Back Pain and Exercise: Learning to Control Your Centre of Mass
If you’ve ever felt your back “flare up” during exercise, you’re not alone. One of the biggest missing pieces in back pain rehab is learning to control your centre of mass basically, your body’s control hub. If you don’t know how to manage it, or if you’ve had an injury that knocked your system out of whack, your back is often the first place to complain.
At The Recovery Project in Cromwell, we see this all the time. The good news? With the right approach, you can retrain your body to control movement, reduce back pain, and get strong again.
Why Controlling Your Centre of Mass Helps Back Pain
Most people with chronic or recurring back pain fall into one of two groups:
Never learnt to control their centre of mass. This often leads to the spine, hips, or small stabilising muscles taking on too much strain.
Had a trauma or injury. The body adapts by bracing or stiffening up. It’s protective, but long-term it keeps the pain cycle alive.
Either way, the answer isn’t avoiding exercise. It’s learning how to move with control so your back feels safe again.
Pain During Exercise Doesn’t Mean “Stop”
Here’s something most people with back pain need to hear: pain during exercise doesn’t always mean damage. More often, it’s your body saying, “I’m not confident in this position yet.”
That’s where we step in. By tweaking the range, weight, reps, speed, or technique, you can keep training safely without giving up completely. Over time, this builds trust in your body and confidence in your movement.
Back Pain Exercise Checklist
Before you quit an exercise because it hurts, run through this checklist. It’s the same process we coach patients through in clinic:
✅ Check Your Range
Romanian Deadlift (RDL): If your back feels tight, stop at mid-shin instead of the floor. Do a side plank before to make sure that core is good to go.
Still uncomfortable? Swap to a glute bridge where your spine is supported.
Lunge: If the bottom position hurts, use a smaller step or lunge to a box for safety, try keeping your shin vertical to load more glute rather than quad/knee.
✅ Check Your Weight
Deadlift: If 40 kg feels sketchy, strip it back to 20–25 kg and focus on technique.
Dumbbell press: Painful at 10s? Drop to 6–8s and move smoothly.
✅ Check Your Reps
If 15 lunges per leg ruins your form, cut it down to 8 quality reps.
If rows feel sloppy at 12 reps, stick with 6–8 done well.
✅ Check Your Speed
Kettlebell swing/hip hinge: Too fast? Slow it right down to a controlled hinge with a pause.
Push-up: Lower slowly with control instead of rushing.
✅ Check Your Technique
Plank: Reset your breathing and bracing instead of forcing longer holds.
Lunge with knee pain: Bias the glutes take a bigger step, lean slightly forward, and push through your heel.
Exercise Swaps for Back Pain
If a certain exercise just isn’t working yet, here are safe swaps we often use:
Struggling with an RDL? → Try a glute bridge or hip thrust to build glute strength safely.
Knee pain in lunges? → Switch to a glute-biased lunge (longer step, more hip hinge).
Push-ups too much on the back or shoulders? → Start with wall push-ups or incline push-ups.
These variations still train the right muscles, but give your spine more support while you build control.
Building Control = Building Confidence
At The Recovery Project, we don’t wrap people in bubble wrap. We teach you how to trust your body again. Learning to control your centre of mass is a skill, just like learning to ride a bike. Once you’ve got it, you don’t lose it.
And that’s the key: with the right guidance, back pain doesn’t mean you have to stop. It means adjust, adapt, and keep building strength until your body feels safe again. That’s how you go from pain and frustration to confidence and resilience.
👉 If you’re in Cromwell or the Queenstown Lakes District and struggling with back pain, we can help. Book an appointment at The Recovery Project today and start rebuilding your strength with expert guidance.
