Denver's Best Sports Physical Therapy
Written by Dr. Victoria Riester, PT, DPT Performance Physical Therapist at UNITE.rehab.perform
Low back pain keeping you up at night? You’re not alone. Losing hours of sleep because of a nagging back is frustrating, and it’s one of the most common things we hear from patients walking through our doors.
The 3 a.m. wakeups. The constant tightness. Wondering when it will finally just go away.
Sound familiar? “I stretch and it goes away for a while, but it always comes back.”
If that’s you, keep reading, because the reason it keeps coming back might surprise you.
Stretching feels good. It provides temporary relief. But if weakness is the root cause, stretching alone will never fix the problem. It manages the symptom without addressing what’s driving it.
Think of it this way: if a muscle feels perpetually tight, the instinct is to stretch it. But if that tightness exists because the muscle is weak and compensating for a lack of support elsewhere, stretching just releases the tension temporarily. Nothing changes structurally. The muscle goes right back to guarding, and the pain returns.
This is exactly why so many people end up in the cycle of “it feels better for a day or two, then comes right back.”
The research is consistent here: progressive strengthening of the core, glutes, and hips is one of the most effective long-term treatments for chronic lower back pain. Building real capacity in these muscles gives your spine the support it needs to move well, absorb load, and stay out of pain, not just for a day or two but durably.
Stretching has a place in a well-rounded program. It just cannot be the whole answer. Strength is what creates lasting change.
Safety note: These exercises are intended for general low back pain and stiffness. If you are experiencing severe pain, numbness, tingling, or progressive weakness, get evaluated by a healthcare professional before starting.
Who These Back Pain Exercises Are Best For
This routine is a strong fit for:
→ Desk workers dealing with chronic stiffness or recurring flare-ups
→ Active adults and athletes with persistent low back pain
→ Runners and lifters who want to address the root cause rather than just manage symptoms
→ Anyone who has been stretching consistently but keeps ending up back in the same place
Before jumping in, one non-negotiable rule: warm up first.
A proper warm-up activates the muscles you are about to train, improves your movement quality, and significantly reduces injury risk. Think of it as your body’s “on” switch. You wouldn’t brew coffee without turning the machine on.
The good news: it only takes 3 to 5 minutes.
Back pain comes in many forms, disc bulge, herniation, sciatica, but one thing is almost always true: core stability is a missing piece. Dead bugs train deep core control without loading the spine, making them one of the safest and most effective starting points for back pain rehab.
Sometimes the most effective exercise is also the most straightforward. Farmer’s carries train your core to stabilize your spine the way it needs to in real life, under load, while moving. Start light and build gradually.
This cross-body movement pattern improves balance, coordination, and spinal control simultaneously. It also helps calm an overactive nervous system, which plays a bigger role in muscle tension and pain than most people realize.
Crawling isn’t just for babies. It’s one of the most effective full-body resets available. It reinforces movement mechanics, builds hip and core strength, and takes strain off the lower back in the process. Start with 30 to 60 seconds and go from there.
Your spine needs to both move and resist movement depending on the demand. The Pallof Press trains your core to resist rotation, one of the most important and most overlooked functions of a healthy lower back.
Once you can resist rotation, the next step is learning to control it. This variation builds strength through safe, deliberate rotation, preparing your spine for the demands of real movement and sport.
Weak glutes are one of the most common drivers of lower back pain. Single-leg bridges isolate and strengthen each side independently, building the hip stability your lower back depends on.
Your upper back has more influence on your lower back than most people expect. A stronger upper back improves posture, reduces forward rounding, and takes pressure off the lumbar spine throughout the day.
Your lats connect directly to the same fascial system as your glutes and lower back. Training them together builds the kind of integrated stability that keeps your spine supported through complex, full-body movements.
Let’s clear something up: deadlifts are not bad for your back. When done correctly, they are one of the most effective exercises you can do for long-term lower back health, building full-body strength, teaching your spine to brace under load, and reinforcing the movement patterns you use every day.
Start light. Prioritize form over weight. Build from there.
These exercises help a lot of people, but they are not a substitute for a professional evaluation if something more is going on. Consider getting assessed if:
These are not signs to push through. They are signals that something specific needs to be identified and addressed.
Lasting relief from lower back pain comes down to three things: building real strength, moving consistently, and addressing what is actually driving the problem.
These exercises have helped countless people reduce and eliminate back pain, and they can do the same for you. But if you have been consistent and still are not seeing progress, the issue likely goes deeper than what a general program can address.
That is where we come in.
At UNITE, our sports performance physical therapists specialize in identifying the root cause of lower back pain, not just managing the symptoms, so you can get back to doing what you love at the level you expect from yourself.
Dr. Victoria Riester, PT, DPT is a Performance Physical Therapist at UNITE.rehab.perform in Thornton, CO. A former competitive cheerleader and volleyball player, Dr. Victoria experienced low back pain firsthand as an athlete and found traditional PT falling short. That experience drives her approach today: movement-based, athlete-focused care designed to get people back to sport and keep them there.
Let Denver’s premier team of sports physical therapists and performance coaches lead the way!