Cardio exercises burn body fat and improve your cardiovascular health, but they can adversely affect your joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons. The shock of hitting the ground or another surface repeatedly extends from your feet, through your legs and up your spine. Protect your back by choosing lower-impact cardio exercises. If you continue to experience back pain, speak with your doctor about tailoring a fitness regimen to treat your condition.
Walking
Gentler on your back than running and jogging, walking elevates your heart rate and promotes maintenance of a healthful weight. A gentle stroll will not suffice, however. After warming up for 10 minutes by walking slowly, walk briskly enough to warm your muscles, lubricate your joints, increase your breathing rate and make you sweat. If walking fast jolts your back, slow down your pace but walk up an incline to raise your heart rate. Breathe deeply and contract your core muscles to control your movement and protect your back.
Aqua Aerobics
Dancing, walking or jogging in the water not only protects your back but can slowly strengthen it. The water provides full-body resistance without creating the shock of impact. The deeper the water, the more resistance you encounter as you do your cardio exercise regimen. Your doctor or a physical therapist can recommend specific moves to strengthen back muscles or alleviate back pain.
Swimming
If you swim laps at a brisk pace, you burn more calories than doing aqua aerobics. However, the more challenging strokes like freestyle and butterfly require vigorous arm and leg movements that may impact your back. Start with a more moderate stroke, such as the sidestroke or the breaststroke, and move slowly, with more contained movements. After 10 minutes, increase your pace to judge the effect on your back muscles.
Yoga
Depending on your level of back pain, yoga might alleviate back problems or aggravate them. Move slowly through beginning yoga poses such as the sun salutations. Inhale deeply, filling your belly and chest, before doing a bend or stretch. Contract your abdominal muscles to support your back. Exhale as you release the pose. Use blocks, bands and your mat to support your back and help you do stretches properly. Moving through yoga poses fluidly raises your heart rate and builds muscle simultaneously.
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