Stretch Your Lower Back
October 16th, 2009If you suffer from lower back pain, one of the most effective ways to help improve this condition is to regularly stretch your lower back muscles. Strengthening and stretching the muscles around your spine will give you the best chance of reducing or eliminating lower back pain. By not frequently stretching the muscles in your lower back, these muscles tighten up and shorten and this lack of flexibility causes increased lower back pain over time.
It is important to exercise all the muscles that help support the spine to keep your body in a comfortable and upright position. Working the muscles in the front and back of the legs and exercising the abdominal muscles as well as the muscles in the lower back in a weekly exercise program will help keep your body strong. This is what you would call a core exercise program, however, if you are suffering from chronic lower back pain there is a good chance you really need to concentrate on stretching your lower back and you need to do this often.
Like I mentioned earlier, by not stretching the lower back muscles regularly you allow them to shorten and become very tight. These tight muscles become sore and cause you pain. This pain often reverberates through your spine and sometimes all the way into your neck. You may find doing such simple tasks like putting on your shoes, bending over in general or rolling over in bed, cause you pain in your lower back and through your spinal area.
One of the most effective ways to alleviate this type of lower back pain is to stretch those tight lower back muscles on a daily basis. Once the lower back muscles have already become very tight, you will need to begin a stretching program and stick to it, you will not fix this problem in a few days or even weeks. It may take months or even longer to regain good flexibility in your lower back and subsequently reduce the pain.
There are numerous ways to effectively stretch your lower back but in essence the best way to perform a good lower back stretch safely is to bend forward while sitting down on the floor. Start the stretch by sitting comfortably on the floor with your legs straight and together in front of you and your back straight with your head facing forward. From this position keeping your buttocks and legs still, bend forward slowly reaching with your hands towards your toes. As you reach towards your toes you will feel your lower back stretching as soon as you begin this movement. You probably will not be able to touch your toes initially, this is normal, only reach out as far as your hands will go without pushing it. Stay in this stretched position for about 3 breaths and then fall back to the upright seated position.
This exercise sounds very simple because it is very simple but over time those tight lower back muscles will loosen up, tiny bit by tiny bit and eventually allow you more movement and flexibility in your lower back. As you regain the flexibility in your lower back you will slowly notice a reduction in your lower back pain.
Performing this basic exercise regularly is the only way you will ever see any real benefit physically. If you only ever do these stretches every now and then, there is probably no point in starting since these tight lower back muscles need to be stretched daily. By performing this exercise for just 5 minutes twice a day, I am sure you will see a marked improvement in your lower back pain and gain a measure of flexibility in the process. I think it really is worth a little bit of effort for such a potentially huge, pain free result.
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