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How Do I Stretch Out My Lower Back

Strength And Stability Exercises

How to Stretch the Lower Back Stretches

Just like flexibility and mobility, strength and stability of the spine and lower body contributes to back health. Still, Carina suggests patients master the first set of exercises before they turn to these.

Attempt these exercises once the mobility stretches are comfortable, not restricted and pain-free. And remember that core stability comes not just from abdominal or back strength, but also hip strength and proper control and coordination of these areas, Carina says.

Pelvic Tilting Lying Down

This exercise helps gain control of the pelvic and trunk muscles that can support your spine. Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat. First, flatten the space between your lower back and the ground, tucking your tailbone toward your knees. Then, rotate the pelvis the other way, increasing the gap between your lower back and the ground, tailbone rotating toward the floor. Some people feel comfortable inhaling with the upward movement of the lower back, and exhaling while flattening. Remember to not hold your breath during this or other exercises. Repeat 10 to 20 times.

Cat/Cow

Bridge

Lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat, press your heels to the ground, lift toes and squeeze the buttocks to lift your hips upward. Lift as high as is comfortable, making sure to keep hips level, and lower slowly. Repeat 10 to 15 times, or until you feel fatigue in the lower back, hips and thighs. Rest, then do a second set.

Plank Progression

Reach Outs

Sit to Stand

A See A Medical Provider Maybe

First thing is, I personally have gone to see a doctor/physical therapist for my lower back once. It was the first time I had a lower back tweak, and I was told it was just a normal muscle spasm and it was good to go.

I was given some assistant work, demonstrated the motions, given some pills, and sent back out.

Lo and behold, I start doing the assistant work and went back to doing the same thing as I was before and pushing through the pain because the doctor said it was just a spasm and sure enough

Riiiiiip

Turns out, muscle relaxants and heavy Squat Cleans dont mix. I went from a muscle spasm to a torn and swollen back for 6 months.

It didnt help that I didnt have experience yet to know what the problem was in the first place, and it didnt help that I didnt know where to even look for help.

But, my major mistake was seeing that doctor and physical therapist that knew nothing about sports injuries.

Im NOT telling you not to see them, but if you do, I recommend seeking one out that knows a thing or two about powerlifting.

That being said, there are benefits to seeing a doctor. There are variations of this, such as waiting for the pain to subside a little, and then going to see a doctor, going to a chiropractor, seeing a masseuse, or some other professional in this field. But, in my personal experience, none of them have helped.

Performing Stretches And Exercises With Acute Back Pain

Let’s face it, tight muscles likely contribute greatly to your neck and/or back pain. They may even be the cause of your long-term problem entirely. If you’ve seen a physical therapist for your spine, chances are she has given you some back exercises to do.

But what if you’re experiencing an acute back injury or your old injury is acting up? Should you stretch? Should you do back injury exercises at all?

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Using Other Stretches For Your Back

  • 1Do an upward-facing hip twist. This exercise twists the lower body in the opposite direction of the upper body, lengthening and flexing the spine. First, lie down on your back and then bend your left knee up and move it over to your right side. Keep your arms flat on the ground and look up, or even look to your left for an extra stretch.
  • As you twist your body from side to side, make sure to use a slow and fluid motion to avoid injury. Keep your abdominal muscles contracted to support your back muscles.
  • Hold for 10 seconds and then release. Do the same for your other leg.
  • 2Do a stability ball back extension. With this exercise, you will drape your body over an exercise ball before stretching to extend your back. Drape yourself over the ball so your stomach and pelvis are comfortably resting. Then place your hands behind your head, as if you were doing a sit-up, and stretch your body upward, making your back concave. The stability ball provides extra support and helps the spine to curve naturally, as you stretch your back.
  • Engage your glutes and your hamstrings so that you donât overarch your back and so that you have a stable base for the exercise.XResearch source
  • From the 90/90 position, you can gently pull your knees into your chest to stretch the back even further.
  • You can also tilt your legs to the right and left sides, keeping the small of your back pressed into the floor.
  • Focus on stretching your body upward as well as to the left or right.
  • What’s The Treatment For Low Back Strain

    10 Best Lower Back Pain Stretches and Exercises for Relief

    Low back strain can be a painful and depressing injury. But the good news is that most cases heal on their own, given time. To speed the healing, you should:

    • Ice your back to reduce pain and swelling as soon as you injure yourself. Do it for 20-30 minutes every 3-4 hours for 2-3 days. You can also ice your back after physical activity.
    • Apply heat to your back — but only after 2-3 days of icing it first. Use heat on your back only after the initial swelling has gone down. You could use an electric heating pad or a hot water bottle. Or you could just soak in a hot bath.
    • Take painkillers or other drugs, if recommended by your doctor. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , like Advil, Aleve, or Motrin, will help with lower back pain and swelling. However, these drugs may have side effects. They should be used only occasionally, unless your doctor specifically says otherwise. Prescription painkillers and muscle relaxants are sometimes necessary.
    • Use support. Ask your doctor or therapist first, but consider getting a belt or girdle to add support to your back. Use it only short-term or for support with heavy or repetitive lifting.
    • Get physical therapy to build up strength, if your doctor recommends it. Do not stay in bed or on the couch all day. That will make it worse.
    • Maintain good muscle tone in your abdominal and lower back muscles.

