Strengthen Your Core to Ease Lower Back Pain: A Guide from Renaissance Physio & Wellness
- Bryan Chen
- Oct 25
- 3 min read
Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people reach out for physiotherapy and it’s no wonder. With everyday tasks like sitting, standing and lifting, your lower back picks up a lot of the load. One of the most effective strategies to manage and reduce this kind of pain is to build up your core strength. But having a strong core isn’t simply about a six-pack. It’s about stabilizing your spine and improving your full-body movement. In this post, we’ll explore how core strength helps with low back pain and how you can begin working on it here at Renaissance Physio & Wellness, in Etobicoke
What Do We Mean by “Core Strength”?
Your “core” refers to the muscles around the abdomen, lower back and pelvis. These muscles support your spine and enable almost every movement you make. When these core muscles are weak, your lower back often has to pick up the slack — which can lead to discomfort, strain and pain. A well-conditioned core reduces pressure on your spine, improves your posture and helps you move more freely. In plain terms: a strong core equals a healthier back.
How Core Exercises Can Help Relieve Lower Back Pain
In cases of lower back pain, especially chronic pain, core strengthening exercises can be a game changer. These exercises improve both stability and mobility, helping ease the load on your lower back. They may also trigger something known as Exercise Induced Hypoalgesia (EIH), a phenomenon where your sensitivity to pain temporarily decreases after exercise.
While promising, the results of EIH for chronic low back pain (CLBP) aren’t entirely consistent. Some research finds pain relief, others no effect, and some even show an increased pain sensitivity. This variation underscores how complex chronic pain can be factors like central sensitisation (an overly-sensitive nervous system), psychological influences (fear of movement, negative beliefs about pain) and the type of exercise matter a lot.
The Role of Core Stabilization Exercises
Core stabilization exercises: those which focus on coordinating and strengthening the muscles around your trunk, are commonly recommended for managing CLBP. These exercises aim to improve how your body supports and moves your spine, offering longer-term benefits for both pain relief and prevention. For example, a recent study (Tomschi et al., 2025) looked at 32 participants with non-specific chronic low back pain. They performed a short, body-weight only core stabilization routine (including forearm planks, side planks, static swimmers, and bridges). The results were encouraging: the exercises increased pain thresholds in the lumbar region (lower back) which indicating immediate pain relief, but they did not show significant changes in pain sensitivity in other body regions (such as the hand or forehead). This suggests the effect of EIH may be localized to the area exercised. The study also found that those with lower pain catastrophising scores (i.e., fewer exaggerated negative thoughts about pain) experienced better relief, highlighting how psychological factors further influence outcomes.
Why Does It Mean To you
The findings above underscore an important message for anyone dealing with chronic low back pain: core stabilization can provide immediate, localized relief and support long-term recovery. Here’s why:
Immediate Pain Relief: Short, targeted core routines may help reduce pain by increasing your pain tolerance in the lower back area
Prevention of Future Injury: A strong, well-coordinated core supports better posture and reduces strain on your back. Over time, this means fewer flare ups of your low back pain.
Psychological + Physical Factors: Pain is not purely a mechanical issue and if you carry fear of movement or negative beliefs about your pain, that will impact your recovery. At Renaissance Physio & Wellness, we integrate both physical exercise and patient education to address these factors.
How Renaissance Physio & Wellness Can Help
Located at 2405 Lakeshore Blvd W, Etobicoke, ON M8V 1C5, Renaissance Physio & Wellness offers one-on-one care combining manual therapy, corrective exercise, posture & spinal alignment treatment and patient education. Whether you’re dealing with persistent low back pain or simply want to strengthen your core to avoid future issues, our team can build you a tailored programme that fits your lifestyle, goals, and schedule. We offer a FREE 15-minute consultation to get you started.
Strengthening your core is more than chasing a six-pack — it’s about stabilizing your spine, improving posture, reducing back strain, and preventing future pain!
