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Modern medicine has a cure for nearly everything.
After all, it’s eradicated smallpox, eliminated malaria in most developed countries, and nearly put an end to polio.
It’s also created all kinds of pills, potions, and powders to treat ailments ranging from the common cold to cancer.
And yet, it still hasn’t come up with a cure for low-back pain.
In fact, low-back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and nearly 80% of people will experience it at one time or another.
To make matters worse, most cases of low-back pain are chronic or recurring, and symptoms often come and go without rhyme or reason.
It affects the young and old, healthy and disabled, active, and sedentary.
I’m a good example.
I’ve been an athlete my entire life, most recently transitioning from collegiate sports to lifting weights to keep myself healthy and motivated. I’ve also dealt with bouts of low-back pain throughout much of my athletic career, starting when I was around 20 years old.
I know how frustrating, confusing, and debilitating it can be.
Now for the good news.
While researchers still have many unanswered questions about low-back pain and no two cases are identical, there are some evidence-based exercises you can use to reduce your chances of developing low-back pain or get rid of it.
These exercises don’t just have a sound theoretical basis—they also work in the real world.
As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I see patients every week who are dealing or have dealt with low-back pain, and I know some simple strategies that tend to help.
Of course, this article isn’t meant to diagnose or treat anyone, as there are hundreds of potential contributors to low-back pain. That said, I have identified three factors that seem to be common culprits.
What’s more, I’ve also experimented with many different stretches, exercises, and other strategies to fix and prevent low-back pain, but the six I describe in this article are the best exercises for low-back pain I’ve found yet.
So, if you want to learn what these three causes of low-back pain are, how to know if they’re affecting you, and what you can do to prevent and fix them, keep listening.
Oh and if you like this episode and want to get notified when a new one goes live, head on over to Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, Soundcloud, Podbean, or Google Play and subscribe.
Lastly, if you want to support the show, please drop a quick review of it over on iTunes. It really helps!
Time Stamps:
4:52 – Define low back pain
6:28 – Exercises to fix a stuck thoracic spine
11:10 – Exercises to fix a shortened quadratus lumborum muscle
18:29 – Exercises to fix glutes not firing properly
Mentioned on The Show:
What did you think of this episode? Have anything else to share? Let me know in the comments below!
+ Scientific References
- Lubahn AJ, Kernozek TW, Tyson TL, Merkitch KW, Reutemann P, Chestnut JM. Hip muscle activation and knee frontal plane motion during weight bearing therapeutic exercises. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2011;6(2):92-103. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21713231. Accessed December 23, 2019.
- Fathollahnejad K, Letafatkar A, Hadadnezhad M. The effect of manual therapy and stabilizing exercises on forward head and rounded shoulder postures: a six-week intervention with a one-month follow-up study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2019;20(1):86. doi:10.1186/s12891-019-2438-y
- Pierce KE, Horn SR, Jain D, et al. The impact of adult thoracolumbar spinal deformities on standing to sitting regional and segmental reciprocal alignment. Int J Spine Surg. 2019;13(4):308-316. doi:10.14444/6042
- Andersson GBJ. Epidemiological features of chronic low-back pain. Lancet. 1999;354(9178):581-585. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(99)01312-4
- Hartvigsen J, Hancock MJ, Kongsted A, et al. What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention. Lancet. 2018;391(10137):2356-2367. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30480-X
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