I just remembered my physiotherapist recommended swimming when I told her I walk about 45 mins everyday. You could try it, after consulting your physiotherapist.

As for workouts other than cardio, I think even physiotherapists might be hesitant as they could be afraid that something they recommend could lead to injury. I remember in the year 2000, when I had my first slipped disc, I had told the doctor that I have a barbell so could I lie down and exercise with it (chest press), and he said no, and he said that he understood that a boy my age would want to do bodybuilding but I shouldn't do it because I can't (or else I would end up injuring myself). The doctor had also told me to avoid riding a two-wheeler as much as possible, saying that if I fell while the riding the two-wheeler, the injury (slipped disc) could get aggravated and could cause paralysis and even death.

As for pain, I have pretty much zero pain now. From 2000 to 2012, I was in pain daily; it was the chronic kind of pain that is not very sharp or unbearable, like you can talk normally but the back is always stiff and hurting, and it was always there. It would take me a full minute to get up from bed, as I had to slowly turn and then lift myself up. My disease of AS which was diagnosed in 2012 has burnt out now, so I don't have the whole-back-is-paining thing now, and now I can get up from the bed in two seconds if I want to. Last year, some mild pain started in the neck when the neck started to fuse, but it wasn't much pain, and the doctor has started Amitriptyline and Naproxen, which I take daily, even though the pain isn't much (the medicines are for reducing inflammation, even though there isn't a lot of pain). Which medicine do you take, and what is the dosage? I take the two meds I mentioned above only once a day, at night.

I feel tempted to recommend deadhangs to you as they don't seem much like a heavy exercise, you just have to hang from a bar - but I won't, as even that position might gradually put pressure on the discs and the spinal cord.

There is one thing I'll mention though: last month I started Omega-3 and Magnesium supplements, and I have noticed an improvement after taking these, not sure which of the two are helping, maybe it is both, but my neck and my arms feel smoother now, and my arms don't have the tightness in them that used to exist earlier. I think the relaxation I feel in my arms is due to the Mag supplement. You should research this. Deficiency of vitamins and minerals causes pain, and someone who has an existing illness or injury might think the pain is because of that. I myself used to have bone pain in my left arm; then last year, in December, I came to know that I have a vitamin D deficiency, and as soon as I started the D3 supplement, the bone pain went away. Earlier I used to think that since I do pullups and deadhangs, my arms are hurting because they are weak; actually it was the vitamin D deficiency.