Bodyweight Exercises for Working out With Lower Back Pain and Herniated Discs

Staying fit and active while dealing with lower back pain or a herniated disc can be a challenging proposition. The initial recovery process can take a bit of time, and even once you’re over the worst of your symptoms, it can be difficult to devise a new routine as you begin a new health and fitness regimen or work your way back to your previous activity levels. You may need to take some additional time before you resume activities such as running or weightlifting. However, one type of exercise that you can begin relatively quickly and safely after your injury is bodyweight workouts. Bodyweight exercises are great for a number of reasons. Though you won’t gain as much muscle mass as through weightlifting, you’ll definitely get stronger while strengthening connective tissue. You’ll improve your mind-body connection, since you’ll be working with your own body weight to work various muscle groups. And finally, body weight exercises are generally fairly safe. Maybe not quite as safe as swimming is for those with lower back pain or bulging discs, but you can start up with bodyweight exercises 1-2 weeks after your injury, which is much sooner than you can start running or weightlifting.

Creating a Bodyweight Fitness Routine

There are a number of great resources out there for bodyweight exercises and routines. I’ve linked some of my favorites, but it’s also possible to create your own routine using the exercises below. Unlike weight training, it’s not quite as easy to modify the difficulty of your workout by increasing weight. You’ll be working with your own bodyweight, which for most people doesn’t fluctuate all that much in the short term. There are however a few ways that you can adjust your workout to challenge yourself each time. Although bodyweight exercises are safer for those with lower back pain or bulging discs than weighted exercises, they are not completely risk free. Always consult with a physician prior to beginning a new routine, and make sure to listen to your body. Ease into a new routine, and check to see how you’re feeling the next day. This will guide you as to what exercises are right for you, and which ones you should perhaps avoid or be conservative with when beginning.

High Repetitions, Few Sets

See how many repetitions of a bodyweight exercise you can perform before your muscles give out. For example, perform pushups until your arms stop responding. Take a break, then come back and do as many more as you can before failure. When you first begin, you likely won’t be able to perform more than 3 or 4 sets of pushups before you can’t do any more at all.

Fewer Repetitions, More Sets

In this type of workout, set a goal for the total number of repetitions you’d like to perform. For example, if you set out to do 100 pushups over the course of a workout, do 10 pushups, then take a break before doing 10 more. Perform 10 total sets of 10 reps each, and you’ll have met your goal! If towards the end of the workout you are unable to do 10 repetitions during a set, just tack the reps you didn’t do to additional sets at the end of your workout.

Go for Time

Pick a time frame and challenge yourself to see how many repetitions of an exercise you can perform during that interval. For instance, see how many pushups you can perform in 2 minutes. In this workout, it’ll be a race to see how many you can perform, and you’ll likely tire yourself out very quickly. Another example is seeing how many you can do in 10 minutes. Here you’ll be taking breaks along the way, as you’ll need to pace yourself to get as many reps in as possible.

Top Bodyweight Exercises

In this section, I’ll be providing an overview of some of the best and most popular bodyweight exercises. Most people will be familiar with these due to their popularity, however I’ll be providing some variants that can help keep you challenged as you improve in your bodyweight fitness. I’ve already written about the best core exercises for those with lower back pain or bulging discs, so I won’t be getting into those here. However, it is well worth incorporating core exercises into your bodyweight fitness routine to complement the strength gains you’ll be making in other muscle groups in your body.

Back Bridges

For those suffering from lower back pain or bulging discs, back bridges are by far the best bodyweight exercise you can perform. You can ease into them, and the basic version is both a great strengthening exercise as well as an awesome lower back stretch. In some ways, the back bridge is the bodyweight equivalent to the deadlift. Although this can sound intimidating, it’s actually great news for you and your lower back. Now you can perform a fantastic stretching and strengthening exercise without the risk inherent in performing weighted deadlifts.

Basic Back Bridge

The basic back bridge is a simple and safe exercise that builds strength and flexibility. Lying on your back, position your feet flat on the floor with tented knees. Next, lift your butt, and by extension, lower back, up off of the floor. When first getting into this exercise, be cautious and conservative in terms of how much you arch your back. Make sure that you can perform this exercise without pain either during or after your workout. Once you’ve established a baseline, start working on bringing your butt further up and arching your back more in subsequent sessions. 

