Exercises At Home

We believe in many cases minor back pain can be treated at home, by carrying out a set of simple, safe exercises. The goal is to improve core muscle endurance and coordination, so it’s important to choose exercises that work towards this – some exercises can stress the injury and make the pain worse.

The routine below has been approved by our chiropractor Dr Will Kalla, and should lead to improvements in your lower back pain if it’s carried out daily for at least 3 weeks, and 2 or 3 times a week thereafter. If you try the routine for 3 weeks and don’t see any improvement in your symptoms we recommend you visit our clinic for a consultation.

Warm up – Cat-Camel
  1. Position yourself on your hands and knees, with your knees in line with your hips and your hands in line with your shoulders. Your fingers should be pointing forward.
  2. Cat phase. Use your stomach muscles to push your spine upwards towards the ceiling. Lengthen your neck and allow your head to reach toward your chest, maintaining alignment with the spine. Hold this position for 2-4 breaths.
  3. Camel phase. Use your stomach and lumbar muscles to lower your spine toward the floor, increasing the arch in your mid and lower back. Pull your shoulder blades down your back. Hold this position for 2–4 breaths before returning to the start position.
  4. Perform 10 reps, keeping within your pain-free range of movement and avoiding pushing yourself into a stretch at the end of each position.

 

Exercise 1 – Side Bridge

  1. Lie on your right side with your knees bent 90-degrees and your hips slightly flexed. Raise your upper body using your right arm to hold you up.
  1. Use your trunk to lift your hips, being careful not to let the top hip rotate forward. Make sure to bend your elbow directly beneath your shoulder. Place your left hand on your hip.

 

  1. Hold this position for 4–8 seconds then repeat on the opposite side. Aim to complete 3 sets of 15 reps daily.

 

The lumbar vertebrae are larger than the other bones of the spine because they support more weight. Although they provide good forward and backward motion they do not rotate far to the left and right – this is the reason many golfers suffer from lower back problems.

Exercise 2 – Curl-Up

  1. Lie flat on your back with your hands on top of each other under your lower back and one knee flexed.
  1. Slowly curl your head and shoulders off the floor. Avoid jutting your jaw forward as you curl up; it could put unnecessary strain on you neck.

 

  1. Hold this position for one or two breaths (4–8 seconds) then return to the starting position. Aim to complete 3 sets of 15 reps daily.

Exercise 3 – Bird-Dog

Warm up – Cat-Camel
  1. Position yourself on your hands and knees, with your knees in line with your hips and your hands in line with your shoulders. Your fingers should be pointing forward.
  1. Brace your core muscles so your trunk remains still during the exercise.
  1. Extend one leg and the opposite arm so that they are parallel to the floor.
  1. Hold this position for one to two breaths (4–8 seconds), then lower your arm and leg back to the starting position.
  2. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg. Aim to complete 3 sets of 15 reps daily.