Lower back pain is something that plagues many of our clients, which is why we wanted to dive into the topic of what exactly causes back pain (hint: it’s not always your back), some stretches to help alleviate the pain, as well as some exercises to help prevent chronic lower back pain. When it comes to the lower back pain it often stems from tight or weak glutes and hamstrings. Both your glutes and hamstrings pull on the lower back. If they’re tight, injured, or even weak, it can show up as pain. In addition to lower back pain, tight glutes and hammies (as we like to call them) can also cause piriformis challenges as well. Other causes for back pain are usually injury related: car accident injury, lifting snow wrong, blown disc. Sometimes another muscle called the psoas can be the culprit when it comes to lower back pain. The psoas connects the upper and lower body and is considered a core muscle. To find out if you have a weak psoas, place your foot on a chair while standing and keeping 1 foot on the floor. Try to lift the foot on the chair up. If you’re struggling, you may have a weak psoas. Regardless of the cause for the lower back pain, a lot of the treatments for low back pain are very similar. Check out the video above to see how to stretch for lower back pain, and some exercises you can do to strengthen the areas that may be causing it. Stretches for lower back pain: (6:55) Figure 4 lumbar rotations (7:40) Hamstring Stretch while lying on your back (8:00) Standing hamstring stretch (8:15) Knee to chest (9:15) Figure 4 lumbar rotation modifier (11:15) Figure 4 hold Exercises for lower back pain: (12:00) Pelvic Tilts (12:30) Modified dead bugs (13:00) Glute Bridges (13:35) Glute Bridge little walks (13:55) Leg extended crunch (14:15) Side planks (14:28) Bird dogs We hope that for all of those with back pain out there, that this provides some relief. If you need extra help, call 302-689-3489 to book a facilitated stretching session!
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