The 5 Best Exercises For Neck and Back Pain

Neck and back pain are two of the most common discomforts that affect people’s livelihood every day. However, they are relatively easy to treat or prevent from occurring in the first places here are….

…The Exercises You Need To Do To Relieve Neck And Back Pain

*These exercises are meant to deal with chronic overuse injuries which result in discomfort. If you pull a back muscle on a heavy deadlift, you will need to seek other treatment*

1) Increase Daily Activity

Unfortunately, with the current COVID situation, the activity level of many people has been dramatically diminished. This has caused the prevalence of these ailments to rise. This is because low activity levels have been one of the main contributors to muscle pains. This is why it is important to keep moving to prevent back pain and help mitigate symptoms if you are suffering.

Studies have shown that engaging in physical activity can decrease back pain symptoms and quicken the recovery process. In fact, it is one of the best recovery practices you can do. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you should go out and try to hit a PR on deadlift; what it means is engaging in low-intensity, low-stress activity can fix your broken back.

Some of the exercises you can use are:

• Brisk walks
• Yoga
• Tai chi
• Basic aerobic equipment

Interestingly, walking has even been found to decrease the risk of neck pain. By just adding 1,000 steps to your daily walking can reduce neck pain by 14%

The bottom line is DO NOT just sit down all day and wait for the pain to go away. It won’t and will likely become worse.

2) Bird Dog Exercise

The bird dog exercise is a classic for creating stronger core muscles, improving mobility, and treating back pain. It is one of renowned back and core experts Dr. Stuart Mcgills “Big 3” exercises. This movement is so effective because it causes high activation of the back extensor muscles but produces minimal stress on the spine. This is what you want when you are looking at strengthening and rehabbing these muscles.

There are two variations you can choose from when performing this movement.

• The conventional way: With one leg extended out along with the contralateral arm (opposite side)
• Leg extended only: The name says it all

The main difference is the while still low, the load on the spine is increased when the contralateral arm is extended. This means that you may only want to extend the leg immediately after an injury and gradually progress to raising the arm.

If you are not injured and only want to strengthen your back, use the original bird dog pose.

3) Face Pulls 

One of the main culprits for back and neck pain are weak postural muscles. This is caused by muscular imbalances since most daily activities take place on the interior of our body. Typing, writing, hand gestures, etc.; all this movement builds up over time and can cause these muscles to become stronger and tighter than the posterior muscles. This results in the shoulders and neck being pulled forward, causing stress.

 Also, many people work at computers or desks, which require them to be continuously slouched forward. This reinforces this poor position, further exacerbating the problem.

Doing face pulls regularly can compensate for the lack of use of the posterior back muscles. It will also specifically increase the shoulder complex and scapular muscles which are responsible for maintaining good posture.

When using face pulls to create good posture, you want to get a lot of volume in. Therefore, use 3-5 sets of 20 reps. Further, because the weight will be relatively low, you can train this multiple times every week. Do a few sets at the end of every workout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57qrOtpJrnE&t=16s

4) Cat And Cow Pose

Like the bird dog (other than being named after animals), the cat-cow pose is another classic in preventing and treating back pain. It’s also a movement that you can perform EVERY day, whether you’re rehabbing a sore back or just want to increase your back’s flexibility and mobility.

The cat and cow pose is a staple of yoga routines that effectively treat lower back pain. However, this pose has explicitly found its way into the offices of physical therapists, chiropractors, and performance specialists more-so than other movements. This is due to its effectiveness and ease of use.

The cat and cow pose uses flexion and extension of the spinal cord to strengthen all of the muscles while also decompressing the spine and stretching any tight muscles.

5) Band Pull Aparts

Like the face pulls, band pull aparts will increase the posterior pulling muscles, including the shoulder complex and scapular muscles. These are easily performed with a simple training band and can be done every day at home.

Band pull aparts are generally done with very high volume (100 reps) with very light bands. Again, the goal is to counteract the movement you perform daily with your anterior muscles. 100 sounds like a to, but how many times (or long) do you spend typing, writing, or using tools daily?

Do 100 daily, and your neck pain and posture will gradually improve.

Bonus TIP(s)!

As mentioned a few times, poor posture is one of the leading causes of neck and back pain. Therefore, FIX YOUR POSTURE. Even if you strengthen your postural muscles, you can still have poor posture due to bad habits. Be conscious about your posture during the workday and keep your back straight with your shoulders pulled back.

If you do sit down for work, try to get up on the hour and walk a little bit. It doesn’t need to be a mile run, just walking to the water fountain would do you good (and keep you hydrated!)

If you need more help or guidance on how to do these movements or want a program that will help you at home or your gym, check out our online training programs or our in-person small group team training!