Exercises to Do After Low Back Surgery

By Brett Sears, PT 

A lumbar laminectomy and discectomy is a surgical procedure that your orthopedic or neurologic surgeon may perform to help decrease pain and improve mobility. The procedure involves cutting away disc and bone material that may be pressing against the nerves coming from your spine.1

You may benefit from physical therapy after a lumbar laminectomy and discectomy to help you fully recover.2 Most people can begin light exercises about six weeks after low back surgery. The exact timeline from surgery to rehab to recovery varies, and will be up to the discretion of your physical therapist or healthcare provider.

This article explains what to expect from rehab after low back surgery. It lists 14 exercises your physical therapist may have you do, along with how to do them.

Senior man giving small steps in parallel bars
aldomurillo / Getty Images

Note that before embarking on any exercise program, you’ll need to get prior clearance from your healthcare provider to ensure that these moves are safe for you to do. Some surgeons may have restrictions on how much you can bend, lift, and twist for anywhere from two to six weeks after your surgery.

Straight Leg Raise

One of your physical therapy goals after lumbar laminectomy and discectomy may be to improve the strength and stability of your low-back muscles.3 This can improve the support that the muscular system gives to your spine.

One great exercise to help improve your low-back strength is the straight leg raise (SLR) exercise.

To perform the exercise:

  1. Lie on your stomach (prone), tighten your abdominal muscles, and slowly lift one leg up in the air.
  2. Hold the straight leg up for 2 seconds, and then slowly lower it down.
  3. Repeat for 10 to 15 repetitions.

The SLR can be performed once or twice a day, but be sure to check in with your physical therapist before starting the exercise to ensure that it is safe for you to do.

Prone Press Ups

Man doing prone press up exercise
Westend61 / Getty Images

One of the simplest, yet most effective, exercises to protect your back and lumbar discs after laminectomy is the prone press-up.4

This exercise compresses the back of your healing discs and helps to keep them situated in the proper place in your low back. It also helps to improve your ability to bend back into lumbar extension.

To perform the exercise:

  1. Lie face down on a yoga mat on the floor and place both hands flat on the floor under your shoulders.
  2. Keep your back and your hips relaxed, and use your arms to press the upper part of your body up while allowing your lower back to remain against the floor. You should feel a slight pressure in your low back while pressing up.
  3. Hold the press-up position for 2 seconds, and then slowly lower back down to the starting position.
  4. Repeat the exercise for 10 to 15 repetitions.

Be sure to check in with your healthcare provider before starting this exercise to ensure it is safe for you to do after your lumbar laminectomy and discectomy surgery.

Wall Squats

Woman doing wall squats exercise
Kanawa_Studio / Getty Images

Wall squats are a classic core exercise that are also great for strengthening your thigh muscles and glutes.5 This is an ideal exercise for those who have had low back surgery, as it places very minimal stress on the spine.

To perform a wall squat:

  1. Stand with your back against a wall and your arms by your side.
  2. Spread your legs hips width apart.
  3. While pressing your back into the wall, walk your feet out until you are in a seated position; Your knees should be at a 90-degree angle with the ground.
  4. Rest your hands on the tops of your legs or cross your arms against your chest.
  5. Hold this squat for up to one minute.

Check in with your physical therapist before implementing wall sits into your rehab routine. Since wall sits entail pressing your back against the wall, your PT will want to ensure your incision has completely closed and is healing properly.

Bridges

Woman doing bridge exercise at home
bojanstory / Getty Images

The bridge exercise is excellent both for stretching the low back and strengthening the surrounding muscles, including your glutes, hamstrings, and ab muscles, all of which are important for stabilizing your lower spine.

To perform a bridge:

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground, and arms by your side.
  2. Tighten your stomach and tilt your pelvis toward the ceiling.
  3. Pressing your shoulder blades into the ground, lift your bottom as high as you can to create a plank from your chest to your knees.
  4. Hold for about 30 seconds, then slowly lower yourself back to the ground.

