Aerobic Exercise for Low Back Pain

Exercising with a sore back is challenging and often avoided. Unfortunately, this pain-avoidance behavior leads to more pain, more health problems, and a poorer quality of life. The only way to break this cycle is by gradually re-introducing activities like aerobic exercise. As fitness levels improve, many systems within the body will start to work better. More oxygen and nutrient rich blood will reach the tissues. The immune system will become stronger. Bowels movements will become regular. Sleep will normalize. And pain relief will improve because exercise triggers the release of natural pain relievers in the brain like the endorphins. With all these potential benefits gained from exercise, even back pain is not a good enough reason to avoid it. And yes, aerobic activity is possible with back pain.

When someone thinks about aerobic exercise, the natural tendency is to imagine a bone-jarring jog or a hair-raising bike ride. These methods are not appropriate for some with back pain because the goal is not to increase pain. The goal is to work up a good sweat, comfortably. And I do mean sweat; thus, the little stroll to the mailbox or around the yard is not enough to condition the body. I am here to tell you that the best way to participate in an aerobic exercise with back pain is to use a walker. What??!!? A walker? How is that going to help work up a sweat?

A walker is an important tool needed to use an UPRIGHT stationary bike comfortably. Why UPRIGHT? A recumbent stationary bicycle places the legs too far out in front of the torso which increases stress on the low back. I could talk about lever arm forces, but I do not want to interject a physics lesson here. Once seated on the UPRIGHT stationary bicycle, the seat height is adjusted for comfort. But, what do you do with your hands? Don’t you dare put them on the handle bars in front of you because that will force the low back into a flexed position and stress the low back. You need a walker to have an alternative place to put your hands.

At this point, please notice the included pictures that are worth a 1000 words. Notice the placement of the walker in such a way that the handles are on either side of the stationary bicycle seat. Notice the arms are positioned straight down the torso and can bear some of the weight, alleviating pressure from the low back. In this fashion, as one is pedaling, a traction-force can be placed on the spine. Not only is this a way to exercise with low back pain, this is also a way to depressurize the spine while working out. Double the benefits, double the pleasure; exercising with low back pain is possible with this technique, a technique I have been utilizing for over a decade with my cranky back.

Sometimes even this position does not unload the spine enough for exercise to be comfortable. If that is the case, then a contraption can be rigged so that you can practically be lying down while pedaling. For more information or pictures about that, please contact me. Otherwise, quit making excuses, hop on a bike and start moving the legs. Your back and body will appreciate some aerobic activity to get those good juices and chemicals flowing.

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Back and Neck by drlasich