Exercises that help with lower back pain for dads

What usually causes it

Most dad back pain isn't a disc exploding. It's a mix of sitting too much at a desk, weak glutes and core, and then asking your back to do a job your hips should be doing when you lift something heavy off the floor.

The fix usually isn't rest forever. It's gentle movement early, then rebuilding strength in the muscles that support your spine so this doesn't keep happening.

Start here when it's fresh and angry

In the first day or two, you're not training, you're just coaxing your back to move without flaring things up. Small, controlled motions work better than stretching hard or lying flat all day.

These three are a good starting point and don't ask much of you.

• Pelvic tilt to get gentle motion back into the low back
• Knee-to-chest rock to ease tension without forcing a stretch
• Cat-cow if you can get down on the floor comfortably

Once it's calmed down, build some armor

This is the part that actually stops it coming back. A back that keeps tweaking usually has a core that isn't doing its job of bracing, or glutes that clock out and let the lower back pick up the slack.

The McGill curl-up is a good low-drama way to build core endurance without loading your spine into flexion, which is often what set things off in the first place. Pair it with hip work and you're covering both ends of the problem.

• McGill curl-up for core endurance without spine strain
• Bird dog to train your core and hips to work together
• Glute bridge to wake up glutes that have gone quiet from sitting
• Dead bug if you want a slower, more controlled core option

Fix the hips while you're at it

Tight hip flexors from all that sitting pull on your pelvis and change how your low back sits all day. A lot of dads with back pain also have hips that barely move, and the two problems feed each other.

You don't need a yoga session. A couple of minutes on these most days is enough to notice a difference in how your back feels by the end of a workday.

• Kneeling hip flexor stretch to unwind tight hip flexors
• Figure-four stretch for the glutes and outer hip
• 90/90 hip switch to get some rotation back

What to leave alone for now

Heavy deadlifts, barbell good mornings, and anything that loads your spine while bent over should wait until the basics above feel easy and pain-free. Same goes for high-rep sit-ups, they're rough on a cranky lower back.

When you're ready to add load back in, the Romanian deadlift is a good reintroduction to hip hinging done right, since it teaches you to bend from the hips instead of the low back.

Common questions

More from the blog