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Back Stretch That Works Best for Stubborn Back Pain

Stretching Techniques to Ease Lower Back Pain

A friend sent me this link from Simple Organic Life the other day to ask how I would recommend doing these 8 stretches for lower back pain. That's because he knows I'm constantly saying that getting your muscles to stretch is not about the position you put your body into, but rather about how you use your body while you're in the position. This means feeling, finding and working your body from the inside out and directing the energy within your muscles to articulate them through each stretch.  

Most likely you've seen these 8 stretches before, probably a thousand times. They're everywhere.  But, if you change the way you think about stretching, and make a few slight adjustments, these stretches can be felt in a whole new way, and result in a much deeper stretch.

What is so great about the stretches Simple Organic Life chose for lower back pain is that they don't just target the lower back. Instead, the surrounding muscles get attention too, which is always how you want to think about flexibility. Everything is connected, so you can bet that one part will pull on another, which means it's not enough to focus on just one area. You need to loosen and release everything surrounding the part that feels tight and/or hurts.  

So here are your popular, everyday back stretches, but with instructions that will help show you how to do them:

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1.  Hamstrings:  Press the back of your knee into your hands, aiming the heel into the ceiling. That little bend should not be in the knee. Pushing it away from you will straighten it out. That's where the stretch happens.
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2.  Lower Back:  While you hold your knee into your chest, pull your pelvis into the floor, but keep your thigh against your rib. Close that little space under the tailbone and you will open some space in your lower back.
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3.  Back:  Pull the right shoulder down into the floor and DO NOT let it come up as you twist away from it.
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4.  Outer Thigh:  Rest your head on the floor, pull the left leg in and push the right knee out.  Hold the legs there and pull your pelvis to the floor.
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5.  Psoas:  Drop the right hip forward, trying to get is as flat on a diagonal as you can and then pull your belly button way in.
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6.  Quad:  Squeeze the right butt cheek to push the hip forward, put the right knee directly under the hip, pull heel to butt and then suck your belly button in.  

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7.  Back:  Round the back, pull abs way up and in, reach shoulders for the ceiling and curl pelvis under. Reverse it so you go from cat to cow. You want your pelvis to move both ways. Sometimes lower back pain is as much from tight muscles as it is from lack of mobility in the hips.
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8.  Obliques/Lats:  Straighten the elbow over your head as you reach to the side and bring the bicep all the way to the ear as you bend. Your hips should not swing to the side like they are in the picture.
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Lastics is the only stretching method with transformational techniques that teach you how to significantly & safely improve your flexibility. Born from the world of dance and made for all levels, Lastics Stretch is loved by everyone!

 

 

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