Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing my tips on how to relieve pain in certain areas of the body. So far we have covered: neck pain, knee pain, and today we will tackle lower back pain. If you want to see all of my tips on dealing with joint pain, click HERE to sign up for the 30-Day Stretch Challenge. This challenge comes with all of my corrective exercise routines as well as a 30-day stretch guide. The challenge is completely free, so check it out!
So… lower back pain. I am pretty sure we have all felt this. I certainly have. It can be really uncomfortable and make it difficult to workout, especially when doing ab workouts.
There can be many reasons we feel pain in the lower back. However, assuming the pain isn’t injury-related, it is likely caused by a muscle imbalance in the body. Muscle imbalances are caused by repetitive motion, or doing a particular action over and over. Let’s use sitting as an example. When you sit, your hip flexors tighten up, your butt and abs are not being stimulated, and depending on how you sit, you may be twisting your spine in a strange way. When you sit a lot, like we all do, your hip flexors get super tight, you butt and abs get super weak from all the inactivity, and your spine is very confused.
Sitting is just one example, but it is a big one. Sitting is the main reason we all experience lower back pain in our lives. I know it can be difficult to avoid sitting. School, work, driving, traveling… all of these things require us to sit. If you want your lower back to stop hurting though, it is time to make some changes.
If you have to sit for long periods of time, take walking breaks every hour. Stretch out your hip flexors regularly to combat all of that sitting. Do core workouts and butt exercises at least three times a week to keep those areas stimulated and strong. A daily corrective exercise routine that blends stretching and strengthening (like the one below) may take away all of your lower back pain.
Sitting isn’t the only issue though. Lower back pain can also be caused by poor posture, sleeping on your stomach, exercising with incorrect form, wearing the wrong shoes, and arching your back when you stand.
If some of your bad habits are causing your back to hurt, work on changing them. If you feel your lower back when you exercise, check in with your form. Muscle imbalances will still exaggerate the pain though, so it is still important to fix them with corrective exercise. Even with perfect form, if your muscles are out of whack… your will feel pain.
Try the corrective exercise routine:
Gentle Twist
Deep Twist
Crunch Hold (30-seconds)
Cat-Cow (10 reps)
Cat Contractions (15 reps)
Sphynx Pose
Plank Lifts (10 reps)
Forearm Plank (30-seconds)
Elbow Plank (30-seconds)
Happy Baby
Figure 4 Twist
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