Introduction: Chronic non-specific low back pain is one of the main reasons for disability in the world. It causes economical and societal burden. It is treated with using painkillers, massage, physical treatment, cognitive-behavioural therapy, information about self-help, psychological interventions and exercise therapy. Exercise therapy is believed to reduce pain, disability, improves quality of life and muscle strength. But we don’t know what type of exercise is the most efficient. Some experts claim that aerobic exercise is the best and others say that resistance type of exercise predominates. Purpose: The purpose of the review was to compare effects of resistance and aerobic training on persons with chronic non-specific low back pain. Methods: The method that we used was literature review. We searched two data basis, PubMed and PEDro. English literature was searched by using keywords. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered when searching the literature. Results: Seven studies were analysed in this review. Four of them investigated effects of resistance training, two aerobic training and one both of them. Reduction in pain and disability and improvement in quality of life were most statistically significant changed parameters. Pain was reduced in three resistance training and two aerobic training interventions. Four interventions of resistance training and three aerobic training showed reduction in disability. Quality of life improved in three resistance training and two aerobic training interventions. We also noted improvement in fear, psychological symptoms and muscle strength. Discussion and conclusion: Results showed that both types of exercise are suitable for treating people with chronic non-specific low back pain. The differences in effects and effectiveness between both types of exercises are minimal. Therefore we recommend the use of both types of exercise when treating persons with chronic non-specific low back pain. We also recommend individualizing exercise program to each patient separately. It would also be reasonable to investigate and compare the effects of resistance training, aerobic training and a combination of both of them.
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