Advanced Back Bridge

Once you have become highly proficient and comfortable with the basic back bridge, you may consider progressing to a more advanced version of this exercise. Please, please, please be careful though as the advanced back bridge carries far more risk of injury for your lower back compared to the basic version. Ease into the advanced version, and make sure that you have sufficient strength and flexibility to carry it out. You’ll need a great deal of wrist flexibility for this exercise as well. 

Begin the same way as with the basic back bridge, but bring your hands over your shoulders, pressing your fingers and palms into the ground. Now, pressing up through both your hands and your feet, raise your butt and torso off of the ground. When first starting out, try this exercise without bringing your body too far up to make sure you have sufficient wrist flexibility to perform this motion without pain. Once you’ve determined that this position feels ok, start working on bringing your body further and further off of the ground, with a reasonable and safe arch to your back. Once you’ve formed a bridge, you can either lower yourself back down before coming back into the bridge, performing repetitions of this exercise the same way you would with pushups or pullups. Alternatively, you can go for time, and see how long you can hold the bridge for. In subsequent workouts, add 15 seconds to the duration of this pose. While challenging and potentially injurious, I’m a firm believe that when trained for properly and performed safely, this is by far the best lower back stretching and strengthening exercise that you can perform without weights!

Pushups

Pushups are by far the most popular bodyweight exercise out there. Pretty much everyone has had to do at least one at some point in their life. While you might think that there’s not much to talk about when it comes to pushups, there are many variations to this exercise that make it highly versatile.

Standard Pushups

The normal pushup has you on your hands and toes, hands shoulder width apart. It works your chest, shoulders and upper back.

Easy Pushups

For those unable to perform a standard pushup, this variant has you on your hands and knees. This lowers the difficulty of the exercise, and allows you to work your chest, shoulders and upper back until they are strong enough to perform a standard pushup.

Diamond Pushups

This pushup modification has your hands close together on the ground as you lower yourself down and press yourself back up. The thumbs and index fingers of each hand should touch, forming a ‘diamond’ shape between your hands. While it works similar muscles to the standard pushups, it focuses on your arm muscles, specifically your triceps.

Wide Hand Pushups

In some ways, this is the opposite of diamond pushups. In this variant, begin with your hands further than shoulder width apart. You can modify the difficulty of this exercise by adjusting how wide your hands come out. This modified pushup works your upper back as well as your lateral muscles (the ones that give bodybuilders their ‘v’ shape)

Shoulder Pushups

Begin in the standard pushup position, then walk your hands and legs together just enough to form an upside down ‘v’ shape with your butt up high. In this position, lower your head down to the ground, then push yourself back back up to your starting position. This version of a pushup is a great way to target your shoulder and neck muscles.

Handstand pushups

Handstand pushups take shoulder pushups to the next level. Please be safe when performing this exercise, as it can be dangerous if you are not careful! Only attempt it once you have built up your shoulder strength to handle the exercise safely. Place your hands up against a wall, shoulder width apart. Now, kick yourself up, raising your legs up over your head with your body balanced against the wall. Now, raise yourself down so your head touches the ground, then push yourself back up so your arms are mostly straight. This is an intense and challenging exercise for your shoulders and neck. Some people are able to perform this exercise without balancing against a wall, but I would only attempt this if you are practiced in performing unassisted handstands, and you have built up enough strength to perform assisted handstand pushups with ease.

Squats

Weighted squats are a popular and effective weightlifting exercise. However, you can also perform squats without weights or barbells. Some modifications to unweighted squats can make them even more challenging than even weighted squats!

Standard Bodyweight Squats

This is a standard squat, performed without weights. Beginning with your feet slightly further than shoulder width apart, your toes pointing slightly outwards, lower yourself until your quads are below your knees, then raise yourself back up to a standing position. Some people like to go down far enough so their butt touches the ground. You don’t necessarily need to do this to get the most out of the exercise, but challenging yourself to see how far down you can go is one way of modifying the difficulty of the exercise. Just make sure that as you lower yourself down that your knees do not come out in front of your toes, as this can cause pain or injury to your knee.