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    What Happens When You Throw Out Your Back

    Throwing out your back happens when you lift something or twist your back, and your back muscles are unable to stabilize your back fast enough. Thats when you pull a muscle causing the sudden pain and inability to move.

    When you perform these activities, your muscles have to support your back and deliver the forces. They have to react fast to unsuspected movements. But when these muscles react to slow, they pull extra hard to compensate. That is when you pull a muscle, and you throw out your back.

    What not many people know is that its the small back muscles that have to perform this task. That why it even happens to bodybuilders and people that work out a lot. With these activities, you train your big back muscles that help you to lift heavy weights. It doesnt train the small stabilizing muscles in your back.

    Thats why people that throw out their back also have a history of back pain when standing, sitting, or lying down. These are activities that also require activation of these muscles.

    Easy Stretches To Release Lower Back And Hip Pain

    If you are suffering from lower back or hip pain, you are not alone. More than 26 million Americans, between the ages of 20 and 64, experience back pain and, very often, lower back and hip pain are related.

    In our current age of technology, many of us find ourselves sitting in front of the computer for most of the day. All of this sitting can cause tightness in the hamstrings, shoulders, and hip flexors, as well as a weakening of the core .

    Our deepest hip flexor, the Psoas, is directly connected to our lumbar spine. So if our hip flexors get tight, they will begin to tug uncomfortably at the lower spine, thus causing stiffness and achiness in the lower back and uncomfortable hip pain.

    Suffering from a sore neck, back and shoulders? Get our mobility guide to ease pain and soreness.

    Fortunately, regularly stretching can help reverse some of this tightness. Here are 9 easy stretches that can be done just about anywhere to relieve lower back and hip pain.

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    Exercises To Help Lower Back Pain

    The exercises below are meant to strengthen and improve flexibility in your muscles to support your lower back. Lower back pain may be recurring or a one-time experience. Doing these back strengthening exercises daily will ease lower back pain and prevent future episodes by strengthening your abdominal, hip, and back muscles.

    Knee to Chest Stretch

    This stretch is an easy way to warm up for your workout.

    âStep 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

    âStep 2: Use both hands to pull one knee into your chest.

    âStep 3: Tighten your abdominals and press your spine to the floor. Hold for 5 seconds.

    âStep 4: Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

    You can repeat this stretch 2 to 3 times in the morning and at night.

    Lower Back Rotational Stretch

    This is another easy stretch to get your muscles ready to move.

    âStep 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

    âStep 2: Keep your shoulders firmly on the floor, roll your bent knees to one side and hold for 5 to 10 seconds.

    âStep 3: Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

    You can repeat this 2 to 3 times in the morning and night.

    Glute Bridges Exercise

    This exercise aims to strengthen your glute and abdominal muscles.

    âStep 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

    âStep 3: Hold the position as long as you can, starting with 3 deep breaths. Then return to the starting position.

    Thoracic Spine Foam Rolling

    4 Easy Ways To Stretch Your Lower Back

    Targeted muscle: Releases Upper TrapeziusThis is great way to loosen up the upper trapezius muscle that gets really tight from hunchback position which is usually caused from poor posture.How to do it: Lie on your back, with your hands placed behind your head, and a foam roller placed under your upper-back. Start to slowly roll up and down beginning at your mid-back and moving towards the top of your shoulders. Pause for 15 to 20 seconds in areas that feel tight. Repeat the rolling on any areas of tightness.

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    How To Prevent Lower Back Pain In The Future

    While stretches can be hugely beneficial in relieving lower back pain, it’s also important to change your lifestyle to prevent lower back pain in the future. Here are a few ways you can stop the pain for good.

  • Improve your sitting posture. Merisoiu says, “Ensure your entire back is on the back of the seat with your butt close to the seat. Avoid forming a gap between your lower back and the seat.”
  • Stay active. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, try to get up and move every hour or so to prevent tension building up in your lower back, and to improve the natural mobility in your joints.
  • Incorporate a resistance band into your workouts. This will strengthen the muscles around your lower back and prevent pain. Try adding a resistance band to your squats, lateral leg raises, bridges, and more.
  • Can I Keep Training Other Movements

    The famous Mark Rippetoe recommends you dont, except for the rehab that we discussed before.

