Low Back Pain (LBP) is the #1 most common discomfort during pregnancy. In fact, it’s so common that it may seem inevitable. But, it doesn’t have to be. By understanding its causes, you will be better positioned to minimize its effects or perhaps prevent it altogether — whether you’re navigating it yourself or helping clients through it.
Read on to learn:
- Why low back pain is so common during pregnancy
- 7 exercises to help minimize or prevent low back pain
- Movements and positions to modify or avoid when you’re in pain
Quick Answer: Low back pain affects close to 70% of pregnant people, making it the most common discomfort during pregnancy — but it is not inevitable. It develops when several factors converge at once: alignment shifts, a changing center of gravity, hormonal changes that reduce pelvic stability, and weakened or overwhelmed core and glute muscles. Addressing these factors through targeted exercises — including neutral alignment, 360° Breathing, Cat-Cow, and glute strengthening — can significantly reduce symptoms or prevent them altogether.
Why is Low Back Pain So Common During Pregnancy?
Several physiological and biomechanical factors tend to converge around the same time during pregnancy, creating the perfect conditions for low back pain to develop. Here are the key contributors:
- Alignment Changes: During pregnancy, the growing belly tends to tilt the pelvis anteriorly (forward). This pulls the lumbar spine into extension, compressing the tissues in the low back and making them tight and uncomfortable.
- Shift in Center of Gravity: A growing belly shifts your center of gravity up and out, which means the muscles along the back of your body have to work harder to keep you upright. That constant tension adds up. Many people also compensate by leaning slightly backward to counterbalance the extra weight in front, which can further increase pressure on the lower back.
- Hormonal Changes: During pregnancy, levels of a hormone called relaxin increase significantly. As its name indicates, relaxin softens the body’s soft tissues to allow the pelvis to widen for the growing baby and to facilitate baby’s movement during labor. The trade-off is reduced pelvic stability, which makes it harder to resist the alignment and center-of-gravity shifts described above.
- Weak or “overwhelmed” deep core and glute muscles: The deep core and gluteal muscles are your low back’s primary support system. When these muscles are underdeveloped or simply overwhelmed by the demands of a growing belly and shifting alignment, their ability to protect the low back decreases.
7 Exercises to Focus On to Mitigate Low Back Pain
The exercises below target the specific factors that contribute to low back pain during pregnancy — alignment, core and glute strength, and mobility in the surrounding areas. Work through them consistently, and encourage your clients to do the same.
- Find Neutral Alignment: Neutral alignment isn’t technically an exercise, but it may be one of the most impactful things you can do for low back comfort during pregnancy. Getting the pelvis into a neutral position reduces compression in the lumbar spine and creates a better foundation for everything else. Watch the video below to learn how to get your body into neutral alignment, and practice carrying it into your daily movement — especially during long periods of standing or walking.
- 360° Breathing: Strong core and glute muscles help resist the alignment shifts that pull the lower back into an excessive arch. 360° Breathing activates your deep core muscles in the most effective way. And because the way you breathe impacts your central nervous system, 360° Breathing confers a host of systemic benefits throughout your body, which is why we refer to it as the #1 most effective core exercise. Practice it on its own first, then work on integrating it into your other movements as shown in the demo below.
- Cat-Cow: This is an effective mobility exercise for releasing tension in the lower back. One common error is initiating the movement from the upper back, which limits how much relief the lower back actually gets. The video below demonstrates how to drive the movement from the pelvis to get a more targeted stretch.
- Quadruped T-Spine Stretch: When adjacent areas of the body — like the thoracic spine and hips — are tight and restricted, the low back often compensates by taking on more movement than it should. Exercises 4, 5, and 6 address this by targeting those surrounding areas. This quadruped T-spine stretch helps mobilize the thoracic spine to reduce the demand placed on the low back.
- Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch: Tight hip flexors are another common contributor to low back tension. When the hip flexors are shortened, they pull on the pelvis and lumbar spine, compounding the alignment challenges already present during pregnancy. This stretch helps keep them supple and reduces that downstream tension.
