My Favorite Low Back Pain Rehab Exercises (From a Physical Therapist)

By dpope2020

March 27, 2026

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My Favorite Low Back Pain Rehab Exercises (From a Physical Therapist)

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In today's video we go over My Favorite Low Back Pain Rehab Exercises (From a Physical Therapist):

Struggling to progress your low back pain patients beyond basic core work — or unsure which exercises to prescribe at each stage of rehab? This video is your go-to clinical reference.

Whether you're treating a post-op patient who can barely walk in the door or a powerlifter who just wants to get back under the bar, having a full exercise toolbox for low back rehab is non-negotiable. In this video, I'll break down my favorite low back rehab exercises — organized by irritability level — so you can always match the right exercise to the right patient.

What You'll Learn:

✅ How to select exercises based on tissue irritability, patient goals & equipment availability

✅ Table-level exercises for your most irritable patients (post-op, acute flare-ups)

✅ Progressive loading strategies from bird dogs all the way to barbell good mornings

✅ Why hip thrusts and banded pull-throughs are often better tolerated than deadlifts — and the biomechanical reason why

✅ How to modify squats and deadlifts to reduce spinal strain while keeping athletes training

✅ When (and why) to lean on single-leg exercises as a rehab bridge

Exercises Covered: Cat-Cow · Bird Dog · Glute Bridge · Superman · Hip Thrust · Single-Leg Hip Thrust · 45° Back Extension · Banded Pull-Through · Cable Pull-Through · Dumbbell RDL · Barbell RDL · Trap Bar Deadlift · Sumo Deadlift · Good Morning Progressions · Squat Progressions · Single-Leg Exercises

Timeline:

  • 0:00 – Intro
  • 0:13 – Why Exercise Selection Matters for Low Back Pain
  • 1:00 – Exercise Selection: Irritability, Goals & Equipment
  • 2:00 – Table Exercises for Highly Irritable Patients
  • 2:13 – Cat-Cow
  • 2:37 – Bird Dog Progressions
  • 3:05 – Glute Bridge
  • 3:45 – Superman Progressions
  • 4:21–Hip Thrust – Setup & Progressions
  • 5:51– Single-Leg Hip Thrust
  • 8:10 – 45-Degree Back Extension Progressions
  • 9:52 – Banded Pull-Through
  • 11:15 – Cable Pull-Through
  • 11:42 – Dumbbell RDL
  • 12:31 – Barbell RDL & Partial ROM Progressions
  • 13:47 – Trap Bar Deadlift (High vs. Low Handle)
  • 15:03 – Sumo Deadlift
  • 16:12 – Good Morning Progressions
  • 19:04 – Squat Progressions (Counterbalance → Back Squat)
  • 21:19 – Single-Leg Exercises as a Rehab Bridge
  • 22:37 – Summary

Don't be a baby...

- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS

Show Notes / Relevant Articles:

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Thank you!

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

References: 

  1. Rodríguez-Domínguez ÁJ, Moral-Munoz JA, Guzmán-Gómez JD, Valero-Ortiz J, González-Gómez L, Cardellat-González M. Does resistance training improve pain intensity, quality of life, and disability in people with chronic nonspecific low back pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Disabil Rehabil. 2026 Mar;48(6):1532-1545. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2025.2566275. Epub 2025 Oct 9. PMID: 41065407.