core

Lower Back Exercises

131 Free Exercise DB records tag the lower back as a primary or secondary muscle. Tagged inventory and primary-muscle count are ranked separately.

36 beginner · 72 intermediate · 23 advanced, computed across all tagged exercises.

#9 tagged · #16 primary

According to the Free Exercise DB corpus on PlainExercise, Lower Back ranks #9 of 18 by tagged inventory (131) and #16 by primary-muscle count (0). Shoulders is #1 of 18 by tagged inventory (335 records) at primary-count #2 (127) ≠ Quadriceps #1 primary (148 records, tagged #4 at 227).

  • Lower Back ranks #9 of 18 by tagged inventory (131) and #16 by primary-muscle count (0). Shoulders is #1 of 18 by tagged inventory (335 records) at primary-count #2 (127) ≠ Quadriceps #1 primary (148 records, tagged #4 at 227).
  • 131 tagged records · 0 primary-field records
  • Free Exercise DB (CC0) live extract

Catalog lens

Tagged inventory is not primary-muscle count

According to the Free Exercise DB corpus on PlainExercise, Lower Back ranks #9 of 18 by tagged inventory (131) and #16 by primary-muscle count (0). Shoulders is #1 of 18 by tagged inventory (335 records) at primary-count #2 (127) ≠ Quadriceps #1 primary (148 records, tagged #4 at 227).

Tagged inventory

#9 of 18

131 tagged records. Shoulders leads tagged.

Primary-muscle count

#16 of 15

0 primary-field records. Quadriceps leads primary.

How PlainExercise splits tagged vs primary

Lower Back vs all muscles by tagged exercise inventory

Where this muscle's Free Exercise DB tagged-record count sits among every muscle with at least one tag (catalog density, not training priority)

131 Top 50% more tagged exercises than 50% of 18 muscles

Muscles, banded by tagged Free Exercise DB record count

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more muscles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source Free Exercise DB · 2026-07-10

131
Exercises
36
Beginner-friendly
110
Compound lifts
4
Equipment-free

Lower Back exercises by equipment

According to the open Free Exercise DB datasets, the 131 lower back tagged records split across equipment types as below - barbell leads the listed set, and 4 listed records are labeled body only.

Lower Back movements by equipment

Barbell63 exercisesOther32 exercisesKettlebells12 exercisesDumbbell5 exercisesBody only4 exercisesMachine4 exercisesBands3 exercisesCable3 exercises

What the Lower Back Exercise Data Reveals

The PlainExercise database catalogues 131 records that tag the lower back as a primary or secondary muscle. That tagged inventory is not the primary-muscle map: According to the Free Exercise DB corpus on PlainExercise, Lower Back ranks #9 of 18 by tagged inventory (131) and #16 by primary-muscle count (0). Shoulders is #1 of 18 by tagged inventory (335 records) at primary-count #2 (127) ≠ Quadriceps #1 primary (148 records, tagged #4 at 227).. Within the listed set, 36 are tagged beginner, 72 intermediate, 23 advanced, and 0 carry no explicit level classification. Every record is sourced from the public-domain Free Exercise DB.

Context matters: this database tracks exercise taxonomy. "Primary muscle" is a source field, not a claim that a listed movement isolates the lower back. Compound lifts tagged here may recruit this muscle as a secondary mover. This page is a catalog extract, not medical or personal-training advice.

Beginner (36)

Foundational movements to learn the pattern.

Intermediate (72)

Movements that require basic strength and coordination.

Advanced (23)

Complex or highly loaded movements for experienced lifters.

Nationwide muscle groups with similar catalog scale

Two Free Exercise DB peer sets for Lower Back, each excluding this muscle so the neighborhoods are attribute-based, not self-containment (the exercise lists above stay the within-group path).

Other muscle groups

Source: Free Exercise DB (CC0), 2026. See the methodology page.

Disclaimer: General information only. Consult a physician or certified trainer before starting any new exercise program.

Data sourced from the Free Exercise DB (CC0) open exercise catalogue. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainExercise

Every figure on PlainExercise is compiled from public exercise-science and biomechanics references, no number is typed in by an editor. Muscle-group data is compiled directly from the Free Exercise DB, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology & changelog, or report a data error.