Ofeldt Back Exercise Program For Spine Rehabilitation
The Ofeldt Back Exercise Program was developed by Teddy Ofeldt in the 1978 at his training institute in Karlslunde, Denmark.  His program was described in THE LANCET, FEBRUARY 23, 1985.  The Lancet reported "promising results with the exercises described by Teddy Ofeldt..."

The Lancet described the program as follows:

Ofeldt’s treatment consists of three exercises: leg lifting in prone position, body lifting in the same position, and “pull to neck” (using a lateral pull down machine).  Every exercise is done in five series of 10 and after a 10 minute break the cycle is repeated, so that 300 exercises are done over about an hour.  Patients with severe back pain who find these exercises impossible, do them with a helper who does most of the work to start with but gradually decreases the assistance so that by the end of the treatment the patient can do the exercises unaided.
Acute back pain in the lumbar region often disappears after an hour of exercise, whereas acute pain in the gluteal muscles or between these and the lumbar region generally require three to four treatments.  The same procedure is used for chronic back pain, sometimes with the addition of leg raising while lying on the side and/or deep knee bends.  Some chronic patients require treatment for more than a year.  In the acute cases some muscle tenderness may be present for a day or two after the back pain has disappeared.

Exercise 1. Lying prone on a roman chair back extension bench, raise the trunk up to achieve a horizontal position and lower back down to starting point.  The position of the hands and arms is important.  When first starting out, put the hands behind the low back.  As you become stronger, put hands to your side.  Then, place arms in "I Dream of Genie" position.  Next, place hands on ears with elbows in line with ears.  Finally, the hands may be outstretched in line with the trunk.  Repeat 10 times for one set.

Exercise 2.  Lying prone on a roman chair back extension bench (facing the opposite direction as with back extension) with pelvis on thigh pads while holding onto ankle roll pads with hands.  Raise both legs to achieve horizontal position and lower to starting point.  Repeat 10 times for one set.

Exercise 3.  Pull bar down behind neck using enough resistance so the last of 10 repetitions is moderately fatiguing, but not muscle exhausting.

Then repeat exercise 1, 2, and 3 four more times.  This should total 150 repetitions.  Rest for 5 to 10 minutes.  Then REPEAT ALL THREE EXERCISES in the same way so that a total of 300 repetitions are performed.  It takes about 45 to 60 minutes.

The results in a series reported by Plum and Ofeldt* were as follows:

41 patients with acute back pain who completed the exercise all became pain free
31 after one session of one hour
10 after three one hour sessions
Back pain recurred in 18 patients but disappeared with repetition of the exercises.

26 patients with Chronic back pain
15 became pain free; 4 of these had to continue the exercises periodically to control pain,
7 improved 4 had no effect.

The information describing Ofeldt exercises is reproduced from The Lancet, February 23, 1985, is given to you solely as a courtesy for patient education.  Implementation of these exercises are at the patients’ own risk.

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