Core-strengthening exercises can help keep your back pain free and your weight within healthy ranges, too.

Regular, appropriate exercise is your best bet for avoiding back pain as you grow older, experts say, especially if you are overweight or obese. Your goal should be to work toward losing weight as you strengthen the network of muscles that support your spine.

The concept is simple. A leaner frame and stronger muscles can keep excess weight from overtaxing the spinal disks that serve as cushions between the vertebrae, the individual bones that make up the spine.

"If you have strong muscles, they support your joints, and that includes your disks," says Nick Shamie, MD, associate professor of spine surgery at UCLA School of Medicine, director of spinal deformity surgery at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, and a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Strong muscles support some of the load that your disks would otherwise absorb."

Back pain is more common among folks who are out-of-shape, overweight, or obese, according to the National Institutes of Health. That's partly because weaker muscles aren't as helpful in supporting the spine, but also because additional body weight serves as a constant heavy load on the back. Exercise is key to both strengthening those important muscles and dropping extra pounds.

Strong Muscles Ward Off Back Pain
If you think exercising just the muscles of your lower back is the best way to guard against back pain, think again. It is actually the combined efforts of your abdominal, back, hip and pelvis muscles all working together that help to take weight off your spine. Together, they form a natural corset to block disk deterioration and sprains that lead to lower back pain.

Abdominal muscles in particular can help support the spine if strengthened through exercise. "Abs are very important," Dr. Shamie says. "Because they're farther away from the spine, they have to exert less force for the same benefit provided by the muscles of your lower back."

Exercises that condition the neck and shoulders can help protect the disks of the upper spine, further preventing back pain.

Extra Body Weight Can Cause Back Pain
Stronger muscles will go a long way toward preventing back pain, but you'll do even better if you give them less body weight to support. Obesity puts a lot of stress on the back, adding a constant strain of extra weight to the normal lifting, walking, and moving about that a person does every day.

"On a daily basis the load that these disks will have to withstand in a heavy person will be a lot more than the load experienced with a lighter individual," Shamie says.

The obesity epidemic in the United States has led to increased reports of back pain. A national survey of spine care professionals conducted in 2005 by the North American Spine Society found that the number of obese people treated for spine-related disorders had increased nearly 67 percent from five years earlier. About 44 percent of back pain patients were considered obese.

What's the Best Exercise to Prevent Back Pain?
Exercise combined with a sensible diet can help you drop pounds and hold off many forms of back pain. It’s always a good idea to check with your doctor first about what would be appropriate for your particular situation.

For most people, however, athletic trainers and doctors recommend exercises that involve the whole body, especially the muscles of the body's core. Abdominal crunches, Pilates, and yoga are beneficial, for instance. Aerobic exercise also is helpful, as it increases muscular endurance and improves blood flow to the spine as well. Some additional suggestions for getting up and getting moving toward a pain-free back include swimming, strength training, kickboxing, and tai chi.

Just a word of caution, however: Don't overdo it, and don't try to cram all your exercise into a couple of days. People who exercise heavily on the weekends after a week spent in an office chair or on the couch watching TV are more likely to suffer painful back injuries. Your best bet is to make moderate physical activity a daily habit, and be sure to ask your doctor if your chosen exercise program is right for you.