9 Best Exercises for Lower Back Workouts | PowerliftingTechnique.com (2024)

A strong, stable lower back is your foundation for upper-body and lower-body movements.

However, exercise selection and form mistakes can cause lower back pain and limit your gains.

Read on for the best lower back exercises, including how to perform them and who they’re best for.

9 best lower back exercises:

1. Bird dog
2. Reverse plank/Chinese plank
3. Suitcase carry
4. 45-degree back extension
5. GHD back extension
6. Reverse hyperextension
7. Deadlift
8. Good morning
9. Kettlebell hip swing

I recommend choosing 5-6 exercises from this list for a full workout or add 1-2 of your favorites to your current lower body workout.

As a certified personal trainer, I saw many clients who were nervous or apprehensive about doing low-back workouts because they feared it might trigger lower back pain. But starting my clients with simple exercises built their confidence to work up to more technical moves.

Lower Back Muscles

The lower back muscles play an important role in stabilizing the spine and facilitating movement. These small muscles help create the 360 degrees that make up your core but don’t get a lot of attention in most workouts.

• Erector Spinae: This group of muscles comprises three smaller muscles and runs on the side of the spine from the neck to the lower back. These muscles are the Spinalis (closest to the spine), Longissimus (center), and Iliocostalis (outer).
• Multifidus: The multifidus muscle, which takes on a Christmas tree appearance based on where it starts and ends, is one of the deepest spinal muscles. It plays a key role in stabilizing the spine and acts in some rotation capacity.
• Quadratus Lumborum: The quadratus lumborum muscle, also called QL, is one of the deep muscles of the lower back and is sometimes the scapegoat for back pain. Its main function is to bend to the side, but it does play a role in breathing due to its connection to the 12th rib and diaphragm.

Curious about the best lower lat exercises? Read on:

How To Work Out Your Lower Back

You could start with heavy compound lifts, progressively overload your back, or just focus on lifting for as long as possible. What you decide will depend on your goals, whether that’s:

• Strength
• Size
• Endurance

My favorite way to work out the lower back is to start with the most challenging, big movement lifts for strength. Then, I transition into stability and endurance exercises.

Strength Programming

Target the muscles you want to strengthen first when you are the freshest. For example, if you want to build low back strength, do big compound lifts like good mornings and deadlifts first.

If you want to develop strength in the lower back, stick to reps in the 3-6 range for 3-6 sets.

Size (Hypertrophy) Programming

The lower back muscles will respond to progressive overload the same way any other muscle in your body would, but I would caution that you wouldn't want to overload the spine too soon.

If you want to grow your lower back muscles, find a rep range between 6 and 12, where you aim to fatigue the muscles just before failure. You can do this for 3-5 sets.

Endurance Programming

Many lower back muscles, especially the deep ones, are considered postural muscles, so training them for endurance makes a lot of sense. You want to gradually build up the time they are under tension so that they are more resilient and strong for long periods.

Exercises for endurance are better suited towards the end of your workout, as you wouldn't want to do something like deadlifts when your spinal muscles are already fatigued.

For endurance programming, 3 sets of 12 or more reps work well, as does going for longer durations of time under tension.

Best Lower Back Workout Routine

This routine can be a full workout or include these movements within a lower body day. This starts with the heavy lifts for strength, then moves into stability and endurance lifts.

Here’s the workout I’d recommend for my athletes:

• Deadlift: 4 sets x 5 reps @ RPE 7
• Good morning: 4 sets x 8 reps @ RPE 8
• 45-degree back extension: 3 sets x 12 reps
• Bird dog: 3 sets x 10 reps per side
• Suitcase carry: 3 sets x 30-60 seconds per side

Then, I included 4 other great exercises you can swap in if these don’t perfectly fit your goals.

Pro Tip: Before lifting, get a good lower back warmup. My favorite warmup moves are the mountain climber stretch, iron cross, cat-cow, and knee-to-chest.

Check out our guide for the 10 Best Cable Back Workouts And Exercises For Muscle Mass

1. Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best low back exercises with weights. It’s a compound exercise using a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebells to strengthen the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.

If you have low back pain, you might avoid doing deadlifts out of fear of injuring yourself. But finding a variation and a range of motion that works best for you will benefit you in the long run.

How To Do

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart in front of a barbell, kettlebell, or dumbbell, ensuring the weight stays close to your body.
2. Bend down and grab the weight with your hands, keeping your back straight.
3. Brace your core, drive your feet through the floor, and stand up with the weight.
4. Pause at the top of the lift, then reach your hips, bending your knees slightly to bring the weight back to the ground.

