By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
The 5 best exercises for lower back pain
4160fc895fe88ad0faa27e5170e234688e1c88a557b116eae171ef141397ff51
Back pain is a very common ailment. So its no surprise that, as chiropractors, were often asked, "What can I do to relieve my lower back pain?"

Luckily, there are some helpful exercises that can help counteract the problems and behaviors that lead to lower back pain.

Here are the top five lower back pain exercises we recommend. If you experience pain while doing any of them, stop immediately and seek medical advice.

1. Back extensions

If youve ever done yoga, you might know this one as cobra pose. Back extensions stretch the spine and can help relieve back pain.

Just lie on your stomach and prop yourself up on your elbows. Try to keep your neck long and shoulders back -- this will help lengthen your spine.

Push down on the floor with your hands to push your back up as far as feels comfortable. Youll also feel a stretch in the stomach muscles. Hold the position for five to 10 seconds while breathing normally. Repeat the exercise 10 times.

2. Abdominal contractions

Lie on your back and bend your knees. Keep your feet hip-width apart. Try to relax your body, especially the neck and shoulders.

When you exhale, draw the muscles of your pelvis and lower abdominals upward. Hold this gentle contraction, but continue to breathe from your abdomen. After five to 10 breaths, relax your muscles. Repeat five times.

You can also try some mild partial crunches for a more intense workout. Just avoid overdoing it with something like sit-ups, so you dont aggravate your existing back pain.

3. Bridge pose

Bridge pose can do a great job of relieving lower back pain.

Lie on your back with knees bent, your feet hip-width apart. Inhale, and as you exhale, lift your hips off the floor. Try to get your shoulders and knees in a straight line. To avoid overarching, tighten your abdominal muscles during the pose. Lower to the ground as you breathe.

As you build strength and flexibility, you can increase your repetitions. The Mayo Clinic recommends doing this exercise five times a day.

4. Lower back rotation

This rotation will stretch out your spine and help relieve lower back pain.

Lie down on your back and keep your knees bent. Relax your upper body. Roll your knees to one side, then your pelvis. Try to keep both shoulder blades on the floor. Turn your gaze over the opposite shoulder.

After 10 seconds, return to the starting position. Repeat on the other side. Do the stretch two or three times on each side.

5. Exercise ball

If youre ready to increase the intensity of your lower back exercises, use an exercise (or swiss) ball.

The AAOS recommends using an exercise ball for lumbar stabilization exercises.

Lie down on your back with your knees bent. Rest your calves on the ball. There are a few exercises you can do in this position:

  • Slowly lift one arm over your head, then lower it. Lift the other arm, and switch back and forth.
  • Slowly straighten one knee vertically. Relax, and switch sides. Alternate left and right.
  • Do the two previous exercises together by straightening one knee and raising the opposite arm overhead together. Alternate sides.
  • Slowly (walk) the ball forward and then backward with your legs.
Keep moving

According to NINDS, fitness level can have an impact on how much people suffer from lower back pain.

So while these five exercises are a great place to start in combating the problem, strengthening the back muscles overall may be the key to long-term relief.

Practice these exercises for your spinal needs, but also consider creating a routine of exercises to combat back pain before it starts, such as swimming, stretching and yoga.
Sign up for our e-newsletters
From the book 'Outliers' comes proof that good health is more than just genetics
8ccd7d661f85d37c8298791c9a56bec6e0f8449d4aea5c09c6ffcf527854f186
Friends Jim Young, left, Mike Natale, Jeff Natale and Ryan Kiernan were on Greenwich High School football team together and Jim and Mike were captains. Jim, who was the youngest in Sherry Young's family, was welcome in the homes of the other three boys who still had siblings around and grandparents near. - photo by Sherry Young
As I look back on my life and the lives of others, both personally and in the reading I have done, I am convinced of the necessity of positive human contact in our lives. We are doubly blessed when we are able to make good friends or are a part of a family where we are accepted and loved.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers tells of a time in the 1950s when Dr. Stewart Wolf met a physician who practiced in the area of Roseto, Pennsylvania. Roseto was settled by a group of Italian families from Roseto, Italy, who re-created their life again in America.

This was in the 1950s before drugs and measures to prevent heart disease became important. In their conversation the physician said, You know, Ive been practicing for 17 years. I get patients from all over, and I rarely find anyone from Roseto under the age of 65 with heart disease.

Wolf was surprised by these words as, It was impossible to be a doctor, common sense said, and not see heart disease.

Wolf enlisted the aid of a sociologist and friend John Bruhn to help him. They found, There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didnt have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didnt have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. Thats it.

They checked into diet, genetics and possibilities of something in the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania but nothing made sense.

What they found was that Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in Italian on the street, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. (Researchers) learned about the extended family clans that underlay the towns social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted 22 separate civic organizations in a town of just under 2,000 people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the community, which discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures.

What they found eventually convinced the medical establishment to look beyond the individual and understand the culture people are part of their friends, families and town they came from. They determined that the people we surround ourselves with and the values of the world we inhabit have a profound effect on who we are.

Likely, this study could have been done with other ethnicities. However, my family's experiences with the Italian families in Connecticut ring true to the study. Our hungry and growing sons, especially our youngest son, Jim, who was left home alone with two beady-eyed parents, all had some memorable experiences being fed and loved in the Cos Cob multigenerational families. Proof of the African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child.

We live in an age when the contact we have with people often is on the internet, and many of us live among strangers. Unless we make the effort to reach out, we will become isolated, especially as we age. The Rosetan study is proof that reaching out and communicating may be good for our health.
Latest Obituaries