Category: Back Pain | Author: Stefano Sinicropi | Date: December 23, 2025
One of the most common questions we get asked by patients with low back pain is in regards to which daily activities they can and can’t perform. Patients don’t want to end up making their pain worse by pursuing certain activities, but at the same time, as we’ve documented time and time again on this blog, inactivity is oftentimes worse for your spine than daily movement and exercise. But should you be bending, twisting, pushing, pulling, squatting and lifting if you have mild to moderate low back pain? We take a closer look at which actions you should avoid if you have low back pain.
Daily Activities To Avoid If You Have Low Back Pain
For personalized recommendations on which activities to avoid, we recommend talking to your primary care physician or a specialist who can view your back in person and make an individualized diagnosis. This is simply general advice for which daily activities you may want to steer away from if you have low back pain.
Interestingly, a new study published on JAMA Network Open decided to take a closer look at some of the most common movement patterns to see how they impacted patients with low back pain. Specifically, they looked at 10 basic movements that put some stress on a person’s spine. Those movements were:
- Lifting more than 10 pounds
- Pushing or pulling
- Bending
- Climbing
- Twisting
- Squatting
- Crawling
- Sitting
- Standing
- Walking
After assessing the data, researchers found that a few activities increased the risk of a short-term flare up in discomfort, but most importantly, none of these activities were associated with functional limitations at a 1-year follow up.
“These findings support that people with LBP can generally engage in these activities, with the knowledge that they are not associated with worse long-term outcomes,” researchers concluded.
So while certain activities like walking the dog or shoveling your driveway may lead to a slight uptick in short-term discomfort, all of the studied common activities presented no associated risk with long-term back problems. While you’ll certainly want to ensure you are using proper techniques when bending, lifting or squatting, it’s clear that you can go about your day armed with the knowledge that these actions pose no real long-term risk for your spine health. In fact, pursuing these activities in a controlled manner likely helps to strengthen your spine and the structures that support it, aiding in long-term function and overall spine health.
We don’t want you to shy away from common activities because of back pain. Strive to stay active, and odds are you’ll find it easier to continue moving in the future because you are putting healthy stress on your spine. And as we mentioned above, if you want individualized advice on which actions to pursue and what activities you may want to avoid because of your specific spinal issue, connect with a specialist in your area. For assistance in the greater Twin Cities area, connect with Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Center today at (651) 430-3800.
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