Programming: 4 sets x 5 reps @ RPE7

Pro Tip: Drive your chest and hips up simultaneously. That way, you are using the correct muscles under a heavy load.

Learn more about compound back exercises in 15 Best Compound Back Exercises Rated by Powerlifters.

2. Good Morning

If you want an exercise that will add strength and size to your entire posterior chain, the good morning is your answer. It’s a low back exercise with weights that you can load as heavy as you can safely perform, although it can take work to perfect the technique.

It’s an excellent exercise for advanced lifters, but if you are starting, learning how to hip hinge should take priority before loading this exercise.

How To Do

1. Place a barbell on your back, much like you would for a high bar barbell squat, and lift it out of the rack.
2. Set your feet shoulder-width apart, engage your core, and then reach your hips back, bending at the hips.
3. Go until you feel a big stretch in the back of your legs or until your torso is parallel to the ground.
4. Push through the floor to stand back up, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Programming: 4 sets x 8 reps

Pro Tip: While a barbell might be the standard way to load this exercise, it might be too much weight for some. In that case, you can use other training tools like bands or dumbbells to build strength and competence with the exercise.

3. 45-Degree Back Extension

The 45-degree back extension requires a back extension machine that loads through the hip joint to strengthen the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings without loading the spine. It is a great exercise for beginners who want stronger lower back muscles but don't want to stress their spines.

How To Do

1. Adjust the height of the pads so that your hips are just above the pads.
2. Place your legs against the pads, with your heels against the foot pads at the bottom of the machine.
3. Place your hands behind your head or in front of your chest.
4. Keeping your back flat, hinge at the hips and bend toward the floor.
5. Reach down until you feel the tension in the hamstrings, then squeeze your glutes and lower back muscles to return to the start position.

Programming: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Pro Tip: You can hold a weight across your chest to increase intensity. Make sure you’re doing it correctly and targeting the right muscles.

Check out all the muscles the back extension works.

4. Bird Dog

The bird dog is a bodyweight exercise that targets the lower back, glutes, and abdominal muscles while challenging your stability and balance.

It can be progressed or regressed, depending on what level you find yourself at. Beginners or those with weak lower back muscles can do it on their hands and knees. More advanced individuals can do it in a tall plank position or add weight to the exercise.

How To Do

1. Start on your hands and knees, with the hands directly under your shoulder and the knees under the hips.
2. Brace your core muscles, then extend your left arm and right leg straight out, trying to create a straight line between your hand and foot.
3. Hold for a second, then bring them back to the starting position.
4. You can repeat that side for all reps before switching or alternate sides until you’ve completed all your reps.

Programming: 3 sets x 10 reps

Pro Tip: A common error with the bird dog is lifting the arms and legs as high as possible, creating more of a spinal extension position. Keep the limbs parallel to the ground so the back stays flat.

5. Suitcase Carry

Carries are great exercises to challenge the core and lower back muscles. The suitcase carry is a variation that makes it look like you’re carrying a bag at your side. It targets one side as you walk for a certain distance or for time.

As a bonus, you will also test your grip strength with this exercise, which will carry over into other grip-dependent exercises, such as deadlifts.

How To Do

1. Grab a weight in one hand and hold it at your side.
2. Stand up tall, brace your core, and squeeze your lats to keep the weight close to you.
3. Walk forward, taking small steps and keeping your hips in line.
4. Walk for 30 feet or 20-30 seconds, then switch to the opposite hand and repeat.

Programming: 4 sets of walking 30 feet for 20 to 30 seconds

Pro Tip: Slow, deliberate steps will help you keep alignment through the shoulders and hips. Brace your core to maintain spinal stability.

If you want to level up this exercise, you can add a march, bringing the knees up to the chest with each step. Doing this increases the instability, so your core and lower back muscles must work harder to keep you balanced.

6. Reverse Plank/Chinese Plank

While most planks have you facing down and working your abs, the reverse plank concentrates on the back muscles. It’s a great starting point when wanting to build more muscular endurance. With little to no moving parts, it's perfect for beginners.

How To Do

1. You’ll need two equal-height benches about the length of your body.
2. Place your upper back on one bench and the heels of your feet on the other.
3. Brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and drive your heels into the bench.
4. Lift your body off the ground until you’re parallel to the ground.
5. Hold this position for 20 seconds or until you feel like your hips will drop.

