Top 10 Best Exercises for Lower Back Pain Relief


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The best exercises for lower back pain relief are going to be the ones that strengthen your back, protect your core, and put your body back into its naturally resting position.

If your lower back pain is not caused by a muscle or ligament tear, bulging or ruptured disk, arthritis, or osteoporosis, then that nagging pain could be caused by something as simple as weak, tight, or strained muscles, improper posture and poor body mechanics throughout the day.

The “key” to fixing your lower back problems lies in your ability to stretch, strengthen and relax your muscles, allowing them to rest in proper position throughout the day.

One study reported that weekly classes of yoga and/or stretching eased lower back pain in adults.

Another study found that core strength training is more effective than typical resistance training for alleviating chronic low back pain. It was found that core exercises were effective for retraining motor control of the deep trunk muscles because of the focus on stabilization, segmental stabilization, and motor control.

If you want the best method for reducing or eliminating lower back pain, follow these steps:

Step 1: Fix Your Bad Habits

If you are sitting all day, hunched over at a desk, your spine, back, pelvis, hips, muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves will all be placed in a poor and vulnerable position. Your muscles will become tighter over time, pulling the head of your femur out of place. Your misaligned pelvis will create pinch points for your nerves. The ligaments, tendons, fascia, and soft tissues of your hip region will always have a great amount of stress placed on them, becoming stretched, strained, and sore.

You need to fix your sitting bad habits and stand and move as much as you can throughout the day, eventually being able to stand almost the entire day without noticing. This alone will realign your body and take a lot of stress off your joints and lower back.

Step 2: Stretch and Strengthen

It’s going to be very difficult for you to keep the necessary and constant muscle tone it will require for you to keep your body standing and moving throughout the day without stretching and strengthening your body. You need to incorporate exercises that challenge your core including the back and abs, as well as exercising your legs and the muscles of the posterior chain. The enhanced muscle strength, flexibility, and pliability will protect your lower back, reduce strain on joints, and give you the lower back pain relief you so desire.

Try these:

Top 10 Best Exercises for Lower Back Pain Relief:


1. Deadlift

The deadlift is a great full body exercise, not only great for your back, but your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and core muscles. The deadlift improves your posture and makes lifting a bag of food or a small child a simple task. Your body is going to feel stronger, more stable, and better overall when you start adding the deadlift into your exercise routine.

What I love about the deadlift is it works the entirety of the posterior chain. The posterior chain is crucial for power, posture, injury prevention. The posterior chain will pull your body back into its natural state, keep your body properly aligned, and protect your lower back.

The deadlift will work the:

  • Quads
  • Glutes
  • Adductor Magnus
  • Hamstrings
  • Erector Spinae
  • Lats
  • Traps
  • Rhomboids

Make sure to start light, use correct form, and make the deadlift a part of your weekly lifting routine.


2. Supermans

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The second exercise you should begin doing, and one you can even do in your bed is the superman. It’s as easy as it sounds. You only have to lay flat on your stomach with your arms reached out in front of you. Lift your arms and legs straight up off the ground as if you were flying like superman. Hold for 5 seconds and repeat.

This exercise is great for all levels and like the deadlift, works many of the muscles in the posterior chain. A superman will work the:

  • Glutes
  • Hamstrings
  • Erector Spinae
  • Traps
  • Rhomboids

Throw these into your morning or evening routine just after waking up or before going to sleep.


3. Farmer’s Carry

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The farmer’s carry is a great way to keep your muscles in constant contraction over a certain length of time. All you need is a fairly heavy weight for one or both sides of your body.  Just grab your weights, stand up, hold a solid strong posture, and start walking. Your body will be forced to stabilize itself in its natural position, helping to protect the lower back. Walk as far as your body allows, carefully set the weights down and repeat.

The farmer’s carry will target the:

  • Shoulders
  • Upper back
  • Biceps
  • Triceps
  • Forearm muscles
  • Glutes
  • Quadriceps
  • Hamstrings
  • Calf muscles.

This exercise can easily be done in the comfort of your home. Fill some buckets with water and get to walking.


4. Bird Dog

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The Bird dog is a core exercise that encourages stability, balance, proper posture, supports a neutral spine and relieves lower back pain. This is a great exercise for seniors and beginners.

In order to do this exercise, get on hands and knees and lift the opposite arm and opposite leg up in the air, squeezing the posterior chain at the top for a couple seconds. Then return to starting position.  If this becomes too easy, try to do the same exercise in standing position.

The bird dog will target the:

  • Erector Spinae
  • Glutes
  • Hamstrings
  • Shoulders
  • Rhomboids

5. Swimming

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Swimming is one of the best exercises for your body. It encourages strength, flexibility, endurance, and mobility. It’s super easy on the joints and is one of the best exercises for getting your body back to your natural state. You’ll feel better inside and out. Mix in the breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and front crawl.

