By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    headphones can create health problems
    The Harmful Health Effects of Using Headphones
    September 24, 2021
    Headache causes
    4 Causes Of Headache You Probably Didn’t Know About
    December 28, 2021
    follow these steps to recover from your injury
    What Steps Should You Take to Recover More Quickly from an Injury?
    April 12, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    private
    Private Exchanges: Getting Ready for Individual Health Insurance to Be the Standard
    January 9, 2014
    valueable healthcare programs
    5 Most Valuable Healthcare Programs in 2023
    March 8, 2023
    Johnson & Johnson to Release Clinical Trial Data in Agreement with Yale Medical School
    February 4, 2014
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: 4 Low-Impact Exercises To Strengthen Your Core And Relieve Back Pain
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Wellness > 4 Low-Impact Exercises To Strengthen Your Core And Relieve Back Pain
Wellness

4 Low-Impact Exercises To Strengthen Your Core And Relieve Back Pain

andrewheikkila
andrewheikkila
Share
10 Min Read
SHARE

 

Contents
  • 1. Walking
  • 2. Swimming
  • 3. Stationary Cycling
  • 4. Elliptical Trainer

Suffering from chronic back pain can significantly affect how active you are, and may make you significantly more susceptible to a sedentary lifestyle, including the many health complications that accompany it.

Because back pain is often amplified by movement, many are not aware of the fact that light aerobic exercises can actually greatly improve your back health. Aerobic exercise, as you might know, increases the flow of blood and nutrients through our bodies, and increased blood flow is great for helping back pain as well as loosening up the joints and muscles that cause stiffness.

The key is doing light exercises that don’t require too much effort, impact, or strain from your core or back muscles, and doing these exercises long enough to get a significant amount of blood flow to the injured parts of your body. In this case, it’s good to do exercises that require you to maintain a straight posture, and are light on your legs, core, and back.

More Read

Top 10 Tips to Find the Best Mattress in the Market!
Larklife: The Wristband That Tracks You Eating, Sleeping or Running
Is the Keto Diet Healthy?
How To Keep Home Healthcare Workers Safe And Secure
How Where You Live Affects Your Allergies

Here are four low-impact exercises focused on aerobics that people of all fitness levels can do for extended periods of time to both get in shape and eliminate back pain.

1. Walking

Possibly the oldest form of exercise there is, walking puts very little stress on the joints. As an added plus, the human body is more used to walking than pretty much any other form of exercise — after all, it was the primary mode of movement that we’ve evolved to master.

The blood you get pumping in an hour of walking can slowly help heal your back as well as loosen it up. Many people don’t realize how many calories you can burn from walking; a 180-pound man can burn over 350 calories by walking 3.5 miles in 1 hour, while a 120-pound woman can burn around 225 calories doing the exact same activity. These measurements are a lot easier to obtain nowadays, however, which is attributable to the rise in popularity of wearables and “smart apparel” that track a user’s “speed, distance, and acceleration,” as well as “muscle activity, calorie burn, and other biometrics,” according to Amsterdam Printing.

Additionally, maintaining straight posture while walking is an extremely effective way to condition your muscles and joints to hold that posture whether you’re walking or not. As you strengthen your posture through walking, you’ll notice more support from your core, and, hopefully, less pain in your back.

2. Swimming

Having limited or no impact on the joints, swimming remains one of the best exercises for any disabled or injured person. Swimming forces you to use the core muscles that so many of us tend to neglect until we injure our backs, hips, or other major muscle groups.

Not only does swimming give all of your joint-supporting muscles a workout, but it is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise to help you prevent the onset of heart disease. The many muscles used during swimming require blood and heightened circulation, sending increased oxygen and nutrients to various parts of the body, allowing you to heal and bring balance and support to strained joints.

“Swimming fires up more of your body’s major muscle groups than other forms of cardio exercise,” says Natasha Van Der Merwe, director of triathlon at Austin Aquatics and Sports Academy in Austin, Texas. “Swimming not only engages your legs, but also recruits your upper body and core, especially your lats — the muscles of your middle back — and triceps,” she explains in an article for Healthline.

Swimming is a great full-body workout, and, because you’re suspended in water, the impact is essentially negated. As far as low-impact goes there’s only one other exercise that compares…

3. Stationary Cycling

One of the best fast-paced, low-impact forms of exercise that you can do, cycling gives your back a chance to rest while you get in an excellent workout. Like swimming, cycling increases circulation, and really gets the blood flowing in your hips and core, both of which are huge in supporting your back.

Cycling or “spin” classes have become very popular in the past decade or two, as they offer a strenuous workout from a comfortable seated position. Actual cycling, in comparison, can give you more of a view as you traverse across the land, but, unfortunately, it can be more dangerous, and, more importantly, harder on your back. Unless you have an extremely good suspension system on your bike, the ride could potential do more harm to your back and spine than good.

If you want to start a routine, start slowly, “perhaps with a five-minute session at a comfortable pace three times per day,” says Matt Goodemote in an article on arthritis.org. “Once people can ride with no pain for five minutes three times a day, I bump them up to seven minutes, then to 10, 15 or 20 three times per day – getting them to 30, 45 or 60 minutes of exercise per day. Initially, adding five minutes seems like a big jump, but once tolerance builds, larger gains are made in shorter time frames. Down the road, people can more easily add 15-minute increments to their rides.”

Stationary cycling, like swimming, puts little to no stress on your joints and could be a great regular routine for those with back injuries and/or chronic pain.

4. Elliptical Trainer

An elliptical machine offers as smooth a ride as a stationary cycle while giving you the same feeling as walking or even jogging. With an elliptical, you step up in fluid motion on rotating pedals, though your feet never move off of those pedals. It’s somewhat like cross-country skiing, as you are constantly taking power steps to keep the machine moving, and is a great workout for building up strength and endurance in your hips and core.

The elliptical machine is great for people who have less-than-healthy knees (as opposed to the stationary cycle) as well as a bad back because of the fluid motion of the machine. As with walking, straight posture is very important when using an elliptical in order to keep your rhythm and stride throughout your workout. This is a great machine for those with poor posture or who have to remain seated in an office all day.

Many back problems are brought about by either a weak core, back, and support muscles brought on by a sedentary lifestyle, or are simply brought about by overexertion during strenuous activities that are only done once in a while. The key to preventing back pain as well maintaining back support is consistent exercise of all of the supporting muscles.

It’s the simplest exercises that train our bodies to function as they should and, if done frequently, can prevent annoying joint and muscle aches from plaguing you. Along with these exercises, adequate stretching and rest can play a huge role in keeping your back healthy and loose. Take some time to stretch in the morning when you wake up or even if you have been sitting down for a long period of time. Do the same thing before and after daily exercise.

Remember, these exercises are meant to allow you to be active while putting less stress on your back — don’t forget to rest in between workouts. Including massage therapy is a good way to make sure you’re relaxed and well-rested after a workout, and it can also help to provide everyday pain relief, decrease recovery time, and prevent further injuries. Overexertion only hinders and never helps.

TAGGED:aerobicsback healthback paincirculaitoncyclingellipticalexercisefitnessswimmingwalking
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Salads Are NOT Good For You!

November 29, 2012
most healthy diets
Wellness

The Most Popular and Healthy Diets of 2022

April 25, 2022
Image
Home Health

The Bliss of Forgetting

March 16, 2012
Health carePublic HealthWellness

Impacts of Drug Abuse on Current Generation and Ways to Counter Them

April 12, 2018
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?