Programming: 4 sets for 20+ seconds

Pro Tip: This exercise can be progressed or regressed by changing the distance between the two benches and creating longer or shorter levers. If you want to make it more challenging, spread the benches further apart so that you have to support more body weight. If it's too much of a challenge, bring the benches closer so you are supporting less of your body weight.

7. GHD Back Extension

This variation of a back extension requires access to a GHD to target the lower back muscles. Learning to engage your glutes and lower back muscles properly is important before performing this, so it's suited for intermediate to advanced lifters.

How To Do

1. Set the GHD machine to a desired height and adjust the footpad so your hips align with the pads.
2. Place your feet in the footpad so your heels are against the pads.
3. Place your hands behind your head or across your chest, then brace your core and bend at the hips as you reach for the ground.
4. Keep your spine neutral as you lower down, keeping your legs straight the entire time.
5. Squeeze your glutes and lower back muscles to return to the starting position.

Programming: 3 sets x 12 reps

Pro Tip: At the top of the movement, be sure you return to parallel and avoid going into a hyperextension position so you don’t put too much stress on the spine.

For other exercises that target the low back, check out our article 17 Best Spinal Erector Exercises (With Pictures)

8. Reverse Hyperextension

The reverse hyperextension is a great exercise to build the lower back muscles without loading the spine directly. Some gyms may have a machine for this exercise, but you can also perform it using a bench, a physioball, bands, or a cable machine to get a similar effect.

This exercise is great for everyone, whether a beginner or advanced, as you can progress or regress it depending on your needs.

How To Do

1. Lie face down on a reverse hyper machine, with your hips at the edge and your legs hanging off.
2. Grab the handles and brace your core, and, using your glutes, lift your legs up until they are parallel to the ground.
3. Slowly lower back down to the start and repeat for reps.

Programming: 4 sets x 15 reps

Pro Tip: If you’ve never done this exercise before, start slow by using body weight to get used to the movement and which muscles need to work. Eventually, you can progress to using resistance bands or weights.

9. Kettlebell Hip Swing

The kettlebell swing has a big demand on the hamstrings, glutes, and low back muscles. This hip hinge exercise works on stability through the lower back to safely do.

This exercise requires core strength and a strong lower back. You also need a good amount of flexibility to accomplish it.

How To Do

1. Stand upright with feet hip-width apart while holding a kettlebell before your hips.
2. With a slight bend in your knees, hinge at your hips so the kettlebell begins to go between your legs.
3. Make sure to keep your back flat and arms straight.
4. Pull forward through your hips so the kettlebell finishes at belly button height.
5. Repeat for the desired reps.

Programming: 5 sets x 10 reps

Pro Tip: Hinge from the hips and squeeze your glutes at the movement's top. You do not want to over-extend and finish in a low back hyperextension position.

Benefits of Training the Lower Back

• Injury Prevention: You can reduce the risk of lower back injuries by performing workouts for lower back strength, as the muscles become more resilient to strains or pulls. Additionally, a more resilient spine can provide better support when doing other exercises, like deadlifts.
• Improved Posture: If the lower back muscles are weak, your posture is also poor. This could lead to low back injuries. The stronger your lower back muscles are, the more support the spine has, which improves your posture.
• Increased Flexibility: As you strengthen and stretch out your lower back muscles, you can create a more active range of motion, which makes it easier to move, bend, and twist. When that is easier, it can make other activities easier as well.
• Stronger Muscles: The more you do low back strength training, the stronger your muscles will be and the more resilient they will be when performing compound movements like the deadlift or squat.

Wondering how and why you should train your back if you’re a powerlifter? Check out How Do Powerlifters Train Back? 3 Must-Do Workouts.

How To Protect Lower Back When Lifting Weights

Here are 3 tips to protect your lower back from injury while lifting weights.

• Brace your core. A strong core will provide stability to the lower back.

• Use the correct form. Ensure you follow the correct form to engage the proper muscles to do the movement.

• Get in a good warmup. A solid warmup routine will leave you primed and ready to hit your lift.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Lower back exercises are essential to your training to maintain a strong, healthy back and reduce the risk of an injury. Just like other muscles in the body, with the right exercises, you can strengthen those muscles to make them more resilient.

The first place to start is by incorporating these 9 best lower back workouts at the gym, and you’ll be on your way to a stronger lower back.

About The Author

ChrisCooperis a certified personal trainer through the NSCA and a massage therapist in New York.He has over 17 years experience blending the two worlds to work with clients in their pursuit to get stronger and move pain-free as they return from injury.He runs his coaching services through CoachChrisCooper.com.