- by Daniel
5 Lower Back Stretches To Keep Back Pain At Bay
Regular stretching is a great way to increase your flexibility and get rid of back pain. So incorporate these 5 lower back stretches into your day and feel the benefits for yourself.
If you're reading this then I'm sure you're all too familiar with that painful feeling you get from tight and aching muscles in your lower back.
And not only is this pain frustrating, it can also make every day feel like a major struggle.
As the pain just gets worse and worse as the day goes on and your muscles tighten and tense even more.
Which leaves you feeling really uncomfortable, miserable, and in a lot of pain.
But what if I told you that you can reduce this pain by stretching your back out regularly?
And that by taking just a few minutes every couple of hours to stretch your body, you will feel far more comfortable and relaxed?
Well you can, and I'm going to introduce you to 5 lower back stretches to get you started.
These stretches are great for relieving pressure and tension, can be done at home, and are really easy to do.
And once you get into the habit of doing them regularly and feel the benefits, you'll never want to give them up!
The Benefits Of Regular Stretching For Your Back
The Mexican wave wasn't quite as effective with a crowd of two.
Stretching your back regularly will bring you so many health benefits for your back such as:
Not bad for such a simple activity, right?
So here are 5 great stretches you can do for your lower back to help you get started.
1. The Cat/Cow Stretch
The cat/cow stretch is great increasing the movement in your lower back and relieving tension.
And it's also great for increasing the flexibility of your spine, which will relieve pressure and reduce the amount of pain you feel in your back.
How To Do It
2. Extended Child's Pose
Child's pose is such a lovely stretch.
It's used during yoga and pilates classes as a restful pose and the word restful sums it up perfectly.
Because not only will it give your back a nice, restorative stretch.
It'll leave you feeling at peace too.
How To Do It
3. The Knee To Chest Stretch
This exercise is a good one for strengthening and relaxing your glutes as well as your lower back.
And this is important.
Because when your lower back is tight your glutes take on a lot of the strain and can became tight and painful too.
And when you glutes are tight they can't function as they need to, which results in your lower back having to carry more of the load.
Which puts it under even more strain (leaving you in even more pain!).
So keep your glutes stretched out and loose with this knee to chest stretch.
How To Do It
4. The Knee Roll Twist Stretch
This stretch is great for getting some movement into your lower back and also for stretching out your abdominal muscles.
Which is good because stretching your abs keeps them strong and healthy, which helps them to support your lower back.
And stronger abs will also help you to maintain a better posture too, taking pressure off your body.
So it's a win-win!
How To Do It
5. The Piriformis Stretch
The piriformis muscle is a really important one to get to know if you suffer from persistent back pain.
This is because it's a prominent muscle in your buttock area that sits in the same place as your sciatic nerve endings.
And when your piriformis muscle is tight or strained it can pinch on these sciatic nerves.
Which will leave you with not just lower back pain but sciatic pain shooting down your legs too.
So make sure you keep your piriformis muscle fully stretched out and loose with this stretch.
How To Do It
Important Things To Remember While Stretching
Stretching regularly is a great habit to get into, but you need to make sure you are it safely.
Because while stretching can work wonders for your back pain, it can also cause you damage if you do it incorrectly.
So before you stretch keep the following in mind:
However get these things right and stretching is a really safe, easy, and beneficial activity for your back and overall health.
Don't Only Stretch Out Your Back
Stretching your back out regularly is great, and the exercises shown here will really help you.
However, if you want to get the maximum benefit then you need to be stretching out your whole body and not just your back.
This is because your body works as a whole.
And each part needs to be functioning well to avoid any compensating or muscle imbalances from developing.
So stiffness and tightness in other areas of the body can be a cause of lower back pain, and can mean your lower back doesn't get the support it needs and has to work harder than it needs to.
So as well as your lower back it's also important to stretch out the following areas:
So stretching out your whole body regularly rather than just your back will be far more effective for reducing back pain.
And if you want an idea of some great stretching routines you can do, check out Fitness Blender.
As they have free routines especially for people with lower back pain, with an example being the video below.
Rounding Up
I hope that you find these stretches useful and that they help to reduce your pain and keep you more flexible.
As personally I couldn't survive without regular stretching.
It's been a massive game changer for me and has helped me to stay relatively pain-free during the day.
So give these stretches a try for yourself.
And remember to try and incorporate stretches for your whole body too once you've got the hang of the lower back ones.
After all, who doesn't want to feel looser, happier, and more relaxed?
