Share a Hobby or Class

Spend time with your kids or grandkids and have fun while you’re moving. Even with arthritis, you can enjoy the low-impact exercise you need to keep joints flexible and muscles strong. Try taking a class together or share an active hobby, such as swimming, golf, dancing, or gardening.

Train for a Fun Run or 5K

Take part in a local fun run, walk, or 5K with the kids. Talk to your doctor to make sure running or walking is OK for you. Then find out the best way to get started based on your flexibility, strength, and ability.

Try Tabletop Games

Knee osteoarthritis pain can keep you from spreading out on the floor to play traditional games like puzzles, chess, and dominoes. Instead, take them to a table so you can sit comfortably. Or introduce kids to active games like table tennis, foosball, or billiards that let you move around to help prevent stiffness.

Cooking With the Kids

Every pound of excess weight you lose takes four pounds of pressure off your knees. So a healthy weight may mean less arthritis pain — particularly when you have knee osteoarthritis. Although no diet prevents arthritis or lessens its progression, a balanced diet is vital for weight management. Cook with the kids and whip up healthy muffins, casseroles, or breads.

Arts and Crafts

Get small muscles in motion by getting crafty. There are so many things you can do — from models, mosaics, and scrapbooks to jewelry, candles, and decorating clothes. If arthritis in your hands prevents you from doing a lot of cutting or painting, let the kids do the detail work while you do the bigger jobs or oversee the project.

Get Outside

Stretching and strength-building are vital if you have arthritis, so find a way to get some activity in while you’re outdoors. Grab the kids and kick through fallen leaves as you head out to fly kites. Toss a ball back and forth, but buy several sizes, to suit your grip. Or design an obstacle course that encourages flexibility along with fun. Just be sure to listen to your body, so you don’t overdo it.

Have High-Tech Fun

Get an easy aerobic workout as you walk parks and trails with geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunt that uses GPS to find hidden objects tucked inside containers. Or take the fun indoors with active video games that get you moving and off the couch. As with all exercise, avoid specific movements that put too much pressure on your joints.

Clean Up

Get a spic-and-span house and yard with the benefit of mild stretches and range-of-motion exercises. If your kids or grandkids are small, keep pint-sized brooms, mops, and rakes on hand, then get “help” with the chores. Remember to take stretching breaks often and alternate motions so you don’t strain your joints. Choose ergonomic tools for easier gripping.

Go Treasure Hunting

Hide toys and trinkets around the yard or park (stretch gently when you are reaching to place the items), then join kids on a scavenger hunt. Or buy a few pairs of low-cost binoculars or magnifying glasses, grab a nature guide, and get some aerobic exercise as you search for birds, butterflies, bugs, or wild flowers.

Grow a Garden

Kids love digging in the dirt, so start a container garden or a couple of raised garden beds and see who can grow the brightest flowers or biggest tomatoes. Make sure you have great equipment, including pads to kneel on and ergonomic tools with fatter grips or longer handles.

Walk the Dog

Grab the kids and dog and get walking. Not only will you get your muscles moving, but a stroll can help relieve arthritis symptoms for you and your pet. Research shows that walking can ease pain, improve function, and increase quality of life for people with osteoarthritis. For a stronger workout, enroll everyone in dog agility training classes.

Discover Your Own Fun

Whatever you do with your kids or grandkids, the point is to stay active. When you have arthritis, joints often hurt — so it’s tempting to stop using them. But then muscles get weak, joints have more trouble functioning, and pain may increase. So whether it’s swimming, walking, or just spending time on the playground, it’s important to keep moving.

Less Pain, More Energy

Don’t let the muscle pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia keep you on the sidelines. You can — and should — get moving. A few simple tweaks to common exercises can boost your energy, ease pain and stiffness, lift your mood, and improve your sleep. Check with your doctor before you start.

Get Warmed Up

Take time to loosen your muscles first. It will help you avoid injury. Start with your feet and work your way up. Make slow, circular motions (clockwise and counter-clockwise) with all your joints until they move easily. If it hurts, stop.

Stretch More, Hurt Less

Daily stretches can help your joints move more smoothly. You may hear this called range of motion. Focus on the big muscle groups: calves, thighs, hips, lower back, and shoulders. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds. Stop if it hurts. Try to stretch two to three times a week.

