The number one cause of disability is low back pain. Many think that giving your back muscles a rest is the best cure. These experts say the contrary.

Health

Experts agree: Here are some scientifically proven exercises to deal with chronic back pain: “You gotta get movin’”

Greg Heilman

Update: Jun 16th, 2026 07:21 EDT

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The World Health Organization says that low back pain is “the single leading cause of disability in 160 countries.” For those that have developed chronic back pain, many think that they should take it easy, so as not to trigger another episode or get it to go away faster.

Quite the contrary, according to doctors Brad Weening and Paul Zalzal, orthopedic surgeons and the hosts of the ‘Talking With Docs’ podcast. In a recent video they posted on YouTube, while it might seem counterintuitive, they say that “you’ve gotta get movin’.”

Get moving to treat chronic back pain

The two members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada shared five exercises that can help people with chronic back pain, even serve those who haven’t developed it yet to be used as a form of preventative care. They point out that “the American College of Family Physicians actually recommends exercises as opposed to injections, imagining, or surgery for low back pain.”

However, the doctors warned before going into the exercises that they are not for people who have acute back injuries from falling or lifting heavy objects, nor back pain that suddenly sets in. Some red flags that the doctors mention that are signs you should “definitely” go see a health professional are “numbness, tingling, progressively increasing amounts of pain or heaven forbid bowel or bladder dysfunction,” as well as “fever, chills associated with it.”

The target of these exercises are a triad of muscle groups including your lower back, abdomen, or core muscles, and glutes. And while you may think to yourself that your muscles are too weak to do the exercises, that is exactly why you should be doing them, starting off slow and building up strength and stamina.

The five exercises include the following:

McGill curl-up
Bird Dog
Glute Bridge
Side Plank
Sit-to-Stand

McGill curl-up

The health experts explained that this exercise is named after fellow Canadian physician Dr. Stuart McGill, who realized that back pain wasn’t caused by a lack of core strength but instead a shortage of core endurance, or how long before your muscles tired.

In order to build up that necessary core endurance, the McGill curl-up was developed. This activity involves lying on your back, bending one of your knees at roughly a 90 degree angle, and keeping that leg’s foot on the ground. Next put your hands behind your lower back to help maintain the normal lumbar curvature. Now raise your head and shoulder blades an inch or two off the ground. Repeat 8 to 10 times carefully.

Bird Dog

You need to get down on all fours for this activity, so it’s recommended you provide some padding for your knees, something the doctors always suggest people do when the knees will be making contact with the ground. Similar to a hunting dog that points, lift up one arm and stretch it out as well as the opposite leg in the other direction. Then switch.

You want to get a perfect straight line if possible. If you cannot get your leg all the way off the ground, “something is better than nothing,” the doctors agree.

To avoid twisting and arching, you can imagine that you have a glass of water on your back. One modification if your balance is getting poor, is to do just one arm or one leg at a time.

This 5 minute lower back drill will change your life:

1. Bridge holds activate your glutes.
2. McGill crunch activates your core.
3. Cat cows keep your spine mobile.
4. Side plank holds activate your glutes & obliques.
5. Bird dogs activate your core & glutes while promoting… pic.twitter.com/hdw80VafGz
— Dan Go (@CoachDanGo) February 5, 2024

Glute Bridge

For this exercise you lie on your back with both knees bent. Then you arch your pelvis to the point where your back is straight, no more. Again, something is better than nothing. They recommend doing this activity 8 to 10 times, multiple times per day.

Side Plank

Begin by lying on your side on the ground with your knee and elbow on the ground and then raising your waist so that your side is a straight line, holding it, and then letting it down again. They recommend holding it for 5 to 6 seconds at first but over time increasing the amount of time until you can do say six minutes or half a day.

As you build strength, you can also try lifting your knees off the ground so that only the palm of your hand and ankles are supporting you. The doctors also suggest having a spotter or doing it next to a wall, especially if you have poor balance, to avoid injury

Sit-to-Stand

This activity works your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, and is essentially getting up out of a chair from a sitting position to standing, ideally without using your arms. However, in the beginning you may need to use your arms to give you a little more push to get up.

How often should you be doing these exercises for low back pain

Ideally, Dr. Weening would like people to do these activities every day, three times a day. But if you can at least shoot for three to four times a week, for between five and ten minutes, that can suffice. “Movement beats rest!”