If you feel like everyone you know has complained of lower back tightness or stiffness, you’re not just imagining the widespread problem. “About 80 percent of people experience low back pain and about half of those people spend most of their day sitting,” says the physical therapist. Daniel Giordano, DPT, PT, CSCS. “Back pain can also be the result of excessive stress, overuse, poor form during exercise, being overweight, stress, or other medical conditions.”
In this installment of “The Fix”, he joins Giordano Cameron Yuen, DPT, PT, CSCS to break down exactly how to relieve lower back pain into a series of simple moves. All you need is a foam roller and some floor space to stretch out.
Watch the video for an illustration of all six exercises and for more complete verbal prompts and tips for doing them the right way.
6 stretches to relieve lower back pain
foam roll for buttocks
Grab a foam roller and start with your right glute first, slightly bending your weight to the right and rolling back and forth and side to side. This will help increase blood flow and relax the tissue a bit. If you feel any pain, move from side to side to see if that helps. Repeat on the other side.
Quad foam roll
Flip onto your stomach and place the foam roller just below your quad. Again, this helps increase blood flow to the area. Be sure to move from side to side as well as up and down like in the last exercise. Repeat on the other leg.
lumbar windshield
“So, after the soft tissue work, we’re going to work on joint mobility. We want to make sure the joint moves through its full range of motion” to avoid excessive loading of the lower back, Giordano explains. He goes to the bridge position lying flat on the floor with his knees shoulder-width apart and his feet slightly wider than that. Drop your knees from side to side. If you feel any kind of pain while twisting from side to side, don’t try to push beyond that range. Do this eight times on each side.
cat cow stretching
“We want to make sure the spine is moving properly and safely,” says Giordano. Place your hips over your knees and your shoulders over your wrist with your head in a neutral position. Lift your stomach all the way up and tuck your head under, and then lower yourself into the extension phase and look up. Do this about eight times or so to increase spinal mobility and make sure everything moves properly.
Plank
The final segment of this series “The Fix” is a stabilizing movement to get everything strong and compressed without pressure on the lower back. Activate your core by getting into a modified plank position on your knees. Focus on keeping your chest slightly off the ground. Start by holding for about 15 seconds, gradually working your way up to 30 and then 45 seconds. You can enter a full board form here, if you wish.
band bridge
It’s time to activate the hip. Lie on your back and wrap a band just below your kneecaps with your feet on the floor. Push through your heels and lift your butt into the air, being careful not to rise too high on your back, stopping when there is a straight line from your knee to your hips and shoulders. Then go back down. Do eight to 10 of these, pushing through your heels.
To decrease lower back pain, make sure you’re consistent with this set, spending 20 minutes a day doing the moves.
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