Calf Stretches

Here’s how to do this move. Face a wall. Place your palms flat on the surface, one foot forward, and one foot back. Leave your heels on the floor and lean forward. Feel the pull in your calf and the Achilles tendon at the back of your ankle. Hold the position for 30 seconds. Switch legs and repeat. Stretch each calf three times.

Aerobic Exercise

This is one of the best ways to take charge of your fibromyalgia. An aerobic exercise uses your large muscles over and over for a set period of time. Walking is the easiest, and you don’t need any special tools other than a good pair of shoes. Swimming and biking are also good options. The trick is to find something you like and do it for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. If you need to start with 10 minutes and work your way up, do it.

Boost Your Muscles and Mood

Strength exercises can lower your pain and help with depression. You don’t need to lift a heavy barbell. What matters here is the range of movements you take your muscles through. Before you start, get tips from a trainer at a fitness center. Ask how to use handheld weights, elastic bands, or strength-training machines the right way, so you don’t injure yourself or make your pain worse.

Isometric Chest Press

If regular strength-training hurts, try exercises called isometrics. You’ll tense your muscle without any visible movement. Here’s how: Hold your arms at chest height. Press your palms together as hard as you can. Hold for 5 seconds, then rest for 5 seconds. Do this five times. Slowly build to holding the press for 10-15 seconds at a time. If this move is painful, ask a trainer to show you another isometric chest exercise.

Isometric Shoulder Extension

Stand with your back against a wall and your arms at your sides. With your elbows straight, push your arms back toward the wall. Hold for 5 seconds, and then rest. You can repeat this 10 times. If the move hurts, ask a trainer to show you another isometric shoulder exercise.

Ice Your Pain

If you overdo it during your workout, a cold compress can help. It eases pain and swelling. You can wrap the cold pack in a towel so it isn’t right against your skin. Leave it on for 20 minutes, then take if off for the same amount of time.

How Much Is Enough?

If you’re just getting started with exercise, choose low- to moderate-intensity activities. Your choices include mall walking, swimming, water aerobics, using a kickboard in a pool, yoga, tai chi, or biking. Start slow and increase the time and intensity as you can. Again, your goal is to work up to 30 minutes a day, 5 days of the week.

Daily Activities Count

Household chores like mopping floors, washing windows, and mowing the yard are exercise. So are fun things like gardening and playing with kids or grandkids. Anything that gets you moving can help when it comes to boosting fitness and easing your symptoms.

Yoga for Body/Mind Fitness

This blend of stretches and meditation can also help you get more fit. The postures you hold, called asanas, ease aches and pains. And the exercises that teach you to focus your thoughts, called dharana, can help you overcome fibro fog. Meditation keeps your mind in the present, which help you handle pain.

What Type of Yoga Works Best?

Viniyoga is a type that mixes deep breathing with gentle stretches. It’s a great way to improve your health. You’ll need to find a good teacher who knows how to work with someone who has fibromyalgia. Check with your local community center or gym. Or ask your support group, an online fibro community, or your doctor for suggestions.

Qigong for Muscle Pain

This ancient practice is known as the “mother of Chinese healing,” and it’s pronounced chee-gong. It combines meditation, dance, movement, and breathing techniques. Studies show it can improve energy, lessen fatigue, and ease pain. Visit the National Qigong Association’s web site for more information.

Tai Chi Boosts Flexibility

This exercise helps you relax. Think of it as “meditation in motion,” with gentle, flowing movements instead of forceful actions. It can lower your stress, improve balance and flexibility, and build muscle strength. Sign up for a class at your fitness or community center.

Heat Can Help

Use it before and after a workout to ease any pain and stiffness or to reduce muscle spasms. Heating pads, heat lamps, and warm baths or wash cloths are all good choices. Use the heat for 20 minutes, then stop for 20 minutes before you try it again.

Get Fit at Home

You don’t need machines at the gym to get fit. Your own body weight and gravity can do the job, and you’ll work them with these 15 moves. Not active now? Check in with your doctor first, and if something hurts, stop. You’re on your way to getting into your best shape!

Wood Chop

Your whole upper body gets a muscle-ripping workout here, including the abs. Start with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Attach a band overhead and grab it over the shoulder, trunk angled toward the band. Pull down to the opposite hip, rotating slightly. Slowly return.