    I personally do.

    I like to think about things for how they make sense to me. So, while yes, your body is dedicating resources to fixing the injury, I dont believe it makes sense for your body to only be able to repair one area at once. I could see how it could slow down the repair across the board due to resource constraints. But, if I get a cut in my leg and I get a cut on my arm at the same time they tend to heal at about the same rate, not one than the other and science is in my favor, albeit recovery at a slower rate.

    So, in the interest of not losing strength during the healing process, I work out the other portions of my body. I recommend you doing whatever you are comfortable with.

    While Im not a big fan of machines, this might be an ok time to give them a shot.

    My real advice here is to find out what works for you and what doesnt. The key is not causing any aggravation in your back.

    I mean zero.

    So, if you can do seated barbell curls without aggravating your back go for it. If you can do presses go for it. If you can do pull-ups or other types of exercises, go for it.

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    Exercises To Relieve Pain In The Lower Back

    According to the Global Burden of Disease 2010, pain in the lower back area is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Its also the most common reason why most Americans miss workdays. The reason for lower back pain ranges from simple reasons like poor posture to more complicated ones like internal organ damage and spine conditions.

    If youre experiencing back pain, theres a huge chance that the muscles in the area are tense. Stretches designed for relieving lower back pain help reduce the tension in the area and improve blood circulation. Here are nine kinds of exercises that help relieve pain in the lower back area:

    Dont Bend Lift Or Twist

    Morning back stretch routine for flexibility

    “Once you are upright and stabilized, do whatever you can to stay that way so your injury doesnt worsen,” says Keith Puri, a chiropractor based in Arlington, Massachusetts. That means avoiding whats known as BLT bending, lifting, and twisting while youre hurt.

    If you need to pick something up off the floor, keep your spine straight and your core engaged, and drop your tailbone toward the floor in a squat. “Looking up to the ceiling can help keep your spine straight,” says Puri, which will help prevent you from leaning forward and putting stress on your back.

    When you need to lean forward to brush your teeth or wash dishes, try a hip hinge: Maintain a straight, neutral spine while bending forward from your hips.

    To avoid twisting your spinal muscles, think about turning rather than rotating, Puri says. That means turning your whole body to face whatever you need to be reaching for, rather than leaning to the side or reaching around yourself. Puri explains that stability should be a higher priority than convenience, even if that means a multistep process for things like getting into and out of your car. “It is definitely less efficient, but the benefits significantly outweigh the time lost,” he says.

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    How To Prevent Throwing Out Your Back

    The following tricks will prevent throwing out your back:

    • Exercise regularly
    • Train your back muscles for faster reaction
    • Dont smoke
    • Get enough sleep
    • Dont be scared to use your back

    Exercising increases the strength of your back muscles, but also reduces your chance to injure yourself. Especially training your back muscles to react faster to sudden changes can prevent throwing out your back.

    Also, smoking and lack of sleep influence the quality of your muscles, which can cause problems. You should make sure to fix these issues.

    The last and most important thing is that you shouldnt be scared to move your back. Its a strong and capable instrument. Misusing it increases your risk of injuring instead of preventing it despite what people think.

    You can find out here how to use your back correctly.

    You can fix your thrown out back easily within a few weeks, by doing the exercises shown here.

    If you need further assistance with your back pain, you can contact me by e-mail, and I will try to help you.

    How Can I Prevent Low Back Strain

    Here are some tips to help you avoid low back strain:

    • If you feel any low back pain during physical activity, stop.
    • If you feel low back pain within a day of stepping up your workout, take it easy for a few days.
    • Get your back in shape. Exercise and stretch your back muscles regularly.
    • Avoid sleeping on your stomach. Sleep on your back or your side, and wedge a pillow under or beneath your legs.
    • When picking up something heavy, bend at the knees, not at the waist.
    • Lose weight if you are overweight.
    • Adopt good posture. Sit straight in chairs, with your back against the chair’s back.

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    Simple Stretches For Lower Back Pain Relief

    Almost everyone experiences back pain now and then whether its a result of constant slouching over a computer or a symptom of a more serious health condition. But regardless of the main cause of the pain in the lower back, regular stretching helps reduce the discomfort for some time.

    So what kind of simple exercises are helpful for lower back pain? Stretching exercises, such as knee-to-chest exercise, cat-cow pose, trunk rotation, cobra pose, pelvic tilt, flexion rotation, childs pose, seat forward bend, and piriformis stretch relieve muscle tension and improve blood circulation in the lower back area.

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