If I could only recommend five things for back pain, these are them. They're the exercises for lower back pain I'd do for any type of back pain, and each one can be made easier or harder.
TLDR
- Walk on good days and bad days. Start around 15 to 20 minutes a day.
- Core = the McGill Big 3: curl-up (or front plank), side plank, bird dog.
- Train your back extensors too. Holds before reps.
- Open book for mobility, 90/90 on a bad day.
1. Walking
When my back is having a good day, I go for a walk. When my back is having a bad day, I also go for a walk. As a biomechanist, I think the rhythmic motion of taking steps and swinging your arms gives your spine gentle loading, which is great for a back that's rehabbing.
A 2024 trial called WalkBack followed 701 adults who had just recovered from back pain. Half got a walking and education program, and half got no treatment [1]. With the walking program, back pain took a median of 208 days to come back, versus 112 days with no treatment.
A 2026 review looked at how much walking people should do for low back pain. Walking reduced pain and disability, and the biggest drop in pain came at about 1,000 minutes in total over about 8 weeks [2]. That's roughly 15 to 20 minutes a day (my maths, not theirs), so try that and scale up or down as needed.
My own back pain reached its worst during my PhD, when I was studying for my comprehensive exams and sitting for long periods every day. So break up those sedentary periods, too.
2. Core exercises
Your core is everything that surrounds your trunk: the front, the sides and the back. Number two is the McGill Big 3. It's almost become a meme at this point. But in my experience they're really useful, particularly for people who are sensitive to bending forward or arching back, because they train you to hold your spine steady in neutral.
- Modified curl-up: lie on your back with your hands under your lower back so it doesn't round. Too easy? Hold longer at the top.
- Side plank: for a bonus, raise your top leg while you hold it.
- Bird dog: move your arms and legs at the same time while keeping a neutral spine. Make it easier with arms only or legs only, or harder by holding longer and doing more reps.
I've personally moved on from the modified curl-up to a front plank, as I find it more challenging and it challenges basically the same muscles. A 2019 lab study found the two work the rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscle) about equally [3].
3. Train your back extensors
Your back doesn't need days of bed rest. It needs training. Plenty of people are afraid to train their back extensors (the muscles up either side of your spine) when they have back pain.
A 2021 review compared training the posterior chain (the back of the body) to walking and other exercise for back pain [4]. Both helped. In programs of six weeks or more, the back-training groups gained more strength and had less disability, especially over 12 to 16 weeks. The extra drop in pain was borderline, so that change in disability is important.
And a 1984 study followed 928 Danish adults for a year. Men with better back muscle endurance were less likely to have their first bout of back trouble [5]. It's just an association, and it only held in men. So get training.
We can train these muscles isometrically (holding still, like a plank) in a neutral spine, at least until we've moved beyond the sensitive period.
- Seated good morning: sit on the edge of a chair or couch, brace your core, keep a neutral spine and lean forward from your hips and back up. If your back is highly sensitive, hold the forward lean. Progress by holding a weight or putting your hands behind your head.
- Standing hip hinge: a Romanian deadlift with nothing in your hands. Add weight or go one leg at a time.
- 45-degree back extension: start with static holds at the top. Once you can hold for a couple of minutes, move on to reps, but I'd still fall back on those holds.
I personally do erector exercises twice a week, and when I stopped treating my back as a fragile object and started training it, that's when I really started to notice improvements.
4. The open book
For mobility, my favourite is the open book. Lie on your side with your knees bent to about 90 degrees, then open the book by opening your arms, keeping the movement at your shoulders. For a greater stretch, hold your knee down.
5. A relief position
My favourite relief position is the 90/90. On a bad day, lie on the floor with your calves up on your couch or a chair (hips and knees bent to roughly 90 degrees) and just breathe gently. As a biomechanist, my read is that this takes some load off your low back, and it's very stable.
There's not a whole lot of clinical proof for this position. But in one small 2019 pilot study, 14 people with sciatica had less pain lying in an MRI scanner with their hips and knees bent than with their legs straight (about 3.3 vs 4.6 out of 10) [6].
Where to start
My personal routine features all five of these categories. Start out slowly, figure out what you can do, and build from there. If an exercise sends pain further down your leg or makes it sharper, drop to an easier level.
As always, have a great weekend.
Best,
Mitch
Want to know which back pain pattern matches you? Take my free 2-minute quiz and find out.
My free Back Again Basics programs lay these out with sets and reps for your pattern.
References
[1] Pocovi et al., 2024. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention for the prevention of low back pain recurrence in Australia (WalkBack): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 404(10448):134-144. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00755-4
[2] Núñez-Cortés et al., 2026. How much walking is enough for chronic low back pain? A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. PM R. doi:10.1002/pmrj.70189
[3] Calatayud et al., 2019. Tolerability and muscle activity of core muscle exercises in chronic low-back pain. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(19):3509. doi:10.3390/ijerph16193509
[4] Tataryn et al., 2021. Posterior-chain resistance training compared to general exercise and walking programmes for the treatment of chronic low back pain in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med Open 7(1):17. doi:10.1186/s40798-021-00306-w
[5] Biering-Sørensen, 1984. Physical measurements as risk indicators for low-back trouble over a one-year period. Spine 9(2):106-119. doi:10.1097/00007632-198403000-00002
[6] Espeland and Dalen, 2019. Disc and nerve root findings on lumbar MRI with straightened vs flexed hips and knees: pilot study. Br J Radiol 92(1096):20180851. doi:10.1259/bjr.20180851
Disclaimer: this content is educational only and does not constitute medical advice. See a practitioner if you suspect serious spinal trauma from a fall or accident, or if you experience any of the following red flag symptoms: loss of bowel or bladder control, numbness in the groin or saddle area, rapidly worsening leg weakness, back pain with fever or feeling generally unwell, or unexplained weight loss with back pain.