Exercises for back pain focus on strengthening the muscles in the back and abdomen and stretching the muscles in the back. Flexibility exercises for your hips and even your shoulders may also be needed, because improving your flexibility in these areas will decrease the demands on your back.

A study published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Volume 89, page 1305) suggests that supervised exercises can lead to faster improvement in disability caused by chronic low back pain than nonsupervised exercise.

Researchers asked 60 adults who had low back pain for at least three months to decide whether they wanted to undergo manipulation therapy by a chiropractor or physical therapist or to participate in back and abdominal training from a physical therapist for four weeks.

At the end of the treatment, participants were randomly assigned to receive 12 weeks of supervised exercises using an exercise ball or to receive basic advice explaining how to perform commonly recommended exercises for low back pain at home. At 16 weeks, significantly more people in the supervised exercise group reported improvements in disability than those in the basic exercise group -- and they improved more rapidly. Nine months later, however, there were no differences between the two groups. And both groups reported significantly less disability than at the start of the study.

Bottom line: If you want faster relief from chronic low back pain, a supervised program may fit the bill. Whatever program you choose, you will likely need to continue doing back exercises for long-term relief.