Strength training for the back

Strength training means working muscles against resistance: bands, dumbbells, machines or body weight. For neck and shoulder pain in office workers it has some of the clearest trial evidence of any treatment, and the trials point to a practical message: a little, regularly, works, and the main thing that decides results is whether you keep doing it.

How well it works

Trial or review	Finding
Meta-analysis of workplace programmes	Neck and shoulder strengthening reduced neck pain in office workers who had it, with a medium sized effect1
447 office workers, 20 weeks	One hour a week reduced neck and shoulder pain, whether done as 1 × 60, 3 × 20 or 9 × 7 minutes2
351 office workers, 20 weeks	Training reduced neck pain and headache with or without ongoing supervision3
269 office workers, 12 weeks	Clinically relevant pain reductions were associated with sticking to the training and progressing the load4

For the lower back, exercise of many kinds is recommended and strength work is one good option; no single type is clearly best.⁵ See exercise therapy.

How much you need

• About one hour a week in total was enough in the office trials, split however suits you.²
• Progress the load over weeks: more resistance or more repetitions.⁴
• Keep it simple: the office programmes used a handful of exercises for the neck, shoulders and upper back.

A starter programme for the neck and upper back

Two or three times a week, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions, with a resistance band or light dumbbells:

1. Band face pull or band pull-apart
2. Scapular retraction and Y-T-W raises
3. Shoulder shrugs with light weights
4. Rows with a band
5. Chin tucks held for endurance

These are suggested starting doses, not taken from the trials, which used similar exercises with varying protocols. A five-minute version for the workday is in the desk routine.

Making it stick

Since adherence decides the outcome, plan for it: a fixed time, a band at the desk, and short sessions you can do on busy days. See building the habit.

Stop and get advice if training causes pain spreading into an arm, numbness, weakness or dizziness.

Footnotes

1. Workplace-based interventions for neck pain in office workers: systematic review and meta-analysis. 2018. ↩

2. Influence of frequency and duration of strength training for effective management of neck and shoulder pain. 2012. ↩ ↩²

3. Effect of training supervision on effectiveness of strength training for reducing neck/shoulder pain and headache in office workers. 2014. ↩

4. Clinically relevant decreases in neck/shoulder pain among office workers are associated with strength training adherence and exercise compliance. 2023. ↩ ↩²

5. Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions. 2018. ↩