If you have a back injury or chronic back pain, you can benefit from doing strengthening exercises.

Weight training can help get rid of your back pain. Strengthening exercises – including lifting weights – can tone your muscles, improve your balance and increase your bone density, which will lower your risk for osteoporosis and broken bones.

“Adults should be strength training at least twice a week and hit all major muscle groups,” said Jennifer Gamboa, PT, DPT, OCS, founder and president of Body Dynamics Inc. in Falls Church, Va., and a spokeswoman for the American Physical Therapy Association.

Beware bad weightlifting form and techniques, said Derek Ochiai, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert at the Nirschl Orthopaedic Center in Arlington, Va. Weightlifting without proper training can exacerbate chronic back pain. A personal or athletic trainer can help design a strengthening program that's right for you.

Start Weightlifting:

If you're new to weightlifting, you need to learn how to choose a weight, especially if you’re weigh lifting with back pain. Start with a weight that lets you do 12 to 15 repetitions but makes you tired by 12, and have someone spot you. “That’s not a large amount of weight,” Gamboa said. As you build muscle, you can increase the weight with the same rule. “You don’t get extra kudos if you choose a weight that is 10 pounds too heavy, and you lose your form and re-injure your back,” she said.

Avoiding Weightlifting Back Pain

Warm up. Before beginning any strengthening exercise program, warm up your muscles. Good warm-ups for weight training include 10 minutes of walking fast or jogging slowly in place, riding a stationary bike, or using a cross-trainer. Note, however, that while you want to warm up, you don’t want to stretch. Young men who stretch before lifting weights are weaker and less stable than those who don’t stretch first, according to an April 2011 study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Practice perfect posture. Keep your back straight. Tighten your abdominal muscles so they act like a muscular corset to keep your spine straight, Gamboa said. Spread your feet apart a few inches to give yourself a stronger base. As you lift, bend at your knees, not your waist, and use your legs to lift. Don’t twist your back while you’re lifting – this increases the risk of throwing out your back and causing back spasms, Dr. Ochiai said.

Breathe properly. “You want to make sure you’re not holding your breath when you’re lifting weights,” Gamboa said. “Focus on a nice inhale and exhale during the main strain of the exercise.” Contrary to what you might think, the general rule is to exhale through your mouth when you lift the weight and inhale when you lower the weight.

Stop if you feel pain. The idea of “no pain, no gain” is old school. One set of weightlifting exercises is 10 reps. Gamboa said to aim for three sets of 10 reps and to rest for 30 to 60 seconds between each set. Make sure you give yourself at least a day between weightlifting sessions to recover. If you feel pain, stop what you’re doing. If the pain doesn’t subside within a day or two, talk to your doctor.

Use a weightlifting belt. Only use a weightlifting belt if your doctor wants you to use one or if you’re lifting a great deal of weight. “In the standard zone, you shouldn’t need a weight belt," she said. "That’s what your abdominal muscles should be doing. By wearing a weight belt, you’re giving your abdominal muscles permission to shut off.”