Low Back Pain Mobility Exercise Routine

The routine today consists of mobility exercises for chronic non-specific low back pain. includes information as seen in the video Low Back Pain Mobility Exercise Routine + 3 Tips for Exercising with Low Back Pain and forms part of the Back Pain Series. 

Mobility exercises form part of a rehabilitation program and are typically a progression from pain relief exercises with the aim of increasing range of motion or mobility of the low back.

Before starting any exercise, it is important to understand the nature of your pain by having an assessment from a medical or health care professional. If you are unsure if you can participate in exercise make sure to consult your medical or healthcare professional first. With the exercises in this article, feeling some stiffness is normal however you should not feel any sharp or severe pain.

The first exercise is seated extension. Sitting with your back against the backrest of the chair, look up toward the sky to arch your back. Come back to rest your hands on your knees. Repeat 8 times. From the side view, we can see the back arch as we reach up.

The second exercise is seated flexion. Sitting on a chair, reach your arms toward your toes. Come back to bring your arms to your knees. It is ok if you can’t reach your toes, reach to a point that feels comfortable. Again, you should not feel any sharp or sudden pain. Repeat 8 times. The aim of the routine is to improve mobility or the range of motion of the joints of the spine.

The third exercise is seated rotation. Sitting, turn at your shoulders to the right. Repeat, turning at your shoulders to your left. Repeat 8 times.

The fourth exercise is lateral flexion. Sitting, with your arm by your side, reach down toward the ground with your right hand. Repeat 8 times. You should feel a slight stretch on the left side of your body. Repeat with your left hand, reaching down toward the ground. Again, only reach as far as comfortable. This time to feel a slight stretch on your right.

In summary, this routine covered seated mobility exercises for chronic non-specific low back pain including seated flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation. I hope this routine has been helpful. If you would like to watch the exercises in this routine, the accompanying video can be found on the Age Fit with Tess Youtube channel.

To continue to manage pain, build strength, and gain fitness in the meantime read these articles on the blog. See you next time.