One Simple Fix for an Aching Back
He looked young and vigorous. But his back was a different story...
For most of his adult life, John F. Kennedy suffered from terrible back pain. It started in his 20s and often required him to wear a metal-corset-style back brace (which, by the way, sold for $31,170 in 2020). At times, he even needed crutches to get around. Over the years, he underwent four back surgeries. But none of them gave him lasting relief.
Then in 1961, he tried the last thing you probably want to do when your back is killing you...
He started moving it more.
Kennedy worked with physician and physical therapist Hans Kraus, who devised a program of regular back and leg exercises to strengthen the body and help manage pain. And it worked – Kennedy's back pain slowly improved.
Decades later, even more research is pointing to the same thing...
When your back hurts, moving less can sometimes make matters worse. Here's why you shouldn't let that ache scare you into your recliner...
Lots of folks suffer from low-back pain ("LBP"). Roughly 619 million people worldwide experienced LBP in 2020. And that's projected to grow to 843 million by 2050.
Once LBP strikes, it's natural that you'd want to protect the painful area, whether by avoiding bending over, walking less, or spending a little more time on the couch.
But exercise can be one of the best tools for getting you moving comfortably again...
In 2021, a Cochrane review of 249 trials involving exercise treatment for chronic, nonspecific LBP found evidence that exercise works better for the pain compared with a placebo, usual care, or no treatment.
A 2023 review of 18 randomized controlled trials involving 989 adults aged 60 and older found that exercise improved both pain and disability, as well as quality of life physically and mentally.
Two Exercises to Keep Back Pain Away
So what kind of exercises should you do?
My favorite daily "to do" is free and zero-frills: walking.
A review of 13 randomized trials published in July found that walking programs reduced pain and disability in chronic LBP sufferers.
Researchers tried to figure out exactly how much walking yielded the biggest benefits... For reducing back disability, that "sweet spot" was around 900 minutes spread over an eight-week period. They also found that the greatest reduction of pain happened with around 1,000 minutes of walking in that same span. In all, that's about 2 hours of your time each week.
But don't treat those numbers like they're carved in stone... It all depends on your fitness level and your back.
Also, a 2024 Australian study published in the Lancet found that getting in at least three weekly walks decreases the chance of back pain returning by nearly 50%.
Specifically, the three-year study involving 701 adults (aged an average of 54 years) found that participants who walked for about three to five days a week (for a total of 130 minutes per week) maintained their freedom from pain for almost double the time of those who didn't walk.
So do what I do and aim to end a good meal with a 20- to 30-minute walk. Along with staving off that backache, it improves digestion and blood-sugar control.
Another of my favorite low-impact exercises for your back is something doctors have been recommending for years: swimming.
In a study published in July, researchers followed 76 adults aged 26 to 74 who suffered from nonspecific LBP for more than three months. Half of the participants received education about pain management. The other half received the same education plus an individualized eight-week swimming program supported by a physical therapist.
At the eight-week mark, the swimmers had significantly less back-related disability than the education-only group.
Water supports your body, which means your bones don't have to bear as much weight. Importantly, that includes your spine. Water also provides gentle resistance, which makes for a gentle workout to strengthen important core muscles that stabilize your spine.
Start small by just walking in the water – forward and backward. Then, when you're ready, the two safest strokes for your back are the backstroke and freestyle. They keep your spine in a neutral position. (The butterfly and breaststroke, on the other hand, force your spine to repeatedly bend.)
Whether you're walking or swimming, the goal is to keep moving. But be smart about it...
You shouldn't be gritting your teeth and pushing through every kind of back pain. If it's severe or caused by a strained muscle, you might need to take it easy for a few days or longer. When in doubt, ask your doctor.
But for most other causes, getting yourself moving is best. That's because staying inactive for too long can lead to stiffer joints, weakened muscles, and poorer circulation, all of which aren't helpful for LBP.
Do you have an experience with LBP you'd like to share? Send us an e-mail at feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. And if you're interested in more health (and wealth) tips, you can give my flagship newsletter Retirement Millionaire a try at a special introductory price for Health & Wealth Bulletin readers.
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Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
September 15, 2026