Exercise library
Unloading and Symptom Calming
Gentle press-ups
How to do it
- 1Lie face down on a firm but comfortable surface with your hands flat on the floor underneath your shoulders, as if you were about to do a push-up.
- 2Keeping your hips, pelvis, and legs relaxed and heavy on the floor, gently press through your hands to lift only your chest and upper body a small way up.
- 3Go only into a small, comfortable range. Your hips must stay down on the floor the whole time, this is not a push-up.
- 4Lower back down slowly and repeat for the prescribed reps, keeping the movement gentle and pain-free. Back off the range if symptoms increase.
- 5This is a backward-bend movement, so it is NOT for the extension-sensitive pattern. If bending backward or standing tall is what flares you up, skip this one and stick with your flexion-based relief.
Why this exercise
If forward bending winds up your back, a gentle backward bend can settle it down. Press-ups ease your spine into a small extension while your hips stay relaxed, nudging the gel centre of your discs forward, away from the sensitive structures at the back. Keep it a relief tool, not a workout.
Make it easier
- Stay propped on your elbows instead of pressing through your hands
- Smaller range, fewer reps
- Place a pillow under your chest for a tiny, supported extension
Make it harder
- Press a little higher over time, only as far as stays comfortable and your hips stay down
- Hold briefly at the top of each gentle press