I think the emphasis should be on strengthening your abdominal muscles and your buttocks. If you strengthen those muscles you put less of a burden on your lower back. And you definitely need to stretch your lower back. But you have to be very careful not to overdo that -- best to get a book written by a physical therapist that can walk you through the steps -- what to do and what not to do. And you need to get in the habit of stretching your back GENTLY every day.

If you are prone to lower back problems -- if you have had them on more than two or three occasions, and they made you very uncomfortable -- you should also get some guidance on simple things we usually don't think about, like how to sit and get up from a chair or from bed, how to get into a car without twisting yourself in such a way that you put extra stress on your lower back, how to bend down to pick something up (bend you knees and keep your back straight).

Lower back problems are very very common. It's one of the prices we pay for being upright creatures. But you can reduce their frequqncy and intensity by following the rules. If you go to webmd.com you might get some hints on the kind of books that might be helpful. Or just browse around in you public library or a bookstore.

Good luck.

Thanks, I will check out the site. I am a gardener so it's imperative for me to be able to kneel and work in the garden. I do use a kneeler which helps. I never had the problem before so I'm hoping it's just a fluke.

It's important NOT to bend at your waist, because that puts an extra stress on the lower back. Bend your knees and keep your back straight, or kneel down when you're gardening.

Back pain is always been my problem. Before I do yoga and it helps ease the pain I felt. But I'm so busy nowadays that I can't even find time to do any exercise that is why my back pain is keep on aching.

My husband is very active. Runs, bikes, etc. He has had back problems over the years. Sciatica, lumbar and cervical issues.

After running the gamut of pain meds, exercise, vitamins, chiropractic, etc, we bought an inversion table.

He has been using it for a couple of months and says it has made a difference.

The Army uses them as well.

A link that might be useful:

www.energycenter.com/grav_f/army_inversion.pdf