Box Jumps

Though box jumps are not typically considered to be squats, they work the same set of muscles. Many gyms these days carry sturdy wooden boxes that you can jump on top of. Find one of a modest height, and jump on top of it. It’s a simple exercise that also improves your cardio. As your jumps improve, you can progress to taller and taller boxes. Just make sure you use caution when performing this exercise as a bad jump could injure you and put you out of commission for even longer.

Single Leg Squats

Bodyweight squatting on its own is not a terribly challenging exercise. However, take one leg out of the equation and it’s a whole different story. Performing a squat with a single leg means that suddenly that single leg has twice as much weight that it needs to lower and raise back up. Not only is this an intense muscle workout, but single leg squats will also help you improve your balance greatly, while hitting your core muscles as well. Most people are unable to do an unsupported single leg squat right away. A good way to start is to use a stable object to help stabilize and prop you up as you perform the movements of this exercise. In the past, I’ve used stools, chairs and doorknobs, though exercise straps like TRX bands or other similar implements can be helpful as well. 

When you first begin to work on single leg squats, you will find yourself to be fairly reliant on whatever you’re using to support yourself. Over time though, try to decrease your reliance on it. Once you’ve built up some strength and balance, try doing single leg squats with the object nearby, but using it as little as possible. Eventually, you should be able to work your way up to doing unassisted single leg squats, also known as pistol squats, though make sure to take your time getting there!

Pullups

Pullups are second only to pushups in terms of popular and widely performed bodyweight exercises. They are a great workout, targeting the arms and back. They’re also great for those suffering from lower back pain or herniated discs, in that hanging from a bar helps decompress the spine. This can provide immediate pain or discomfort relief for those with bad backs.

Standard Pullup

The most conventional pullup involves you gripping the pullup bar, hands slightly further than shoulder width apart with your palms facing away from you. Pull yourself up so that your collarbone comes up to the level of the pullup bar, then lower yourself back down. Use smooth and controlled movements, and avoid jerking or swinging yourself up. This exercise is great for your upper back.

Chinup

Begin grasping the pullup bar, palms facing towards you and your hands closer than shoulder length apart. Raise yourself up so that at least your chin comes up and over the bar. This exercise is great for the upper back muscles along your spine, as well as your biceps.

Wide Grip Pullups

This exercise is nearly identical to standard pullups, except to begin with, you grab the bar with your hands as far apart as you can manage. You can use a normal pullup bar, or as an alternative, you may have access to a pullup bar where both ends of the bar slope downwards. With your arms wide apart, pull your head up and over the bar. This exercise is great for your lats!

Assisted Pullups

If any of the pullup versions I’ve mentioned here are too challenging, you can always get a little help with your pullups. You can loop a resistance band over the pullup bar, then slide your legs through the bands to get some upwards lift. Alternatively, some gyms will have assisted pullup machines, where a small platform connected via pulleys to weights will give you and adjustable amount of upwards assistance.

Muscle-Ups

This final pullup variant that I’ll cover is the most challenging one. Only attempt it once you’ve become comfortable and proficient with the previously discussed versions of the exercise. Muscle-ups begin the same way as a standard pullup. However, when you pull yourself up the bar, you want to do so with enough momentum that your torso starts to come up and over the bar as well. Make sure not to lean too far forwards or you may flip over the bar! As your body comes up, bring your elbows up as well, then use your arms to start pushing against the bar downwards. Straighten your arm and hold this position. You just performed your first muscle up. Of course, this is a difficult exercise, and it will take you some time to work up to hit. However, if you manage to learn and perform it consistently, it will add a great deal to your pullups, as you will now be using far more of your arm muscles to complete the exercise. As always, be careful when attempting this difficult and potentially dangerous exercise.

Wrapping Up

Bodyweight exercises are a great way to stay active during or after your recovery from lower back pain or disc herniation. While I’ve done my best to cover the exercises I’ve found to be most beneficial to overall health and strength, there are literally thousands of different bodyweight or unweighted exercises you can perform. I’ve linked to some great resources in the right hand sidebar; any one of these will provide you with progressions, programs and exercises to help you get stronger and more resistant to injury. For myself, bodyweight exercises helped to keep me from getting demoralized in the wake of my bulging disc diagnosis. I was able to stay active and fit despite my injury, and was able to return to other activities I enjoyed because of that.