What Are The Best Exercises To Prevent Lower Back Pain? 8 Movements To Build Real Functional Strength

Lower back pain is one of the most common ailments the population suffers from. Worse, it can be chronic and last for years. That's why the best way to stop back pain is to prevent it from ever happening in the first place.

You do this by increasing muscle mass and strength in your back and core. This increases stability and protection from the stresses of life.

However, most people don't do this because of fear of injury, resulting in low loads and inadequate exercises. This article will go over the best way to build real functional strength and what exercises you should include.

What Causes Lower Back Pain?

Diagnosing lower back pain is rarely ever done with 100% precision.  

It's estimated that 90-95% of lower back pain is labeled as "non-specific back pain". This means that physios and doctors are unable to identify specific pathological or anatomical causes. (Mao et al., 2024).

So we could point to an array of possibilities;

• Weak glutes
• Chronic poor posture
• Posture
• Even fear

However, most people shouldn't be so concerned about what causes back pain, but what prevents back pain; this is simply getting stronger.

Why Your Fear Of Back Pain Increases The Risk Of Back Pain

While pinpointing the exact cause of back pain is difficult, we do know that constant fear and being timid about lifting can contribute to injury and pain.

This can occur psychologically, but it also affects you physically.

A large review from Knechtle et al. (2021) found that lifters with a greater fear of movement saw altered muscle lifting and muscle activation patterns. This included things like

• Increased rigid motor behavior
• Altered neuromuscular activation/coordination
• Increased paraspinal muscle activation 
• Reduced activation of deep core muscles

In the long term, these changes can result in increased risk of spinal injury and spinal tissue degeneration. 

This issue has increased dramatically over the past few years, creating what's known as "glass back syndrome' 

We're not saying that good form is actually bad or that you should seek out poor form. We're saying that social media and the poor quality of information from trainers have led to people being scared of lifting. 

Your body is extremely strong, resilient, and adaptable, so you don't need to be scared of hurting your back. Rather, you should be focused on training for a strong back.

What Prevents Back Pain?

While the causes of back pain are pretty complicated, preventing back pain is much easier.

Numerous studies show that people with bigger and stronger backs have less risk of back injury (Chen et al., 2025; Wang et al., 2025). 

This should be pretty obvious. Stronger Bodies Are Harder To Break!

How Do You Build An Injury-Free Back?

The problem with most training in the gym, even "functional training", is that they don't actually train real movement patterns. When training the back and core, many stick to "safe" exercises with perfect form and sub-optimal loads.

This will keep you weak and prone to injury.

The truth is, your core musculature (abs and back) is just like any other muscle. If you only use high rep, low-load work under optimal conditions, you're not going to be building maximal strength that protects you in the real world.

Therefore, you need to follow these six rules;

1. Stop Being Scared Of Lifting. This is a big one, and as we saw, it can affect you negatively. This doesn't mean you throw away form or even that you can't get hurt. It means that your body is highly resilient, especially when you follow the rest of the steps. Your focus should be on building a strong back.

2. Use Functional And Untraditional Exercises. You need to include exercises that stress the back in real-world situations. This means exercises that;

• Require spinal flexion
• Have uneven loads
• Awkward in nature
• Build strong isometric strength

We're going over these below in more detail below.

3. Use Heavier Loads. People like to train the core and lower back with light loads and high reps. Even when someone does use a functional exercise (farmer carries), they use smaller kettlebells.

To build a strong core, you need to actually perform strength training. This means working with loads > 80-85% 1RM with proper exercises.

4.  Learn Proper Bracing Under Heavy Loads.  Learning proper bracing is key to protecting your spine. This is why you see some strength athletes, especially strongmen, perform heavy lifts with a flexed spine.

5. Progressive Overload states that to achieve continual progress in muscular adaptations, you must incrementally increase the stress and load on the body.  

Basically, lift a little more than you did last week to continually trigger adaptation.

This means in your back training, you need to increase the load over time. If you've been using body weight back extensions for 5 years, you're not building a strong back.

6. Specificity states that your body will adapt to the stress you place on it, so train for what you want.

In the context of this article, you want to train to build mass and strength in your back. More importantly, you want to train for your core's true function: stability (McGill, 2010).

Unlike other muscles, the core's primary job is to prevent movement. This means it should;

• Resists flexion (bending forward)
• Resists extension (overarching)
• Resists lateral flexion (side bending)
• Resists rotation (twisting)

Therefore, you need to include exercises that teach maintaining stability and strong isometric strength.

What Are The Best Exercises To Build A Bulletproof Back And Core?

Important Note! We are not suggesting you use these exercises to treat back pain. 

Cable Pallof Press

The Pallof Press was invented by the Athletic Physical Therapist John Pallof. It's an incredibly simple anti-rotation exercise, meaning you must resist twisting (Mullane et al., 2021).

