When you start an exercise session you should start out with stretching exercises to warm up your muscles, and then move on to the strengthening exercises. At the end you should try to do a few more stretching exercises. This helps to lengthen your exercises session if you can’t make it through the full strength exercise time, as well as helps cool down your muscles.

When you stretch, start slowly. You should only stretch your muscles to the point where you feel a mild tension, and then hold it there for 5 seconds. When you start out you may only be able to hold for around 2 seconds, but work your way up to five.

Make sure you don’t stretch to the point where it is uncomfortable, as you can overstrain your muscles, which can cause injury.

For each stretch or strengthening exercises, do 5 repetitions when you start, and move up to 8 as your muscles get stronger.

When organising my exercises session, I like to group the exercises into those I do lying down, part way up or fully standing. This way I am not constantly repositioning myself in between exercises.

So for example a Typical Exercise session will be:
• Lying down warm up stretches
• Warm up stretches on hands and knees
• Standing up warm up stretches

• Lying down strength exercises
• Hands and knees strength exercises
• Standing up strength exercises

• Lying down cool down stretches
• Cool down stretches on hands and knees
• Standing up cool down stretches

A very important part of exercising is to make sure you exercise regularly. If not you won’t get all the benefits of exercising, as you will lose strength and flexibility in the time you don’t exercise. A lot of people tend to exercise in bursts, but it is a lot better for your body to spread out 3 exercises sessions over the course of a week. This will give your back a lot more benefits.

Keeping to an exercise routine that stretches and strengthens the back is the most effective method for preventing and reducing back pain.