This book should not have the word "exercises" in the title. It's mostly just words, words, and words. It's also very, very basic. If you really can't move at all and you don't know any exercises this might be the book for you. But if you know how to turn your head and want some better ideas and exercises try something else. I recently bought 5 back books from Amazon and this was the 2nd to last worse one. "No more aching back" was the worst.

All clinician-scientist as well as lay people in

their right mind believe in evidence base medicine

This kind of lay discussion on 'exercises' without

detailed recourse to evidence, nor comparison between

different exercise programs, and omission of a decent

discussion of the causes of back pain as well as

elementary stuff like red flags make this book

extremely extremely mediocre. Extremely not up to standard

All clinician-scientist as well as lay people in
their right mind believe in evidence base medicine
This kind of lay discussion on 'exercises' without
detailed recourse to evidence, nor comparison between
different exercise programs, and omission of a decent
discussion of the causes of back pain as well as
elementary stuff like red flags make this book
extremely extremely mediocre. Extremely not up to standard

Picked this book up with a few other to gain more information on my on and off again back problems. You know how it is if you are thinking of getting this type of book. You went to all the doctors in your town and tried all the exercises they give you to do on the floor. I even spent thousands on massage therapy, a that helped for a while. But every time I went to exercise my back would hurt again. Well this is the year, I am not getting any younger, so I bought a collection of books over the last month and this is one of them i recommend for people who are tired of thier pain and want to do something about it. The other books are on exercises that have helped me very much and I am not running out of exercises to do.Good luck, hope this helps

If you need to start somewhere then this book will help you to exercise away your pain. If you already workout then this book will not give you the type of workout to improve your condition. This was given to me as a gift and I did pick up a few good pointers.

If you need to start somewhere then this book will help you to exercise away your pain. If you already workout then this book will not give you the type of workout to improve your condition. This was given to me as a gift and I did pick up a few good pointers.

I have read book about backache before this one "Backache : home treatment and prevention" by Homola, Samuel. That book was better for backache understanding.
Anyway, I do agree that exercises are good and practical way to get rid of your backache. And I have good experience and knowledge of exercises in general. However, if this is not first book on back exercises you are going to read, I recommend you to read more professional book.
In summary, good for begginer, but too simple if you are looking for professional book on exercises.
Thank you.

This book was a god-send to my family, for both my mother and husband have recently been suffering from back pain.

The "magic bullet" for back pain is to exercise. The authors argue that to cure and prevent future back pain, we should all exercise our abdominal muscles every day.

The exercises they suggest, which are tailor-made for every condition, are very easy to do, even for those of us who are not very active. The easiest one for most of us, is to lie on the floor with your knees drawn up and lift your pelvis towards the ceiling. (This is called the "bridge pose" in yoga). But if you are reading this, and thinking to yourself "I could never do that", the authors have even simpler exercises, including those that you can do while lying in bed.

For fit and active people, the best way to prevent back pain is to do yoga, ballet, belly-dancing or pilates; in fact any kind of exercise that gets you to tone your abdominals. As you can see from this list, there are lots of fun ways to prevent back pain!

This book is a must-read for those of us who are suffering, and I highly recommend it.

This book was a god-send to my family, for both my mother and husband have recently been suffering from back pain.

The "magic bullet" for back pain is to exercise. The authors argue that to cure and prevent future back pain, we should all exercise our abdominal muscles every day.

The exercises they suggest, which are tailor-made for every condition, are very easy to do, even for those of us who are not very active. The easiest one for most of us, is to lie on the floor with your knees drawn up and lift your pelvis towards the ceiling. (This is called the "bridge pose" in yoga). But if you are reading this, and thinking to yourself "I could never do that", the authors have even simpler exercises, including those that you can do while lying in bed.

For fit and active people, the best way to prevent back pain is to do yoga, ballet, belly-dancing or pilates; in fact any kind of exercise that gets you to tone your abdominals. As you can see from this list, there are lots of fun ways to prevent back pain!

This book is a must-read for those of us who are suffering, and I highly recommend it.

I am a practicing physician (internal medicine/nephrology), and have recently had the misfortune of needing some help for my back. I perused the back pain section of one of the big book stores, and selected this one. Although it does not, as one reviewer pointed out, go into detailed descriptions of the mechanics of the spine and musculature, in my opinion that sort of detail is unnecessary except to the curious or those who might have very particular problems - problems that would need the continual attention of medical specialists. This book will be fine for the vast majority of people with the most common kinds of back pain.