Standing Tubing Row

This move hits all the muscles used in a pull-up, as well as all your core muscles. Grasp the handles with straight arms and tubing taut. Pull the handles towards you and lean back a little. Focus on bringing your shoulder blades back and together. Pause and slowly straighten arms back to the starting position without bending forward.

For safety reasons, do not lean back. Should the band break or come loose, there is high risk of fall.

Circuit Train to Burn Fat

Want to burn fat quickly? Rapid-fire circuits turn strength moves into calorie-torching, cardio work. “If your goal is weight loss, use light weights and low reps,” says exercise physiologist Pete McCall, of the American Council on Exercise. A circuit may include push-ups, pull-ups, and crunches followed by a two-minute run. Repeat or alternate with another circuit of biceps curls, dips, and shoulder presses to target smaller muscles.

Pull-up

Pull-ups work arm and back muscles, giving you great bang for your buck. Having the palms facing you works not just the back, but also targets the biceps. Grasp the chin-up bar and cross your legs to keep the lower body stable. Slowly pull your body up, bending your elbows, until your chin is level with the bar. Pause, then slowly return to your starting position. Repeat.

Wide Grip Push-up

A wide grip makes the chest muscles work a little harder. Place your hands outside the shoulders. You should engage your core, thigh, and glutes to get the most out of this or any push-up. As you lift, “Think about gripping the ground with your hands to engage the large muscles of the pectoralis major,” McCall says.

Decline Push-up

This challenging push-up can kick your shoulder strength up a couple notches. Get into a standard push-up: hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart, fingers facing forward, elbows slightly bent, and eyes on the floor. Then place feet behind you on a stair, chair, or bench. Keep your body in a straight line, engage the abs, bend your elbows, and lower your chest towards the floor. Push back to starting position.

Jump Train for Power

Pro athletes train with jumping jacks and other explosive moves to increase muscle power. It helps basketball players jump higher and tennis players get to the ball faster. Jump training is also called plyometrics, and it’s not for beginners or for those with joint issues. But if you have good strength and balance, it can ramp up your game. Try adding plyometric moves to your workout once or twice a week.

Jump Squat

Shift your hips back and down until your heels start to lift off the floor. Explode up, swinging the arms overhead as you straighten your legs. Create a straight line from toes to fingers, with your back flat. Land softly on the middle of your foot and sink back into a squat to help absorb the impact.

Jump Lunge

Try this advanced move on grass or another soft surface. Sink into a lunge position with left leg forward, right leg back, and both knees bent to 90 degrees. Swing your arms behind you for greater power as you jump up, using your arms to assist as needed. Keep your back straight, eyes facing forward, and use your abs. Switch legs in the air and land softly, returning to the lunge position. Rest after each set.

How to Trim Belly Fat

To lose belly fat, you’ll want a full-body exercise routine that builds lean muscle all over. Muscle burns calories, even at rest. So having more muscle helps to melt fat all over, including the belly. The best plan is to make cardio, strength training, and a healthy diet part of your daily routine.

Split Squat With Biceps Curl

Rest your right foot on a step, stair or chair well behind you, with your weight on your bent left leg. Keep your head up, eyes forward, and weights at your side. Very important: Keep the front knee directly over the ankle. Now, slowly lower your hips by bending the front knee. Push back up and pull the weights up towards shoulders, but don’t twist the arms as you lift. Do all reps and switch legs.

One-legged Hamstring Blaster

Strong hamstrings help power your legs. To challenge these muscles, lie with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and both heels on a chair or stair. Cross one ankle over the opposite thigh just above the knee. Now raise your hips as high as you can and keep your back straight — do not arch. Pause at the top and slowly lower hips back to the ground and repeat. Switch legs.

Chair Dip

This simple move tones the backs of the arms. Sit on the edge of a step or chair, palms on each side, and knees bent to 90-degrees. Now, move your hips forward, off the step, until your hands are supporting your weight. Slowly lower your body, keeping your back very close to the step. Bend the elbows until you upper arms are parallel to the floor. Slowly push back up and repeat.

Double Chair Dip

To really challenge triceps, position two chairs facing each other. Sit on the edge of one, palms on each side of your hips. Straighten your legs and prop up your heels on the opposite chair. Scoot down until you’re supporting your weight on your hands. Slowly lower your body by bending your elbows until upper arms are parallel to the floor — and keep your back close to the chair behind you. Slowly push back up and repeat.

Love Handles?

