Personal Training With Low Back Pain
In Denver Colorado
"I'd love to get stronger, but my back won't let me."
I hear some version of that every week. Maybe your back flares up every few months. Maybe you've been told to stop deadlifting, avoid bending, or just "take it easy." So you stopped training, and somehow your back doesn't feel any better.
At Get Back PT + Performance, I help people in Denver get back into strength training with low back pain. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a strength coach, I know how to train around a sensitive back, build it up gradually, and get you lifting with confidence again.
Can You Strength Train With Low Back Pain?
For most people, yes, and it's usually one of the best things you can do.
The World Health Organization's 2023 guideline on chronic low back pain lists structured exercise programs as a recommended treatment. Low back pain affects about 619 million people worldwide, and for the vast majority, it isn't caused by anything dangerous. It's a sensitive back, not a broken one.
The problem is that pain makes us protective. We stop bending, stop lifting, and start bracing for every movement. That makes sense in the first few days after a tweak. But for pain that keeps coming back, avoiding movement tends to make your back weaker and more sensitive over time, which keeps the cycle going.
Is Personal Training With Low Back Pain Right for You?
This is a good fit if:
You have back pain that comes and goes, or has been hanging around for months
You've tweaked your back lifting and you're nervous to get back under a bar
You were told to avoid bending, lifting, or certain exercises and never got a plan to return to them
You finished physical therapy for your back and want to keep building strength
You want to get stronger without feeling like you're one wrong move from a flare up
If your pain is new, severe, getting worse, or comes with numbness, weakness, or changes in bladder or bowel control, start with a medical or physical therapy evaluation first. We can help with that too.
Is It Safe to Lift With a Rounded Back?
This is one of the biggest fears I see, so let's talk about it.
For years, the standard advice was "lift with your legs and keep your back straight." But a 2020 systematic review in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (Saraceni et al.) pooled 12 studies and found no evidence that lifting with a rounded back increased the risk of low back pain compared with lifting with a straight back.
That doesn't mean form doesn't matter in the gym, and those studies looked at lighter loads, not max deadlifts. But it does mean your spine isn't as fragile as you've been told. Your back is built to bend. Our job is to help it get strong enough to handle what you ask of it.
How We Train People With Low Back Pain
We start by figuring out what your back tolerates right now. We look at your pain history, what flares it up, what calms it down, what you want to get back to, and how you move.
Your plan may include:
A starting point that challenges your back without setting off a flare up
Progressive strength training for your hips, legs, trunk, and back
Gradual reintroduction of movements you've been avoiding, like bending, hinging, and deadlifting
Exercise modifications on bad days, so you can keep training instead of starting over
A plan for what to do if your back flares up
Education on pain, so you understand what's happening and stop fearing every twinge
I think of exercise as a spectrum, not a choice between "safe" and "dangerous." We find where you are on that spectrum and keep moving you forward.
Exercise Helps Prevent the Next Episode
One of the most frustrating things about back pain is how often it comes back. A large review in JAMA Internal Medicine (Steffens et al., 2016) found that exercise combined with education reduced the risk of another low back pain episode by about 45% over the following year. The effect faded after that, which tells us the exercise needs to keep going.
That's the whole point of ongoing personal training: not just getting you out of pain, but keeping you strong enough that your back stops running your life.
Physical Therapy and Personal Training Under One Roof
If you need physical therapy for your back, we provide that. If you're past that stage and want to get strong, we do that too. Because it's the same team, you don't have to start over with someone who has never seen your back.
Related reading: Can You Strength Train With Chronic Pain? · Hurt Your Back Deadlifting? What to Do in the First 72 Hours
Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Training With Low Back Pain
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For most people, yes. Exercise is a recommended treatment for chronic low back pain, and strength training is one of the best ways to build a more resilient back. The program should start at a level your back tolerates and progress gradually.
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Not necessarily. Many people with back pain can deadlift again with the right progression. We may scale the weight, range of motion, or variation for a while, then build back up.
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Research hasn't found that lifting with a rounded back increases the risk of low back pain compared with a straight back. Your spine is designed to bend. We still coach good technique, but you don't need to fear every bit of spinal flexion.
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There isn't one best exercise. The best program is one you'll do consistently that gradually builds strength in your legs, hips, trunk, and back. That usually includes hinging, squatting, carrying, and core work at the right level for you.
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Flare ups happen, and they don't mean you're broken. We adjust the plan, keep you moving with what feels okay, and work back up. Having a plan for flare ups is part of the training.
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If your pain is new, severe, or comes with numbness, weakness, or changes in bladder or bowel control, start with a physical therapy or medical evaluation. If your pain is ongoing and you've been cleared to exercise, you can start with personal training.
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Yes. Research shows exercise combined with education can significantly reduce the risk of another episode of low back pain, as long as you keep it up.
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Yes. Get Back PT + Performance offers one-on-one personal training for people with low back pain at our Jefferson Park studio in Denver, close to Highlands, LoHi, and Sloan's Lake, with in-home and virtual options available.
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No. Personal training does not require a referral.
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Personal training for back pain is priced the same as our regular personal training sessions. You can find current pricing on our personal training page.
Our Team
Dr. Brett Green
Founder | Physical Therapist & Personal Trainer
Brett Green, PT, DPT, is the founder of Get Back PT & Performance in Denver. He created Get Back to bridge the gap between rehab and getting back to the things people actually enjoy, whether that’s running, lifting, sports, or everyday life.
His approach combines physical therapy, strength training, and performance to help clients feel better, get stronger, and keep moving forward.
Physical Therapist Assistant
Sam Heller
Sam Heller is a Physical Therapist Assistant and Personal Trainer with more than a decade of coaching experience. He combines strength training and rehab to help clients move better, build confidence, and stay active, especially when pain or uncertainty around exercise gets in the way.
Outside of work, Sam enjoys biking, lifting, and keeping up with his young son.
Get Back to Doing What You Love
Whether you want to return to the gym, running, hiking, skiing, sports, or simply get through your day more comfortably, we’ll help you figure out a plan that makes sense.