I find the real value in this book to be the graduated approach, with exercises that accomplish the mission without CAUSING or exacerbating back pain. I would even recommend this book to people who are looking for a beginner's exercise regimen, regardless of whether they've ever had back pain.

I'll confess that as a specialist, I've often "copped out" and referred patients who mentioned back problems back to their "primary care providers", or told them to "go find a book" because I believed that exercise was the method, but I didn't know the details. Now I do, and I plan to refer many patients with "garden variety" back pain to this book rather than to the primary doc.

When complaining of "back ache", I have often been recommended to visit a specialist. Who spoke much, but often to no avail.

In a few pages, and after a few weeks of following the advice here, my back is much better than it has been in the last few years. I am grateful here to have the opportunity to thank the authors.

I consider myself a quasi back pain expert. I had two herinated discs removed 10 years ago and believed that would be the end of my trouble; it was only the beginning. I have have 4 MRIs, five physical thearpy experiences, have seen othropedic surgeons, neurolists, and a pain specialist for cortezone shots. I currently have another herinated disc and a miscellaneous bulge at the site of the prior two surgeries. This book have provided me more knowledge of how to solve my problems than all the rest combined -- however, having all that experience makes me confident this book has the solution. Many of the exercises I was familar with from physical thearpy over the years. And yes, they told me I'd likely have to do exercises for the rest of my life. And that's what makes this book so handy, you don't have a thearpist with you day in and out, this book is very specific on how to do the exercises, how to progress, and what not to do. The advice is practical and well researched, and very much consistent with everything all the specialists have told me during my decade and a half of back problems. And now the REALLY GOOD News. I noticed improvement within a couple of days of starting the exercises. I have found I have to exercise both morning and night, but I am virtually pain free. I was at a point when I purchased this book, that I woke up every morning with some pain and much activity-limiting stiffness -- and periodically my back would "go out" and I'd spend a couple days in bed recuperating. Now I wake pain free; am able to start my day immediately. I remain careful about how I treat my back throughout the day, but I'm very confident my bed rest days are behind me! And I'm more limber, my balance has improved, as has my flexibility. I recommed this book highly!! The section on how to "find time" was very much appreciated and accurate, there are numerous opportunties throughout the day to do many of the exercises. Do heed what the authors say: PAIN is NO GAIN -- so start slow, be gentle, and don't push, this is not a race, for me - it was about getting my life back. Good luck to all, I can't tell you how thankful I am I found this book, I hope it brings you the same kind of improvement it did me.

I have struggled for years with acute back pain. Reading Sobel & Klein's book gave me the answers I was looking for. After getting X-Rays and an MRI revealing that 4 of my discs were herniated from one degree to another. I made an appointment with a trained physical therapist and we set to work on a plan of stretching & strengthening the key muscles. Bingo! I have never felt better. M.D., Mary Pullig Schatz's "Back Care Basics" is excellent as well with an emphasis on Yoga the mental approach for successful rehabilitation.

I have recommend these exercises to patients, but more importantly, they can benefit anyone who doesn't want to develop back pain in the future. Unfortunately our medical model is one of treatment and not prevention. I agree with another reviewer that consultation with a qualified physician is recommended for any type of chronic severe back pain, but there are very few cases I have seen, including patients who have failed surgical treatment, who have not been helped by some way in using moderate regular exercise. These are great exercises to reverse the effects that our sedentary working society foists upon us. I recommend this book strongly but emphasize the importance of dispensing with the "pain-gain" concept and embracing the a-little-bit-every-day-in-a-consistent-manner-without-pushing-to-discomfort paradigm. Kudos to Dava Sobel and colleagues for an excellent write...May I recommend "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" as a companion book for helping deal the distress, depression, and other cerebral manifestations that accompany chronic pain...All the best!! Kenneth Giuffre MD, author, "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain"

I've tried them all. Every threapy you can think of. Was about to give up and submit to surgery. Got a book club catalog in the mail that included this book. Decided to try once more. One of he best decisions of my life. I could not do one situp or push at the time . . . without back pain. I do 75 pushs a day and hundreds of what the book recommeds for addominal work. Do yourself a favor and get this book. Follow the instructions explicitly. Good luck.

I agree with the authors in the book that in most cases exercise is the best treatment for back and neck pain. The exercises they recommend are also commonly used in physical therapy, so are probably effective.

However, the book does not talk at all about disorders of the spine, and what contributes to back pain. (such as: funtional or anatomical leg length difference, pronated feet, misaligned knees, rounded shoulders, swayback, or flatback) Without an understanding of contributing factors, the exercises may do you no good whatsoever. (As an example, I was having only moderate success with exercise until I also worked on leg length and foot pronation issues.)