4 Rules For Doing Cardio With Back Pain

4 Rules For Doing Cardio With Back Pain

When it comes to doing cardio with underlying back pain it can be tough knowing what you should and shouldn’t do. You don’t remember experiencing weird pains when running before so why do you have them now and is it okay to push through?

Or maybe you are post-op and you’re wondering if doing cardio with the back pain you have now is safe.

These are all common worries and in today’s episode I want to share with you 4 rules you must follow when it comes to cardio with back pain.

What Cardio Can I do With Back Pain?

The type of cardio you can do with back pain will very. Every back or spine injury is different and depending on different biopsychosocial factors each persons list of cardio activities they can do will be different.

Here are a few Rules of Thumb (these are bonus rules compared to the video above)

RULE #1: Start with something low impact such as swimming or being on a stationary bike or elliptical. I strongly believe the way our body responds to cardio is just as mental as it is physical. SO start with something that requires less thinking.

RULE #2: Think simple. I know running a 5k is what your heart truly desires but that might be a bit too much right now. So take something simple like speed steps, air boxing or modified mountain climbers and start there.

RULE #3: Do more nasal breathing. Believe it or not we humans tend to take on more mouth breathing then we should and forget that nasal breathing is actually better for us. The cool thing about nasal breathing is that it is a bit harder to do when exercising due to the restriction you have compared to open mouth breathing. By switching to nasal breathing in your workouts you will get an added cardiovascular element at the same time.

Is Aerobic Exercise Good For Lower Back Pain?

The only time aerobic exercise becomes bad for back pain is if you are pushing the limits on what your body can handle or take on at your specific point of recovery.

Running and many other forms of aerobic exercise help build resilience in the tissues throughout the body and spine. Your body needs this challenge in order to get stronger and build the resilience to do other activities.

Its like only doing bicep curls with 10lb weights. If you only ever use 10lb weights you wont ever get stronger. You have to add the extra weight or challenge and wrestle with it until your body adapts and gets stronger.

Thanks for checking it out and be sure to share this article with one of your running buddies trying to navigate low back pain!