Swimming will work almost every muscle in the body in one way or another.  It’s quite close to the perfect exercise.


6. Glute Bridge

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The glute bridge is an effective exercise for reducing lower back pain by allowing your glutes to stabilize your pelvis. As you sit in a chair all day, your glutes become weak and elongated. By building up the muscle and standing throughout the day, you allow the glutes to do their job, creating stability for your lower back.

To do this exercise, just lie flat your back with bent legs and push your hips straight up towards the ceiling, squeezing your glutes at the top of the exercise. Make this more challenging by placing a weighted plate on your abs.

The glute bridge will effectively target the:

  • Glutes
  • Hamstrings
  • Lower Back

7. Romanian Deadlifts

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The Romanian deadlift, and more specifically, the single leg Romanian deadlift is a great exercise for improving the posterior chain. All you need is a single dumbbell and you’re ready to get started with this lift. If you want to learn how to do the Romanian deadlift in detail, visit my article: How to PROPERLY Do a Romanian Deadlift with Dumbbells (RDL’s). It’s one of my favorite exercises, and one I mix into my weekly routine. I would recommend you do the same.

  • The Romanian deadlift will effectively target the:
  • Glutes
  • Hamstrings
  • Lower Back, Upper and Middle Back Muscles
  • Traps
  • Erector Spinae

8. Yoga

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If you’re going to stretch and strengthen, then yoga should be on the top of your priority list. Yoga will strengthen the muscles around the lower back, while at the same time loosing and relaxing your muscles, allowing them to rest in their natural state. Many people around the world swear yoga can fix so many physical and mental ailments. The easiest way to get into yoga is by joining a yoga class or by creating a peaceful environment at home you can go to for your various yoga poses.

Yoga will effectively stretch and strengthen every muscle in your body. It may take patience and commitment but by the end, you will feel better than ever.


9. Planks

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A super simple way to protect your lower back is by doing a plank. A strong abdominal wall will stabilize the pelvis, keeping it from collapsing and putting pressure on the tissues of the lower back. A weak core is one of the main reasons you will experience lower back pain. One of the best ways to relieve that lower back pain is through a consistent planking regimen.  Mix in front planks, side planks, and dynamic planks to really hit the muscles in the abdominal region.

Some other plank variations include:

  • Plank jacks
  • Plank punches
  • Side plank
  • Plank crunches
  • Plank to pike
  • Starfish
  • Plank to in-and-out knees

In order to do a plank, get your forearms and toes and keep the hips off the ground, continually contracting your abs. If you want a little more information on how to do a perfect plank, visit my article: How to Do the PERFECT Plank (And 5 Mistakes to Avoid). In this article, I describe all the ins and outs of a perfect plank and answer many common questions people tend to have.


10. Wood Chops

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Last but not least is improving the strength of your obliques. These muscles provide lateral spine and pelvis stabilization. Training the external and internal obliques with a wood chop will assist your abs and back in providing essential core strength and stability, working to protect your lower back, leading to pain relief.

Wood chops can be done with a medicine ball or cable. If you need a good resource on what kind of equipment you should be using, check out my article: 20 BEST Pieces of HOME GYM & FUNCTIONAL FITNESS Equipment. This list gives you the exact home fitness equipment you will need to achieve great results.


Step 3: Relax and Lengthen Your Resting Muscles

Yoga, as mentioned above, is going to be essential in creating a relaxing environment for your muscles. Another great way to relax and lengthen your muscles is through massage or by utilizing a foam roller on a day to day basis. Massage for your muscles will lengthen their natural state, increase blood flow to your muscles, and relieve the constant pressure the muscles are putting on the ligaments and tendons of your joints.

If you do begin a massage or foam rolling routine, its imperative that you stick to a daily schedule. If not, your muscles will go back to their beginning state. Keeping your muscles loose and in a relaxed state will train your nervous system to trust your body and allow it to move through a greater range of motion.

One foam roller that I use often is the

for Deep Tissue Massage. This is one of the best ways to consistently massage your muscles out and keep them lengthened in their elongated form. Use it every night for best results.



Summary: Top 10 Best Exercises for Lower Back Pain Relief

In order to achieve lower back pain relief, it’s going to be vital that you follow the steps laid out above, assuming you merely have weak, tight, or strained muscles, improper posture and poor body mechanics throughout the day. As always, consult a doctor before starting any exercise program. If you don’t you could further exacerbate an injury, and nobody wants to do that.  Stretching, strengthening, relaxing, and lengthening your muscles will allow your body to rest in proper position throughout the day, relieving the pain your feel in your lower back.

Does this help? Let me know your thoughts below!!

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