Looking to trim your waist? Your best bet is to work on slimming down all over with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. You can work on strengthening your core muscles with moves such as wood chops or planks.

Basic Plank

This move strengthens all the core muscles, helping to tone the mid-section. Lie on your stomach, elbows close to your sides and directly under your shoulders, palms down. Using your abs, slowly lift your torso off the floor, keeping your torso and legs steady. Don’t let your low back sag and don’t hike up your hips. Hold this position for 15 seconds or more — and don’t hold your breath!

Dynamic Plank

Try this advanced move only after mastering the traditional plank. Support your weight with chest and forearms on top of a fitness ball. Keep legs straight and toes on the floor and contract the abdominals to help stay balanced. Shift your weight to your left leg as you bend your right knee and bring it up to meet the ball; slowly return it to starting position and repeat. Switch legs.

Two-Legged Hamstring Curl

A slightly easier hamstring challenge uses two legs. Lie on the floor with heels and ankles on a fitness ball. Dig your heels into the ball and raise your hips as high as you can, while keeping your back straight — do not arch. Now bend your knees to a 90-degree angle and roll the ball toward you. Pause at the top and slowly lower hips back to the ground and repeat.

Ball Plank With Shoulder Extension

Ready to work every muscle in your body? This move comes close, with a special challenge for the core. Put your chest, stomach, and hands (with weights) on a fitness ball, legs straight to the floor. Slowly raise one arm behind you, toward the ceiling. Contract your abs to keep from rolling off the ball, but don’t forget to breathe. Pause, slowly return your hand to the ball, and repeat with the other arm.

Protect Your Lower back

If you have low back pain, warm up by gently stretching your hips before working out. Kneel down on one knee with that foot trailing behind you. Keep your legs parallel to each other, hands on the bent knee, and let your hips sink forward to the floor. Don’t lean forward. Your knee can reach beyond your ankle to put less strain on it. Hold for 30 seconds and switch legs.

Sit Much?

Got a desk job? Get up each hour and move a bit, even if you’re just walking around the office. Watch your posture — your ears, shoulders, and hips should be in line. Gentle stretching can also help you feel better after spending all that time at your desk.

How Many Reps Are Right for You?

For strength and power, aim for three sets of six reps. For general muscle growth and toning, try three sets of 6-12 reps. If you’re striving for muscle endurance, plan on two to three sets of 12 or more reps with 30-second rest periods. Remember, if something doesn’t feel right, stop and check with a fitness expert. Depending on your health and physical condition, some exercises may be better for you than others.

The 30–Minute Fitness Blitz

Think you don’t have time to work out? You do. It’s the intensity of your workout that’s key. A short–burst, high–intensity workout boosts your metabolism and tones muscles. Get moving with this 30–minute “quickie” routine that includes cardio and resistance training.

If you’re new to exercise, a man over age 45 or woman over age 55, or have a health problem, check with your doctor before starting a fitness program.

Beginner Squats: For Thighs

If you’re new at this, get started with a beginner version of squats using an exercise ball. Stand against a wall with the ball at your lower back, feet hip–width apart and out in front. Keeping your body upright, slowly lower your body by bending at the hips and knees, dropping glutes toward the floor; slowly move back to the starting position. Do 10 times.

Squats: For Thighs

Once you’re ready, try squats without an exercise ball. For good form: Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your back straight. Bend your knees and lower your rear as if you were sitting down, keeping your knees over your ankles. In the “wrong” picture, notice how the knees are too far forward. To target more muscle groups in less time, add an overhead press at the same time. With a dumbbell in each hand, rise from the squat position and push weights overhead, palms out. Do 10 times.

Forward Lunge: For Thighs

Standing with feet hip–width apart, take a big step forward with one leg, then lower your body toward the floor, front knee aligned with ankle, back knee pointing to the floor. Return to the starting position, and repeat by stepping forward with the other leg. For more challenge, hold a free weight in both hands and complete the lunge with a rotation in the torso, twisting the body toward the forward leg. Do 10 times on each side.

Deadlift: For Hamstrings

To do a deadlift holding a bar or free weights, stand up straight with feet hip–width apart. Bend at your hips, moving the hips backward as you lower your upper body parallel to the floor. Keep your legs straight without locking the knees, and keep the back level and the spine in neutral. Lower the weight to just below your knees, then slowly return to the starting position. Do 10 times.

