Review favors resistance training for chronic low back pain
Pain, disability and quality-of-life scores favored resistance training, but only the pain improvement was judged clinically important.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The pooled trials favored resistance training for pain intensity, disability and quality of life in adults with chronic nonspecific low back pain. Only the pain result was reported as clinically significant. The authors rated the evidence as moderately certain, leaving room for the findings to change as further research accumulates.
This abstract-based summary lacks details of comparison treatments, treatment durations and the threshold used to judge whether improvements were clinically important.
What researchers found
Pain intensity: standardized mean difference
Pain scores were lower with resistance training than comparison treatments; assessment timing was not reported. The interval shows uncertainty around the estimate.
Comparisons shape the answer
The researchers grouped randomized trials according to the treatment used for comparison. A pooled advantage over the treatments studied does not show that resistance training outperforms every available option.
Statistical and clinical importance
Standard deviations describe score variability, so the pain estimate is not a change in points on a particular pain scale. Only pain improvement was judged clinically important in the review.
The original publication
Does resistance training improve pain intensity, quality of life, and disability in people with chronic nonspecific low back pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Rodríguez-Domínguez ÁJ, Moral-Munoz JA, Guzmán-Gómez JD et al.
Disabil Rehabil · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41065407
- Record checked
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