
• Don’t do nothing. Exercises and movement can be adjusted in many ways to allow you to move without causing a flare up.
• Don’t sit for too long. 
• Don’t stand with your knees locked out – that will create more extension in the spine which can lead to more pressure on discs in the lumbar spine.
• Make sure you are not using the lower back as a leaver during certain exercises. What I mean by leveraging is when you are using the lower back to create momentum or false stability. 

• You want to focus on a whole body approach.
• Always warm up
• Stability type exercises is great to manage lower back pain
• Practice mind to muscle awareness.
• Find activities that release endorphins. They are a natural pain relief. 
• Work on mobility. Often I see people compensate through their lower back when they lack range of movement elsewhere. 

Main thing to take away from this is that not being active will make your symptoms worse. Work with a professional who can plan and modify exercises for you. If you feel worried you will make things worse on your own.