Bridge: For Glutes

The bridge works the glutes (butt), hamstrings, and core. Lying on your back with knees bent and feet hip-width apart, peel your spine off the floor, starting at the tailbone, forming a diagonal line from knees down to shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position. For an extra challenge: Target your triceps by holding light weights, lifting your arms toward the ceiling as you raise your hips. Bend your elbows to lower the weights towards the floor. Do 10 times.

Push-Ups: For Chest and Core

Let’s move to the upper body. Push-ups strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles. Starting on all fours, place hands a bit wider than your shoulders. Place toes on the floor, creating a smooth line from shoulders to feet. Keeping core muscles engaged, lower and lift your body by bending and straightening your elbows. Too hard? Place knees on the floor instead of toes. To boost the workout, add an exercise ball under the hips, knees, or feet. Do 10 times.

Chest Press: For the Chest

For a less demanding exercise than push-ups, you can try the chest press with weights. Lie face-up on a bench, with knees bent or feet on the floor, spine relaxed. Press a bar or dumbbells from your chest toward the ceiling. Extend your arms but don’t lock the elbows, and move slowly in both directions, keeping shoulder blades on the bench. For an extra challenge, do the chest press with your head and upper back on an exercise ball. Do 10 times.

Bent-Over Row: For Back and Biceps

The bent-over row works all the major muscles of the upper back as well as the biceps. Begin the exercise in a bent-over position with your back flat, one knee and one hand on the same side of the body braced on a bench. Hold a free weight in the other hand with arm extended. Lift the weight toward the hip until the upper arm is just beyond horizontal, see right. Then slowly lower weight to the starting position. Do 10 times.

Shoulder Press: For Shoulders

A shoulder press works the shoulder muscles and can be performed standing or seated. For extra back support, use a bench with a back rest. Begin with elbows bent and weights at shoulders. Slowly reach toward the ceiling, keeping the elbows under the hands and the shoulders away from the ears; slowly lower back to the starting position. Do 10 times.

Cable Pull Down: For Upper Back

For the last upper body exercise, do the cable pull down, which works the upper back. Using a cable machine, sitting straight with a neutral spine, grasp the bar with arms extended. Slowly pull the bar down past the face and toward the chest. Only go as far as you can without leaning back, and control the weight on the way back up. Do 10 times.

Bicycle Crunch: For Core & Abdominals

Lying on your back on the floor, fold knees toward the chest and curl the upper body off the floor. With hands behind head, slowly rotate upper body to the right while drawing the right knee in and reaching the left leg out. Then rotate left and pull the left knee in and extend right leg out. Focus on bringing the shoulder toward the hip (rather than the elbow to the knee), and keep the opposite shoulder off the floor. Do 10 times.

Side Plank: For Core or Abdominals

For another abdominal alternative, lie on your side with a bent elbow directly under your shoulder, and use your torso muscles to lift the body up into a side plank. Then lift the hips higher, then back to the plank, then lower. Do as many as you can with proper form, then repeat on the other side. If this exercise hurts your shoulder or neck, lift only your legs, keeping the hips stacked. Your head will rest on your bent arm.

Go For 20 Minutes

Before moving on to the cardio portion of the workout, be sure you’ve completed 20 minutes of resistance training. If you have, now’s a good time for a water break to keep your body well-hydrated. If you haven’t, go back and start the circuit over again until you reach the 20 minute goal.

Cardiovascular Training

Vary the intensity during your cardio workout. Use intervals, taking about a minute to get from moderate speed to intense. Whether you’re on the stair-stepper, the elliptical trainer, or the treadmill, do:

• 30 seconds of the highest speed you can tolerate, then 30 seconds of normal speed.
• Then 30 seconds of the stiffest resistance you can handle, then 30 seconds of normal.

Keep moving back and forth between speed and resistance until you’ve completed 10 minutes.

How Often?

Do this 30-minute workout routine every other day, or do it two days in a row if that’s better for your schedule. These are not hard-core exercises where you need more rest to recover.

How Can I Relieve My Lower Back Pain?

You feel it each time you bend over or stand up. It’s that groan-inspiring ache that shoots through your lower back and never seems to fully go away. Sometimes called lumbago or spondylosis, lower back pain is one of the most common forms of chronic pain among adults.

Maybe you’ve been resting, hoping the back pain just needs time to heal. But most doctors now encourage lower back pain sufferers to get active and move their backs and related muscles as a better pain relief treatment.

