Like it or not, whether you’ve had to deal with it or not, back pain is the most common complaint when it comes to physical pain. Whether it’s from taking a bad fall, spending most of your day in a seated position stuck at a desk, sleeping in awkward positions or sitting in awkward positions, lower back pain and often associated hip pain, is just no fun!
If you’ve been following my blogs for any length of time, you already know that if you have pain, getting rid of it is often a two-step process. The main goal is to calm the tight over active muscle(s), and the second is to strengthen the muscles that are not working properly. Explaining it this way helps to remind you about the importance of keeping your body in balance. Excesses in any area don’t typically serve you for very long.
I’ll spare you all the $10 words and complicated muscle explanations and start off by saying let’s first get those tight muscles loosened up with some solid self-myofascial release techniques. Then I’ll ask you to do your first 3 stretches, illustrated below, to get you on the road to eliminating lower back pain.
This is Stretch#1 (1/3).
This stretch is often called Child's Pose. From a kneeling position, toes pointed straight back, sit backwards so that you are sitting on the heels of your shoes. Reach forward with both arms, far enough to feel a stretch in the lower back and shoulders. Hold for 7-10 seconds
This is Stretch #1 (2/3)
Keeping your legs where they are at, engage your abs and move both arms to the right until a stretch is felt on the left side of the body. Think of making your body into a half circle. Be sure to remain seated on your heels. Hold for 7-10 seconds.
This is Stretch #1 (3/3).
Now do the same process you did for the above picture for the left side. Hold for 7-10 seconds
This is Stretch #2
Begin on your knees, with your knees out wide, resting on forearms. Then straighten one leg out to the side. Be sure that the toe of the straight leg is in line with the knee of the kneeling leg. If possible, reach out to touch toe of straight leg with same side hand. Repeat movement 3 times on both sides.
Stretch #3
From a standing or kneeling position, step back with one leg so that the back knee is resting on the floor. The front leg should be bent at 90 degrees with the knee directly over the ankle (see image above). Slowly push your hips/zipper down and forward so that you feel a stretch in the thigh on the back leg. You may also feel a stretch in the groin of the front leg. Hold this position for 5-7 breaths. Then switch to the other side. Repeat this stretch 2-3 times to relax the hips.
These stretches will start you on your journey to getting rid of back pain.
Please be sure to check back in to get more stretches to keep you feeling good and out of pain.