Sciatic Nerve Gliding

Patient with the assistance of a physical therapist doing Sciatic Nerve Gliding
Hispanolistic / Getty Images

If you had leg pain coming from your back prior to surgery, you may have been diagnosed with sciatica, or an irritation of your sciatic nerve.6

After your lumbar laminectomy and discectomy surgery, your physical therapist may prescribe specific exercises, called sciatic nerve glides, to help stretch and improve the way your sciatic nerve moves in your back. This can help free the adhered nerve root and allow for normal motion to occur.7

To perform sciatic nerve gliding:

  1. Lie on your back and bend one knee up.
  2. Grab underneath your knee with your hands, and then straighten your knee while supporting it with your hands.
  3. Once your knee is fully straightened, flex and extend your ankle about 5 times, and then return to the starting position.
  4. Repeat the sciatic nerve glide 10 times.

The exercise can be performed several times to help improve the way your sciatic nerve moves and glides in your low back and leg.

Stationary Biking

Woman on a stationary bike at home
SimonSkafar / Getty Images

Stationary biking is one of the best endurance exercises for people recovering from low back surgery.8 In addition to endurance training, stationary biking also works the quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors—all without stressing the low back.9

If you don’t have a stationary bike of your own, you should be able to find them in most gyms. Aim to ride for 20 to 30 minutes per session at a moderately-intense pace.

You will also want to get a green light from your physical therapist before adding stationary biking to your rehab program to ensure it is specifically safe for you.

Abdominal Draw-Ins

Woman at home doing Abdominal Draw-Ins exercise
AlenaPaulus / Getty Images

After a lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, your physical therapist may prescribe exercises to help improve your abdominal strength.10 One exercise to start improving the way your abdominal and core muscles contract is the posterior pelvic tilt.

To perform the posterior pelvic tilt:

  1. Lie on your back with both knees bent.
  2. Slowly rock your pelvis backward as if you are trying to flatten your low back into the floor.
  3. Tighten your abdominal muscles as you tilt your pelvis posteriorly, and hold the position for 2 seconds.
  4. Slowly release the pelvic tilt to return to the starting position.
  5. You can perform the posterior pelvic tilt for 10 to 15 repetitions.

This exercise can be difficult to properly perform, so be sure to check in with your PT before you start to avoid common errors that may make the exercise ineffective.

Hamstring Stretch

Woman stretching her hamstrings at home
zamrznutitonovi / Getty Images

Having tight hamstrings increases the risk of low back pain. But, research shows that hamstring stretches can reduce pre-existing low back pain and help prevent it from developing.11

There are a handful of hamstring stretches you can try, but the simplest one is done from a seated position:

  1. Sit on the ground with your legs stretched out flat in front of you.
  2. Reach your hands for your toes.
  3. Hold until you feel some of the tension in your hamstrings release.

Heel Slides

Woman doing Heel Slide exercise
Junior Asiama / 500px / Getty Images

Heel slides are an exercise commonly done in physical therapy to improve range of motion in the lower body while also strengthening abdominal muscles.12

All you will need is a flat surface to lie on:

  • Lie flat on your back with one leg straight in front of you.
  • Use your leg muscles to slowly draw your heel as close to your buttocks as you can.
  • Keep your foot in contact with the floor at all times.
  • Start with 10 repetitions per leg.

Ankle Pumps

Ankle pumps are a simple exercise that work the calf muscles and ankle. They are a good exercise to start with in the beginning phases of rehabilitation, as they improve circulation in the legs without placing stress on the low back.13

To perform ankle pumps:

  1. Sit or lie on a flat surface with your legs straight in front of you.
  2. Tighten your hamstring muscles.
  3. Take turns pointing and flexing each foot.
  4. Repeat 10 to 15 times per foot.

Supine Lumbar Flexion

Woman doing Supine Lumbar Flexion exercise
fizkes / Getty Images

After your low-back surgery, your physical therapist may prescribe gentle back flexion exercises.14 This can help safely stretch your low-back muscles. It can also be used to gently stretch the scar tissue in your low-back from the surgical incision.

Supine lumbar flexion is one of the simplest things to do to improve your lumbar flexion ROM after low back surgery. To perform the exercise:

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent.
  2. Slowly lift your bent knees up towards your chest, and grasp your knees with both hands.
  3. Gently pull your knees toward your chest, and hold the position for 1 or 2 seconds.
  4. Slowly lower your knees back down to the starting position.
  5. You can perform the supine lumbar flexion exercise for 10 repetitions.

