Lower back pain exercises — McKenzie + cat-cow + dead bug

Eighty percent of adults will have low back pain at some point. Most cases are mechanical (not structural) and respond to a tight three-move sequence: McKenzie press-up to reverse the all-day sitting flexion, supine knee-to-chest to unload the lumbar facets, pelvic tilt to re-train neutral-spine awareness. Add bird-dog and dead bug as the core retraining moves — both bake in lumbar stability WITHOUT the spinal flexion that aggravates a herniated disc. The protocol works because each move targets a different mechanism: extension (McKenzie), flexion offload (knee-to-chest), neutral training (pelvic tilt), anti-rotation (bird-dog), and anti-flexion (dead bug).

The catch most people miss: McKenzie press-up has a centralisation rule. If your leg pain REDUCES as you press up, continue. If your leg pain INCREASES or moves further down the leg, stop — that's a flexion-responsive presentation that needs different programming. Volya's exercise pages spell this out at the top of every cue list. The full progression is 10 reps × 3 sets per move, twice a day for 2-3 weeks; most users see meaningful change by week 2. For acute, new, or severe pain — especially with numbness, weakness, or loss of bladder control — see a clinician before exercising.