Movement can help relieve back pain, but only the right kind; avoid workouts that put too much stress and strain on the back. So which exercises should you choose? That partly depends on how intense your pain is, and what causes it. So, you should always get the recommendation of your doctor before doing any heavy exertion for lower back pain.

The following slides present several simple exercises that can help relieve lower back pain, and also highlight a few activities to avoid. With your doctor’s approval, adding these movements to your workout routine can free you from your nagging, daily pain, leading to better overall health.

Skip the Toe Touches

Fitness is often a great treatment for back pain, but some movements offer you little health benefit. Toe touches can harm your back. Toe touches from a standing position can aggravate sciatica and other conditions by overstressing ligaments and spinal disks. Another cause for concern is the way standing toe touches can overstretch hamstrings and muscles in your lower back.

How Much Pain Is Too Much?

Some mild discomfort and pain can be expected anytime you start a new workout. As you work your way back to better health and your muscles strengthen, that pain and discomfort should disappear. But when a fitness routine causes moderate or severe pain symptoms that lasts longer than 15 minutes, you should end the exercise and check in with your doctor.

Pain Relief: Try Partial Crunches

Crunches are great for your back. One of the classic core-strengthening workouts is the partial stomach crunch. Partial crunches build strength in both your lower back and related stomach muscles, making this an ideal exercise for people with spondylosis.

Here’s how to get the most out of partial crunches:

• • Lie back, and keep your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent.
  • With your hands behind your head or with arms crossed around your chest, raise your shoulders from the floor. Make sure to keep your stomach muscles tight.
  • Breath out while raising your shoulders. Avoid leading with your elbows (or yanking your neck off the floor with your arms).
  • Hold for one second. Next, lower yourself back down to the floor in a controlled manner.
  • Repeat with between eight and 12 repetitions. Remember to follow proper form, which prevents excessive spine stress. Keep your feet, tailbone, and lower back against the floor throughout the exercise.

Skip the Sit-Ups

Sit-ups are a fitness standard, but they’re not as good at strengthening your core as you may think.

Although most people see sit-ups as a stomach-strengthening activity, in reality people often use their hip muscles more than their stomachs when doing this exercise.

Not only are these these a poor choice for core strength, but sit-ups create pressure on spinal disks, which can lead to injury by increasing your lower back pain rather than lowering it. To maintain good health and improve low back pain, try more suitable workouts like the ones outlined further on

Hamstring Stretches

Hamstring stretches relieve the back of your leg, where some of the muscles that support the work of your lower spine are found. As shown in the photo, this is a stretch that benefits from the use of a towel or fitness band.

To perform a hamstring stretch, follow these steps:

• First, lie on your back with one knee bent.
• Next, thread a towel beneath the ball of the foot on the unbent leg.
• Pull back on the towel slowly, straightening your knee. You ought to feel a gentle stretch along the back of your leg.
• Hold the stretch for at least 15-30 seconds.
• For each leg, repeat 5 times.

Avoid Leg Lifts

Once in a while, leg lifts are suggested as useful treatments for lower back pain. That’s because they help strengthen abdominal muscles, which play an important part in back health. Unfortunately, lying on your back and lifting both legs together can worsen back pain, and could cause injury.

Instead of relying on leg lifts for better spine health, try this modified leg lift for lower back pain:

• First, lie on your back. Leave one leg straight, and bend the other leg at the knee.
• Next, lift the straight leg slowly up about six inches from the ground and briefly hold it in this position.
• Finally, slowly lower the leg.
• Repeat 10 times with the left leg, then switch to the right leg.

Wall Sits

When it comes to low back pain, try some wall sits as a break from sitting on the couch. To do these wall sits properly and without injury, follow these steps:

• Stand with your back facing the wall at a distance of about 10 to 12 inches.
• Carefully lean into the wall until your spine is flat against it.
• Slide down the wall slowly until your knees are bent slightly. Continue to press your low back into the wall.
• Hold this position for a count of 10, then carefully slide back up the wall. Repeat 8 to 12 times.

Press-up Back Extensions

Another treatment for back pain symptoms is the press-up back extension. Here are the steps:

• Lie on your stomach. Position your hands directly underneath your shoulders.
• Push down on your hands. You should feel your shoulders begin to lift away from the floor.
• If you can do so comfortably, set your elbows on the floor directly beneath your shoulders. Then spend several seconds holding this position.

