stretching on yoga ball Today we are going to talk about some exercises that can help you if you experience back pain.

Many people find that recreational swimming helps ease back pain, and there is research to back that up. But some strokes may be better than others.

An advantage to exercising in a pool is that the buoyancy of the water takes stress off the joints. At the same time, swimming and other aquatic exercises can strengthen back and core muscles….More at Ask Well: Swimming to Ease Back Pain – NYTimes.com
Yes, this is very true.  Swimming is a great exercise to help with back pain. The benefits of swimming is that you are in a non weight bearing position, this means you do not have the effect of gravity stressing your spine while you are exercising.  While you are swimming you are using a lot of different muscles that you might not normally use while doing other exercises.  You can get a good cardio work out in as well. However, if you have scoliosis, I hesitate to recommend frequent or competitive swimming. Competitive swimming in a scoliotic person increases the risk of developing hypokyphosis (flattenting of the spine).  Hypokyphosis worsens someone’s scoliosis.  If you are like the majority of business professionals we see who spend most of their work day behind a computer in a sitting position, pelvic rocking is a great exercise you should try.
1. Pelvic Rocking 
This exercise is similar to cat / cow but seated upright rather than on your hands and knees. Focus on the movement of the pelvis to manipulate the lumbar curve and sacrum.
As you inhale, rock your hips forward and lengthen the tailbone behind you. As you exhale, tuck the tailbone underneath you, round your back and bring your chin to chest. 
as if you’re in a rocking chair, inhaling to open the front body and exhaling to lengthen the back. Find a rhythm and momentum that feels good, rocking as quickly or slowly as you’d like. …More at Simple Exercises to Relieve Back Pain (Video)
The pelvic rocking exercise is a great exercise as it helps a lot with strengthening muscle as well as loosening up the muscles in the low back.  The article above does a great job at explaining how to do it. But, it begs the question–when to do it?   I recommend doing it as often as possible especially, during times of prolonged sitting like when in a plane or at work in front of a computer.  You simply cannot do too much of pelvic rocking…a good habit to get into. Remember, the main reason why one gets back pain is usually because the muscles have become weak over time from sitting too many hours each day at your job. To prevent, keep moving. It is good for you. But, if you do experience back pain, take on one or all of the exercises mentioned above. It will do your body wonders, naturally, without the use of drugs. Keep moving!