How to manage common low back pain with exercise?
Being as physically active as possible helps manage low back pain, as long as exercise is done within the restrictions that may come with pain. Exercise is a powerful tool for strengthening muscles supporting the spine and therefore the lower back, but also stretching muscle tightness that might be responsible for pain. While pain might be limiting, staying active prevents further loss of physical fitness, muscle strength and cardiorespiratory function. Staying active therefore helps you ensure that other aspects of your health do not deteriorate.

As you start to recover, your exercise program’s intensity should increase. Specific exercises that increase your range of spinal movement and strengthen the trunk and abdominal muscles are important. The evidence suggests that doing these specific exercises post-back pain, can help prevent future episode of lower back pain. To keep physically improving, your exercise program must become increasingly more difficult; this is called graduated training.

Why is physical activity or exercise important in the management of depression? People who undertake regular physical activity or exercise, even at very low levels, are less likely to experience symptoms of depression. Exercise has a moderate clinical effect on depressive symptoms and may be as effective as psychological or pharmaceutical therapies for some individuals. Physical activity and exercise is effective in reducing symptoms of depression even for people experiencing other mental disorders. Perhaps more importantly, regular physical activity and exercise is a well-established strategy for weight management, improving diabetes control and reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease that often occurs in mental ailments including depression.