Stretching exercises to relieve lower back pain

If you’re like a majority of adult humans, you occasionally experience lower back pain. It may come from exercising, or just simply maneuvering something in a slightly unusual position – for example, lifting a heavy object out of a car trunk. When it happens you know immediately that it will affect you for days or weeks to come.

Relief can come in a pill, certain types of stretching exercises, surgery and just the passage of time. According to two studies recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, non-surgical therapies including stretching and exercise can have almost as great an effect as surgery in relieving back pain over the long haul.

So if you’re inclined to address physical challenges without drugs and surgery, read on. This article provides 12 exercises you can do at home or a health club to alleviate lower back pain.

Lower back pain: Why am I hurting?

The lower back (a.k.a., lumbar region) is a complex of bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves that together are amazingly adaptable to a wide range of movement and function. But the complexity of this region is also why it is quite vulnerable to injury, considered by scientistists an example of incomplete evolution of the species. Modern civilization has done us few favors in how we sit at desks and in car seats for extended periods of time, which tends to tighten the muscles and other softer tissue (tendons) into one position. Excess body weight can contribute to back woes, but even fit, athletic people suffer back pain.

Jump out of the car after a long drive and your natural instinct is to stretch – which is a smart adaptive technique. Whether you already have a strained lower back, or wish to prevent one in the future, adopting a varied and balanced stretching routine can help keep you functioning, upright and capable of sticking to your workout schedule.

Of course, if just launching an exercise routine you are advised to consult your primary care physician to check where it fits into your overall health profile. By and large, exercise on some level can be done by almost anyone if approached intelligently. This is no simple, rosy platitude: I work in a rehabilitation facility and observe amazing people overcoming serious physical adversity through exercise, including individuals who have lost limbs, are morbidly obese or who have suffered from strokes.

Immediate response to acute case of lower back pain

Minor lower back pain most of involves strained muscles and ligaments in the lumbar region. Many people (myself included) can attribute this to hereditary factors (my father had the same problems I’ve had, and I learned a great deal from the exercises prescribed by his doctor). But simple activities or overexertion can cause this condition in almost anyone. As soon as you notice back pain, execute the following stretch positions:

Relax the back as best you can. Lie flat on the floor, face up, then pull the knees to the chest and grasp them with your hands. Gently rock back and forth on the lower back in that position to massage the area and to stretch it out (gently).

Fold knees over the opposite side. Lie flat on the floor, face up, then pull your knees to your chest with your hands. Next, extend the right leg straight out (parallel to floor, resting the heel on the floor), then use the right hand to pull the left knee (still contracted) over the right leg and toward the floor on your right. Hold that position for 10 – 30 seconds, pressing the knee ever closer to the floor as you also push your left shoulder back toward the floor.

Cobra position. Lie flat on the floor, face down and toes pointing backward. With hands positioned approximately at the armpits, press down so that the shoulders rise up. Extend arms fully while pressing the hips toward the floor. Hold for 10 – 30 seconds.

Table positions. Place knees and hands on floor, face down, forming a tabletop with your back. First, curve the spine so that the tabletop dips to a U-shape and hold that for about 10 seconds. Now, curve the back in the opposite direction (“scaredy cat”) so the spine humps up; hold again for 10 seconds. Cycle through this four or five times.

When you’ve finished with these stretches, you are advised to ice the area (use a bag of frozen vegetables such as corn or peas, affixed with a belt or wedged against a seat back) and take an anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen, for example). Apply heat to the area only after several days have passed (3-5 days later, if pain continues). Sleep with the knees bent, which you might promote with a pillow propped underneath or behind the knees.

In the days following a back sprain

Several other exercises can be performed that will continue to stretch your back and adjoining muscle groups and their connective tissue such as the quadriceps, hip flexors and hamstring muscles. If these latter groups are tight, they tend to pull the back muscles tight with them.

These exercises are broken into three groups: things you can do by yourself with no equipment, stretching exercises that require a stability ball (the 3+’-diameter inflated balls frequently used for core training) and modalities that require someone else to help you.

By yourself:

Reach for your toes. Stand with feet spread as wide as your shoulders. Hang from the waist, keeping the knees locked out (legs straight), not straining to actually touch your toes but simply allowing gravity to pull gently on the back, hamstrings and connective tissue.

Standing crunches. Stand with feet spread as wide as your shoulders (again). Clasp your hands behind your head as if doing crunches, then rotate while reaching the left elbow toward your right thigh, rise back to center, then reach the right elbow toward the left thigh. Repeat ten or more times, engaging the abdominal muscles throughout but remembering the point is to stretch the lower back from oblique angles.

Foot on table. On a sturdy surface two, three or four feet higher than the floor, place the right foot while the back leg remains straight and slightly behind you. Lean into the right foot, hinging the whole body in that direction. Hold that position, pressing as far as you can comfortably, for at 30 – 60 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.

With a stability ball:

Relaxing rolls. Try this both face up and face down. Simple splay across the ball and roll it up and down the spine. Focus on loosening your back side.

Hanging seated. Sit on the ball as if it were a chair, but with knees spread wide. Drop the shoulders, head and arms between the knees forward toward the floor, feeling the gravitational pull on your lower back. Hold for 30 – 60 seconds.

Side hangs. Lie across the ball on your side, with the ball approximately at your hips and your feet stacked (right on top of left when lying on the left side). Roll toward your head to shift your center of gravity in that direction, which should pull your right leg upward, effectively stretching the side core muscles. Hold for 20 seconds or longer, then repeat on the other side.

With a friend or trainer:

Squeeze the L. Lie flat but raise your legs up straight and together to form a letter L (you may need help getting there). Have your assistant gently press your legs toward your head, gently, instructing that person on what you can tolerate. After holding it in one place for ten seconds, strive to push it one or two more inches further.

Knee folded over. Refer back to the exercise above, “Fold knees over the opposite side.” Ask your partner to exaggerate, gently but progressively, the stretch by pressing your shoulder toward the floor. For example, when the right leg is folded over the left, have him or her press down on the right shoulder.

Do it right

With all stretching, a few key points should be considered:

1. Do not bounce or pulse. You want to gradually stretch soft and semi-soft material. A bouncing action could tear the muscle or tendon – not what you want.
2. Start gently, then increase the intensity. Only press to the point of slight discomfort and hold that for a while. If you want to progress your flexibility, take a deep breath then exhale; as you do, deepen the stretch a little bit more.

If pain persists despite your best efforts – say, after two or three weeks – you should seek the advice of a medical professional.

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Russ Klettke is a certified (ACE) fitness trainer, speaker and author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD (Marlowe & Co., 2004; available where books are sold and in hundreds of public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe). The book focuses on ways to eat healthier for people who might otherwise eat processed and fast foods.