It doesn't look like much when you first see it, but it is extremely effective, and you will definitely be challenged.    

Rack Pulls (At Knee-Level Or Above)

Unlike what many people think, rack pulls are not ego-lifting or cheat deadlifts. They're not deadlifts at all; they're rack pulls. 

When done at knee level or slightly above, rack pulls are a back-dominant exercise (Escamilla et al., 2002). This brings several benefits;

• Less demand for mobility
• Able to handle greater loads
• Can overload the back musculature 
• Allows overloading of weight

Altogether, they are a perfect exercise for building strength in your entire back and core.

You don't want to jump right into lifting maximal loads, so still use progressive overload, even if the weight feels light. 

At the top end, most people can lift 50% more load than in a deadlift. That's 50% more load your back and core can handle. 

Farmer Carry 

Farmery Carries are top-tier core and back exercises. In reality, they strengthen your entire body so it functions as one unit. 

One problem we see a lot of the time with farmer carries is that people do them too lightly. 

Again, progressive overload is the key. If you only carry around 10-20kg kettlebells, that's what your body is adapting to. Treat this exercise like any other and gradually increase the load. 

If you have a problem with grip, use some straps when grip becomes an issue. 

Suitcase Carry

A suitcase carry is essentially a farmer's carry, but you only use one implement. This means your body is significantly off-balance with an uneven load.

As a result, your body will want to lean over laterally, and your core must resist this. At the same time, you're walking, which adds body movement and a natural sway. 

Sandbag Picks And Carries

Nothing puts you in a more awkward position than picking heavy sandbags off the ground, and not the ones with handles. This requires you to get low and puts your back in a position that reflects real-world movements. 

These can be very tough, but your body and back will be indestructible after training.

Gorilla Walks

Gorilla walks are an awesome core and mobility exercise, but you don't see them a lot. 

Like the Pallof Press, they may seem to be easy, but they're very challenging as they require endurance and strength.

Before throwing these in, you should have developed some foundation of musculature and stability, as well as proper bracing.

Gorilla walks look like kettlebell power swings; each swing starts with the kettlebells on the ground slightly behind your feet, and then you propel them forward.

However, instead of letting the kettlebell come back to you, you let it land in front of your body. You then jump to the kettlebell and repeat. 

Kettlebell Marches

Kettlebell marches are a mix of front holds and knee raises. 

To perform them, you hold a kettlebell in front of your body at chest level. You then march in place with high knees, bringing your thigh above parallel with each step. Keep your steps at a moderate pace (not fast) and bring your knee as high as you can.

Doing this demands stabilization of the spine to prevent spine flexion while also supporting the body unilaterally with a natural sway. 

To increase the intensity, perform some press-outs with the kettlebell.

Jefferson Curl

The Jefferson Curl can be controversial in some circles, but these are likely the same people who think your back snaps easily. 

Performing them essentially looks like the worst form you could possibly use during the deadlift; catback city! 

A lot of the time, when people say "back extensions", they're actually talking about hip extensions while the spine holds an isometric hold. The Jefferson Curl involves real spinal flexion and extension to lower and lift a light weight from the ground. Doing this will;

• Train flexion and extension under load
• Improve spinal control
• Increase total activation of the posterior chain

These are one exercise we do stress you start light and treat as a mobility exercise. The reason is that you're not bracing your core with an isometric hold but flexing and extending under load.

Regardless, start light with lower volume and then use progressive overload over time. These can be a game-changer while building confidence in your back.

FAQ

1. Do You Need A Neutral Spine When You Lift?

Lifting with a flexed spine is not inherently dangerous. Further, it's nearly impossible to keep a neutral spine when lifting heavy loads; this is seen in many athletes, such as Strongman (McGill et al., 2009).

2. What Is The Best Way To Prevent Lower Back Pain?

Numerous studies show that people with bigger and stronger backs have less risk of back injury (Chen et al., 2025; Wang et al., 2025). 

3. Do Deadlifts Cause Lower Back Pain?

No, especially when trained correctly. However, a good alternative is trap bar deadlifts if you're concerned.

4. What Causes Lower Back Pain?

There are numerous possible causes, but 90-95% of lower back pain is considered to be "non-specific back pain". This means an exact cause can not be identified (Mao et al., 2024).

5. How Can You Treat Lower Back Pain?

This depends on what the exact issue is. However, several studies have pointed to two protocols: walking and performing low-load hip-hinge movements (Haddadj et al., 2025; Tataryn et al., 2021).

Building An Injury-Free Back With True Functional Strength

Use the information in this article to start building a body that's not going to break. While you always need to be aware of the risk of injury, there's no reason to be scared of it. Understanding how to build functional strength in the core and back is the first step to preventing injuries; now you just need to go train!

References

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