6 Exercises for a Healthy Back
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Published Jan 20, 2016, Updated Mar 20, 2023
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A mix of stretches and strengthening moves for a healthy back that can easily be done at home without any equipment.
As someone with scoliosis I know the importance of maintaining a healthy back. I’ve seen many doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists and natural healers. I’ve done pilates and yoga. While all of these things are great — I’ve had some awesome doctors and I love going to yoga classes. I think it’s really important to have exercises you can do at home on a daily basis to keep your back muscles strong, flexible and less prone to injury so I’ve put together a short list of my favorite moves for maintaining a healthy back. It’s a mix of stretches and strengthening moves that can easily be done at home without any equipment. If you have scoliosis, deal with back pain or just want to keep your back feeling healthy, these moves may help you!
6 Exercises for a Healthy Back
Make sure you check out the videos or explantations of each move before trying them. Proper form is essential. 🙂
Cat/Cow: This move is a yoga essential and consists of moving the spine from a rounded position (cow) to an arched one (cat). It’s a easy and gentle way to warm up the spine while increasing circulation of the spinal fluid.
Bird-Dog: This move is used to strengthen the core and improve balance.
Child’s Pose: A restorative yoga move, this is a neutral position that relaxes your spine, shoulders and neck. I really like doing a variation of child’s pose by taking my hands and upper body to both the right and left sides for a few breaths. It feels amazing to stretch out along the side-body.
Plank: Another core strengthening move, the plank is an awesome move to strengthen the core and back.
Bridge: This move is a beginner backbend and one of my favorites as it always relaxes my back. I do it in every yoga class I take, right before savasana when the instructors tells you to do anything else you need to before resting.
Supine Knee Twist: A relaxing move that stretches the back muscles and spine while opening tight shoulders.
Great recap, Brittany! As a yoga teacher, I couldn’t have summed up better exercises for a healthy back. As a long-time reader of your blog, I would just like to let you know that if you ever would like a guest post from a yoga teacher/dietitian let me know!
I’m definitely sending this to Alex & my mom! They’ve both had a history of back issues so this is perfect!
This is such a great post! I also have scoliosis and have loved these poses during my yoga classes – I really should start taking them “off the mat” and doing this series at home. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Thank you so much for this post!! I just twinged my back a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t even doing anything strenuous. Thankfully it’s healed now. But these are easy stretches I can do to make sure my back stays healthy and strong.
Thank you so much for sharing these exercises. I have had (still have at times) huge problems with my back so these exercises would be great for me to add to my usual strengt training at home. I already do some of them but some of these exercises are new to me. Can’t wait to try them and see if they work for me.
Thanks for this post! I always get this occasional twinge in my back when I move a certain way, so I’ll definitely be taking out my yoga mat to do these at home 🙂
Thank you so much! I’ve been totally enjoying your blog and the diversity of your posts. So relatable! Thank you ????
These are all great moves! I injured my lower back in high school and am always looking for ways to strengthen my back muscles. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been doing a LOT of yoga lately and these poses always feel sooo good on my back! 🙂 Great post!
Thanks for a helpful post! I often neglect my back when I workout. Definantly something to work on.
Thank you Brittany for your post. I just read your blog about the IDEA Conf. & I’m very intrigued by it. I have scoliosis too & just suffer from a lot of back/neck pain due to a mostly desk job 5 days a week. I love learning about health & nutrition & exercise. It’s something I’m always trying to research to see if I can do more to integrate into my schedule that I’m not currently doing. I would love to be a health coach someday.
An excellent overview of simple exercises to strengthen the back. As we age, attending to posture and strengthening the core muscles is critical. The simple process of re-inforcing the ability and habit to stand and sit up straight makes a huge difference to our overall physical and emotional health.
Thank you for setting out these exercises so clearly, it is a great resource.
Informative! A great help in to having a healthy back. Thanks for sharing!
super post
I’m the newbie to your website this really an awesome website and thanks for sharing this post with us.
Perfect, so simple and easy to do anywhere.
I am a flight paramedic and often have to sit hunched over patients in small planes for extended periods of time. This is a great set of exercises I can do anywhere I travel. Thanks.
Your yoga exercise is effective to overcome from backbone pain.
Great post! Thank you for sharing. Some don’t realize how beneficial this can be!
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