[bproven]

For neck/back pain I highly recommend strength training - specifically focused on posterior chain exercises like deadlifts, squats (if you do not have any serious preexisting injuries preventing you doing them). Even you are unable to do those a good solid barbell strenght training program can work wonders. Anecdontal for me, but I find whenever I stop training my back/neck pain comes back.

Also important to move a few times a day if you are doing the kind of sitting work most of us do. I make sure that I take a 20-30 min walk before I start working and then at least 1 more time mid-day. This also helps a lot IMO

[vidarh]

For squats the one thing people need to keep in mind is it requires decent hip and posterior chain flexibility before you get to anything more than moderate weights.

Especially office workers often struggle with that. Simple test: squat all the way down without a weight without lifting your heels and without falling backwards... If you can, your mobility is pretty ok. If you can't.. Well, you should fix that.

I did the mistake of squatting with poor mobility a while when I first started out, and hurt myself before figuring that out. Took just a few weeks of stretches to fix. Incidentally the same stretches (touching toes or floor, squatting and holding the position without a weight - if you can't do it at all start by holding on to something in front of you to keep you from falling) is great if sitting a lot too.

[yedava]

I don't think 'mobility' is a factor for squats. If you think you have bad mobility, try the low bar squat where the back is more horizontal at the bottom of the squat. I have a great deal of difficulty squatting with a vertical back, but I find squatting with a more horizontal back quite natural and easy.

[vidarh]

Yes, it very much is an issue with squats for many people.

If your posterior chain is too tight, you will round your back to compensate for an inability to hold your legs in the right position while hinging your hip enough.

Low bar if anything requires you to be able to keep your back tight while hinging more at the hip.

A lot of people can't do that without a few weeks of stretches first, thanks to years at a desk.

[jacksonkmarley]

Same for me, deadlifts and squats (with good form) kept away my lower back pain. One caveat, when I first started there was a bit of a learning curve on how to get core bracing and posture right, and bad form made my back a bit sore.

Unfortunately in the current virus situation the gym is out and my place isn't suitable for weight training. I'm starting some bodyweight exercises but they don't seem to help my back like the weight training did.

[PaulHoule]

The most efficient kind of exercise to relieve low back pain involve bending backwards, such as the Cobra pose in Yoga

https://www.dummies.com/health/exercise/yoga/how-to-do-the-c...

See also

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/treat-your-own-back-robin-a...

Cobra and the exercises from that book are easy to do at home but I like the bioenergetic arch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=225tAQzCVhs

because it is standing and you can do it anywhere, just please wear better clothes than the guy in that video.

[jacksonkmarley]

Hmmm, I don't doubt that those exercises may be helpful for many people, but I have tried a lot of stretches for my back, including those, and have never felt much relief. For some reason lifting weights was much more effective for me.

[lottin]

Yes, the squat if not done correctly can be bad for you back. Strangely I've never had a problem doing deadlifts with a degree of lumbar flexion, but I keep pinching a nerve in my lower back while doing squats.

[polishdude20]

Same for me. I have this mindset now that whenever I get back pain I need to deadlift / squat it out albeit with a slightly lower weight than usual. It seems to go away every time after a few sets.

[howardr]

+1

After doing moderate strength training in these areas along with core exercises as part of a cross training class (2x a week) my back pain that I’ve had for over a decade dissapeared.

[varrock]

I’d throw walking lunges in there, to; an excellent posterior chain movement that also gets your heart rate going at a healthy pace.