- Windshield Wipers: This hip mobility exercise helps maintain range of motion in the hips so the low back doesn’t have to compensate during everyday movements.
- Bridge: As mentioned, strong core and glute muscles are essential for minimizing low back pain. The bridge is a safe and highly effective exercise to strengthen the glutes, and it’s safe to perform throughout pregnancy because it keeps the pelvis in a stable position.
Movements and Positions to Modify or Avoid (If You’re Experiencing LBP)
If you’re already experiencing low back pain, some movements will aggravate it more than others. The goal isn’t to stop moving, but to train smarter while your body is working through it.
- Moves that place high demand on the core: A two-arm bent-over row, for example, requires significant core effort to maintain position. Modifying to a kneeling row — where the non-working arm supports the body — substantially reduces that load. Look for similar opportunities to offload the core without stopping the movement altogether.
- Anti-Extension Exercises: Exercises that involve resisting being pulled into extension — planks, leg lifts, dead bugs — place significant demand on the core. When low back pain is present, these may be worth temporarily setting aside or modifying until symptoms improve.
- Reduce load and weight position: Two adjustments can make a meaningful difference here. First, reducing the amount of weight lifted takes some of the demand off the low back. Second, lowering where the weight is held in space also helps. Holding dumbbells at your sides during a squat, for example, requires less core and low back effort than holding them in a racked position at chest height. The higher the weight is positioned, the more the core and low back have to work to stabilize it.
- Avoid Provocative Positions: If a movement causes pain, stop doing it. Pushing through discomfort in hopes of a long-term benefit is not worth the risk when the low back is already compromised.
Additional Resources to Reduce Low Back Pain
The exercises and modifications above are a strong starting point. If pain is severe or persistent, working with a prenatal-certified acupuncturist or massage therapist can provide additional hands-on relief alongside your training.
A compression garment can also be worth considering for added support during daily movement. SRC Health offers well-regarded options designed specifically for pregnancy (use code PRONATAL10 for 10% off).
If you are a health & fitness professional looking to build deeper expertise in supporting clients through the specific demands of pregnancy and postpartum, explore the Pre & Postnatal Fitness Specialist Certification.
Frequently Asked Questions About Low Back Pain
Is low back pain during pregnancy normal? Low back pain is extremely common during pregnancy, affecting close to 70% of pregnant people at some point (Wang et al., 2004). That said, common doesn’t mean inevitable. Understanding the contributing factors and addressing them proactively — through alignment, core strength, and targeted mobility work — can significantly reduce its impact or prevent it altogether.
What is the difference between low back pain and pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy? Low back pain during pregnancy refers specifically to pain or tightness in the lumbar region. Pain felt lower — in the posterior pelvic area — is a different condition called sacroiliac joint pain, and it requires different management strategies.
Can exercise make pregnancy low back pain worse? Some movements can aggravate low back pain if you’re already experiencing it — particularly high-load core exercises and anti-extension movements like planks and dead bugs. However, exercise itself is not the problem. In fact, building core and glute strength through targeted movements is one of the most effective ways to reduce and prevent low back pain during pregnancy. The key is choosing the right exercises.
When should I be concerned about low back pain during pregnancy? Most pregnancy-related low back pain is mechanical in nature and manageable with the strategies outlined above. However, if pain is severe, sudden, or accompanied by numbness, tingling, or shooting sensations down the leg, it’s worth consulting a healthcare provider to rule out other causes such as sciatica or a herniated disc.
Does low back pain get worse as pregnancy progresses? Not necessarily. As the belly grows, the contributing factors — alignment shifts, center of gravity changes, and increased load on the core — do become more pronounced. But this is precisely why proactive strength training early in pregnancy is so valuable. The stronger the foundation, the better equipped the body is to manage those demands as they increase.
Sources
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Wang, S., Dezinno, P., Maranets, I. Berman, M.R., Caldwell-Andrews, A.A., Kain, Z.N. (2004). Low Back Pain During Pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 104(1), 65-70.
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Medical Disclaimer
This information is for educational purposes, to be used as general information only. It should not be considered medical advice nor should there be an assumption of a doctor-patient relationship. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided in this document.