Be sure to stop the exercise if you are experiencing an increase in pain in your low back, buttocks, or legs.

Walking

Woman walking for exercise
LeoPatrizi / Getty Images

Walking is one of the best exercises you can do after a lumbar laminectomy or discectomy surgery.15 Walking helps to improve blood flow throughout your body. This helps to bring in oxygen and nutrients to your spinal muscles and tissues as they heal.16

Walking also helps to improve your cardiovascular health, keeping your heart and lungs functioning properly after lumbar surgery.17 The best thing about walking after back surgery is that it is an upright exercise—your spine will naturally be in a good position while you walk. This helps to protect your discs against future problems.

Physical therapists will help you begin to walk safely while you’re still in the hospital. This will probably happen the first day after surgery. First, they’ll make sure you can get up from the bed or a chair with no issues. Once you can walk in the hallway with your physical therapist, they may help you with walking up stairs.

Postural Correction

After back surgery, you must work to maintain proper posture when you are sitting and standing. Postural control is essential as it keeps your low back in the optimal position to protect your healing lumbar discs and muscles.18

Your physical therapist can teach you how to sit with proper posture by using a lumbar roll to maintain your spine in the best position. The slouch-overcorrect procedure can also help you maintain proper posture for your low back.19

Attaining and maintaining proper posture for your low back is one of the most important things you can do to help protect your back and prevent future episodes of low-back pain.

Return-to-Work Activities

Once you have gained improved lumbar range of motion, hip, and core strength, it may be time to start to work on specific activities to help you return to your previous level of work and recreation.

Depending on your work, you may need to work on proper lifting techniques, or you may require an ergonomic evaluation if you spend time sitting at a desk or a computer terminal.

Be sure to work closely with your healthcare provider and physical therapist before returning to work to ensure that it is safe for you to do and to be certain you are ready for normal work and recreational activities.

Summary

After low-back surgery, such as a lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, your healthcare provider may suggest physical therapy exercises to help you recover. By working with your healthcare provider and physical therapist, you can improve your range of motion, strength, and functional mobility to return to your previous level of function quickly and safely.

By Brett Sears, PT
Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with over 20 years of experience in orthopedic and hospital-based therapy.

Sources

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  2. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Minimally invasive lumbar discectomy.
  3. The Ohio State University. Lumbar laminectomy post-operative rehabilitation guidelines.
  4. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Effects of posterior-anterior vertebral mobilization followed by prone press-up exercise in nonspecific low back pain.
  5. Jung SH, Hwang UJ, Kim JH, Jeon IC, Kwon OY. Relationship between lower extremity extensor strength and wall squat performancePhys Ther Korea. 2019 Dec;26(4):20-28. doi:10.12674/ptk.2019.26.4.020
  6. Penn Medicine. Sciatica.
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  11. Lee JH, Kim TH. The treatment effect of hamstring stretching and nerve mobilization for patients with radicular lower back painJ Phys Ther Sci. 2017 Sep;29(9):1578-1582. doi:10.1589/jpts.29.1578
  12. Eymir M, Erduran M, Ünver B. Active heel-slide exercise therapy facilitates the functional and proprioceptive enhancement following total knee arthroplasty compared to continuous passive motionKnee Surg Spor Traumatol Arthrosc. 2021 Oct;29(10):3352-3360. doi:10.1007/s00167-020-06181-4
  13. Li T, Yang S, Hu F, Geng Q, Lu Q, Ding J. Effects of ankle pump exercise frequency on venous hemodynamics of the lower limbClin Hemorheol Microcirc. 2020;76(1):111-120. doi:10.3233/CH-200860
  14. Park CH, Beom J, Chung CK, et al. Long-term effects of lumbar flexion versus extension exercises for chronic axial low back pain: A randomized controlled trialSci Rep. 2024;14(1):2714. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-51769-2
  15. Alberta Health. Lumbar laminectomy: What to expect at home.
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  19. Post M, Schenk R, Fargnoli R. Utilization of the cervical flexion rotation test to confirm rotation directional preference in people with neck pain: A case seriesCureus. 2023 Oct;15(10):e47389. doi:10.7759/cureus.47389

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