Low Back Pain Treatment: Strength Training Vs. Cardio

Low back pain treatment comes in many forms, and exercise is a modality that I myself have my clients perform. Exercise in general will benefit low back pain issues, but if you had to choose just one, which would it be: strength training or cardio?

I'm a certified personal trainer. Eighty percent of Americans will be afflicted with low back pain, and the No. 1 cause is soft tissue strain and weakness. A University of Alberta study set out to find which was more effective for treatment of low back pain between strength training and cardio.

The study determined that lifting weights beat out cardio. Study subjects who spent 16 weeks working out with weights (strength training) experienced a 60 percent improvement in their chronic low back pain condition. The strength training included barbells and dumbbells.

The other group did cardio such as treadmill walking, jogging or using an elliptical machine, and this group had only a 12 percent improvement with their low back pain and function.

"Any activity that makes you feel better is something you should pursue, but the research indicates that we get better pain management results from resistance training," says Robert Kell, assistant professor of exercise physiology at University of Alberta, Augustana Campus.

Many people with low back pain suppress physical activity and assume a lot of bed rest. This will worsen LBP that is caused by weak, stiff or strained soft tissue. Structured, methodical exercise is the best thing for low back pain.

Cardio exercise works only the lower part of the body, whereas some strength training moves work the upper and lower body simultaneously as a unit (such as in the deadlift), or work much of the upper body, such as in lat pull-downs or seated rows.

A leading cause of LBP is non-neutral spinal alignment during physical exertion around the house or yard, in combination with a de-conditioned body (weak, untrained muscles). Non-neutral spinal alignment results from improper lifting technique, such as when picking something up off the floor, or bending the trunk forward without support, with straight or almost-straight legs to pick something up.

Low back strain can also be triggered by improper strength training technique, but this is no reason to avoid strength training to relieve or even eliminate low back pain. The full report showing that strength training is better than cardio for low back pain is in a 2009 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081211141848.htm