Dave, I have had back problems since I hurt it the first time in high school while playing football. Then I hurt it doing squats in the weight room. Then I hurt it playing basketball. Then I hurt it playing rubgy. Then I ....well, you get the picture. I mean, I really totaled my back, some times so badly that I couldn't stand, walk or move.
The thing that helped more than anything was using this exercise ball. A physical therapist details a list of only a few exercises, and they worked wonders for me and for the most part, I've had very few problems since then.
back exercise ball - Google Search=
The other thing that has helped me has been to try and control stress and to get enough sleep. I find when I'm getting worked up about time crunches on jobs, I start to hurt my back. At this point, I can feel it coming and knock it off and just tell people that we'll get finished when we can get finished.