Bird Dog

It’s a bird! It’s a dog! No, it’s a fitness routine to ease low back pain! The bird dog is a great way to learn to stabilize the low back during movements of the arms and legs. Here’s how it is done:

• To begin, get on your hands and knees.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• With one leg, lift and extend it behind you while keeping your hips level.
• Hold that position for a full five seconds.
• Now switch to the other leg.
• For each leg, repeat eight to 12 times. For an added challenge, try lengthening the time you hold each lift.
• For each repetition, try lifting and extending your opposite arm in front of you.
• Don’t allow your lower back muscles to sag.
• Stay in position—don’t lift your arms or legs any higher than the low back position can maintain.

Knee to Chest

Here’s another way to get your legs pumping as a treatment for low back pain symptoms. Follow these directions to perform a safe knee-to-chest workout..

• Lie on your back. Put your feet flat on the floor and bend your knees.
• Draw your right knee up to your chest. Keep the left foot flat against the floor.
• Hold for 15-30 seconds. Meanwhile, be sure to keep your lower back flat on the floor.
• Next, lower your right knee. Repeat the routine with the left leg.
• For each leg, perform knee-to-chest two to four times.

Pelvic Tilts

Before back pain has you writhing on the floor with the usual symptoms, try lying on your back for some pelvic tilts. This workout is designed to strengthen your pelvis, which often works in concert with the core muscles along your spine. Making sure your abdomen can pull its fair share means your spine pain will have one less possible cause.

• Lie with your back and upper body on the floor with your knees bent. Keep your feet flat on the floor.
• Pull in your stomach. Imagining your belly button is being pulled toward your backbone—this helps keep your stomach tight. Doing this, you will notice your hips rocking back as your back and spine press into the floor.
• Hold this movement for 10 seconds, allowing your breath to smoothly enter and exit your chest.
• Repeat your pelvic tilts eight to 12 times.

Glute Bridges (Bridging)

Bridging offers so much for the symptoms of back pain. This exercise helps strengthen various supporting players for your back like the hamstrings, glutes, transverse abdominis, abdomen and hips. It also works directly to strengthen your lower back. Follow these steps to assure a safe and rewarding bridge workout:

• Lie with your back to the floor, knees bent with only your heels touching the floor.
• Dig your heels into the floor. Squeeze down on your glutes. Lift your hips up until your shoulders, hips, and knees make a single, straight line.
• Hold this position for about six seconds.
• Slowly bring your hips back to the floor and give yourself about 10 seconds of rest.
• Repeat bridges eight to 12 times.

There are a couple of things to remember when bridging. First, try not to arch your lower back while your hips are moving upward. Next, avoid overarching. You can do that by keeping your abdomen tight both before and throughout the lift.

Carefully Choose a Weight Lifting Regimen

If properly done, weight lifting will not exacerbate your back pain. In fact, you may feel that pain start to melt away as weight lifting begins to strengthen your lower back and supporting body parts.

However, when your back pain comes on suddenly (what doctors call acute pain), the additional stress of weight training could put you in harm’s way, potentially leading to injury. To use weight lifting as a back-pain treatment, start by talking to your doctor. Your doctor can advise you on whether or not to lift weights. If they are recommended, your physician can advise you on which workouts to stay away from.

Aerobic Exercises

Aerobic exercises are good for your back, and your whole body. Aerobic workouts—sometimes called cardio—help strengthen the whole cardiovascular system, from the lungs and heart down to the blood vessels themselves. Aerobics can include biking, swimming, walking, or many other exercises that elevate your heart rate and get you moving. To start, try a short session. Then over time, lengthen the session as your stamina improves.

Since back pain sometimes requires special care, try swimming as a treatment for your symptoms. In swimming, the water supports your body weight, giving your back a break. Be careful to avoid any strokes that require your body to twist.

Some Pilates

A routine that incorporates strengthening and stretching with a focus on the abdominal core sounds ideal for those who suffer from back pain symptoms. Pilates is a training workout that sometimes uses an apparatus called a Reformer (adds resistance with the use of springs) to emphasize flexibility and endurance along with strength. But many Pilates exercises can be performed without any special equipment.

With help from an experienced instructor, Pilates may help some people with low back pain. Make sure your instructor knows about your pain ahead of time, as you may need to skip some moves.