A physical therapist says these five exercises help loosen stiff, achy joints and relieve low back pain

Nowadays, everyone seems to have a bit of a battered body, whether it’s a sore lower back, tight shoulders, or achy knees. And, for a lot of people, it’s caused from being desk bound or sedentary in general. However, by adding in small bouts of movement to break up our day, or dynamic stretches, we can reverse the long-term effects.

In a recent YouTube video, Physical Therapist and Strength Coach, Jeff Cavaliere, has shared five exercises that he says will “fix 95% of your problems”, to help you move more freely throughout the day and endure less pain. What’s better is that you can do all these five exercises from home, so you can get started on improving your mobility and strength without needing any fancy equipment.

5 Exercises That Fix 95% Of Your Problems - YouTube

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We'd definitely give his video above a watch if you have time—it's only 12 minutes—so that you know how to perform each exercise properly. Although we have tried our best to explain how to do each one below. Ready to release that tension? These are the five exercises Cavaliere recommends...

The face pull

Best for: knots in the upper back and improving slumped shoulders

You may have seen people perform this at the gym with either a resistance band or on the cable machines, but it can easily be done at home, and all you’ll need is a doorway.

How to:

• Stand in front of an open doorway, with your feet just outside the doorway
• Bring your arms up to a 90 degree angle and lean the back of your forearms and hands against the door frame
• Lean your body backwards slightly through the doorway, then squeeze your back muscles and push your forearms into the door frame to lift your body through the doorway
• Hold here for 3-4 seconds, then repeat the movement, lowering yourself back through the doorway, then pushing it forwards

Dead hang

Best for: Improving shoulder mobility and flexibility, activating your core, thoracic extension and strengthening your grip

Ok, so you will need to invest in a home pull-up bar for this—unless you have something you can safely hang from at home—but Cavaliere says he thinks they’re “the most versatile, bang for your buck equipment”. Not to mention, they’re very affordable—this one is less than £20. There are two versions of this exercise you can do, one for your core and one for easing tension in the back, which we’ve detailed below.

How to:

• Grab the bar with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you) and have your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
• Think about pulling your shoulder blades down towards the floor to activate your shoulders and, keep your legs and feet together
• If your feet touch the floor, lift them off the floor slightly in front of you, as this will activate your core
• Hang here for 60 seconds and repeat two more times. Try and increase your hang time over time
• To help release build up tension in the back, perform step one but, this time, let your feet stay on the ground as you hang from the bar

The hip drop

Best for: strengthening the glute medius to alleviate lower back pain

When your glute medius is weak, it can cause instability in the pelvis, which can lead to lower back pain. But, by strengthening the glute medius, Cavaliere says it can help with major relief for low back pain. All you need for this simple exercise is a wall.

How to:

• Stand side on a couple of feet away from a wall
• Rest your closest hand against the wall for balance and lift your foot closest to the wall off the floor behind you (so you’re balancing on the leg furthest away from the wall)
• On the leg that you’re balancing on, drop your hip out to the side. Cavaliere says think about being ‘as lazy as you can’ in this position. You should feel a stretch down the front of your thigh and outside of your glute
• Then, drive that hip in the opposite direction back towards the wall, whilst raising your lifted leg in front of your body at a 90 degree angle. You should feel a contraction at the top of your glute
• Repeat this movement, so drop your hip away from the wall with your leg behind the body, then slide it back towards the wall whilst raising your leg in front of the body
• Do this for 4-5 reps on each side for 2-3 sets, eventually aiming to work your way up to 10 reps

Glute bridge with a reach over

Best for: strengthening glute maximus and helping with low back pain

This is a glute bridge with a twist, as it also includes you reaching your arm up and over to the opposite side whilst holding this position. Again, this movement strengthens the glutes to help banish any back pain, and the glute maximus is the largest of the three glute muscles.

How to:

• Lie on your back with your arms by your sides and bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor, around hip-width apart
• Then tilt your pelvis, squeeze your glutes and press your heels into the floor to raise your hips into the air until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders
• Make sure you avoid overarching your back (tucking your pelvis should stop this from happening)
• From here, reach your arm over to the other side of your body so your hang touches the floor just above your shoulder and hold here for a second
• The side of your body that you’re reaching with will lift off the floor, but make sure your feet remain on the ground
• Return your arm back to its side and lower your buttocks back to the floor
• Repeat on the other side, raising your glutes off the floor whilst reaching your other arm over to the opposite side
• Continue doing this so that you complete 4-5 reps on each side

Step up reverse lunge combo

Best for: Strengthening weak knees

This exercise helps your knees and focuses on a lot of areas to do so, including strengthening the ankles, hips, quads and even the glutes. “We know that instability of the ankle or hip can lead to knee pain, which can also be a result of weak glutes,” says Cavaliere. Head to your stairs for this move.

How to:

• First, you want to perform a simple step up—so place your right foot on the first step of your stairs and push through the heel of that foot to raise your left leg in front of you
• Next, step your left foot back to the floor, then take your right foot off the stair and step it behind you, lowering your knee to the floor so you perform a lunge
• Then, place your right foot back onto the step and repeat the same movement again, raising your left knee in front of you, step it back, then lower your right foot behind you to lunge
• Continue doing this for 4-5 reps and then repeat on the opposite side