Back pain is one of the most common conditions we get asked about at Exercises For Injuries. Unfortunately, most people have or will experience back pain in one form or another during their lifetime. Luckily, there are exercises you can do to relieve your back pain and even completely eliminate it. Most of us sit too much and move too little. This creates a multitude of problems in the body, one of which is back pain. With a few good exercises, performed for only a few minutes a day, you can see a dramatic improvement in your back pain and help prevent any future injuries.

Often, when people experience a sore back, they assume their muscles are just tight and need to be stretched out. This is usually the case for some of your muscles, but not all of them. For most people, especially if you sit a lot, your back pain is likely due to continuous poor posture and muscle imbalances. This means that some muscles are too tight and others are too stretched out. If you think about your sitting posture, the muscles on the front of your body, such as your chest and hips muscles, are going to get short and tight, because they are in their shortened position while you sit. At the same time, the muscles on the back of your body, like your glutes and back muscles, are getting lengthened and weak. Put simply, this imbalance is fixed by stretching the muscles that are too tight and strengthening the muscles that have been stretched out.

In this post, we will show you four exercises that address both upper and lower back pain by strengthening your back and opening up the front of your body. Begin by going through each exercise once and see how you feel. If you feel good, work your way up to the recommended sets and repetitions. If you don’t feel good, make sure you are doing the exercise correctly, or consider skipping that exercise altogether. The exercises in this post progress to more challenging exercises as you move forward. Make sure to do the exercises in order and only move to the next one once you feel comfortable with the current exercise.

1. Back Extensions

We are going to start out with a simple, yet incredibly effective exercise – back extensions. The rest of the exercises in this post-build off of the classic back extension exercise, so make sure you have this one mastered before moving onto the other exercises.

Begin by lying face down with your arms at your sides, palms facing up. Press the tops of your feet into the floor. Lift your chest off the floor by engaging your back and glute muscles. Keep your gaze down at the floor. Come up only as far as is comfortable for your back. There should be no pain or compression in your lower back (this is true for all of the exercises). Pause for a moment at the top of the movement, then slowly lower back to the starting position. Repeat the movement.

Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Modifications: To make this exercise more challenging, involve your legs. When you lift your chest, also lift your legs, trying to lift your knees off the floor. To make this exercise easier, use your arms to assist you. Begin with your hands under your shoulders. As you lift your chest, press into your hands as much as you need to. Remember to only press up to a comfortable position.

2. Swimmers

This exercise is a more advanced version of the back extension. You will be lifting both your upper and lower body off the floor. Plus, extending the arms out in front of you increases the force you will need to produce to lift your chest. The swimmer variation of this exercise will really challenge your back and glute muscles.

Begin by lying face down with your arms extended overhead. Lift your arms, chest and legs off the mat. You may lower down and repeat, or do the swimmer exercise. For the swimmer exercise, keep your upper and lower body lifted. From here, lift your opposite arm and leg a little bit higher, and then switch sides. Alternate back and forth.

Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions (if doing the first option) or 10 repetitions on each side (if doing the swimmer variation).

Modifications: To make this exercise more challenging, do the swimmer variation. This will require you to keep your body lifted for a longer period of time. To make this easier, bring your arms back to your sides, like the first exercise. Do your best to lift your chest and legs.

3. Extended Angel Arms

You may have seen the angel arms exercise, either performed on the floor or against a wall, where you lift and lower your arms. This exercise uses the same arm movement while you are in a back extension position.

Begin by lying face down. This time, bend your elbows, beginning with your palms on the floor. Lift your chest off the floor, squeezing your shoulder blades together. Keeping your chest raised, extend your arms out in front of you. Bend your elbows and return to the starting position. Repeat the movement.

Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Modifications: To make this exercise more challenging, do the next exercise variation that uses your legs as well. To make this exercise easier, do the arm movement without lifting your chest off the floor. Build strength here, and slowly begin to lift your chest off the floor.

4. Extended Angel Arms with Legs

This exercise is the same as the previous one, but now incorporating your legs. This will increase the workout for your back and especially your glutes. You may also feel a stretch through the front of your hips.

Begin by lying face down with your elbows bent. Lift your chest off the floor. Then, bend your knees and lift your thighs off the floor, squeezing your glutes. From this lifted position, extend your arms out in front of you. Bend your elbows back to the starting position. Repeat the movement.

Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Modifications: To make this exercise more challenging, extend your legs when you extend your arms. Then, bend your knees when you bend your elbows. Keep your chest and knees lifted off the ground the entire time. To make this exercise easier, do the previous exercise without using your legs.

There are four great exercises to help strengthen your back and eliminate back pain. Remember that while stretching is important for pain relief, so is strengthening the appropriate muscles. We hope you try out these exercises and experience relief from your back pain.

Learn more about eliminating your back pain once and for all. Click here for more information.