Stretches to alleviate lower back pain

If you've experienced lower back pain then you understand it can be a continual challenge to overcome, taking many months or even years to heal from. This makes it imperative to get the right advice early to avoid additional injury.

Lower back pain can occur for a number of reasons. However, a few common ones are;

- Poor neuromuscular connection
- Muscle tear or weakness
- Pelvic Instability
- Sports injuries
- Disc prolapse
- Sciatic pain

As an Exercise Physiologist, I see these types of injuries daily unfortunately. The most common symptoms I see are:

- A dull ache in the buttock
- Pain down the back of the thigh, calf and foot.
- Pain when walking upstairs or inclines
- Increased pain after prolonged sitting
- Tightness, tingling and weakness radiating down the back, side, front of leg, and shooting up through the back.

To assist you in overcoming these injures, try these 5 beginners level lower back rehab exercises.

1. Superman (or woman): 10 sec holds x 8 each side
- On all 4’s
- Hands stacked under shoulders, knees under hips
- Engage T-zone, extend one leg out straight, and opposite arm
- Ensure hips stay level
- Breathe in and out through the nose

2. Side Plank: 4 x 10 - 30 sec holds - Both sides
- Leaning on one side, resting on the elbow, with bottom knee bent if needed
- Engage T-zone, squeeze butt and thighs
- Lift up and hold – reaching your arm up high
- Ensure hips don’t sink, keep body straight

3. Glute Bridge with Band: 15 – 18 rep’s x 2/3 sets
- Lying on back, with knees bent, tie the band to a post and to the inside of the left leg
- Engage the T zone, inhale, and lift the hips, squeezing the glutes as you exhale
- Make sure not to hypertext lower back, keeping hips level

4. Crab walk: 10 metres x 2 (40 steps)
- With legs together, tie the band half way down the calf, below the knees
- Step hip distance apart, with knees slightly bent
- Keep T-zone engaged, and toes facing forward
- Step sideward continuously for 10 metres in either direction

5. Spinal roll down: 8 – 10 rep’s each side
- Laying on your back with the circular band around your left foot, holding the band with your left hand
- Engage your T-zone
- Bring your chin to your chest and slowly roll up, imagining peeling your spine off the ground one by one
- Keeping leg and arm straight
- At the top straighten your back, then slowly reverse the movement
- Tilting at the pelvis, slowly lowering back down to the ground arching the back as much as possible

Give these a go, and if you have any questions subscribe to the tribe! Being part of the tribe gives you the chance to win a free session with me. Each month I will give away a free reformer Pilates session, or a free health assessment. So get amongst it and Click Here to join the tribe!