A lot of people suffer from general low back pain. (Meaning, pain not related to a bulging/herniated disk or other localized impairment.)
A big reason for this is tight hips, typically due to sitting.
When we sit too much (and pretty much everyone in our post-industrial society sits too much), the psoas and iliacus muscles connecting the pelvis to the thigh bone in the front of the body become short and stiff, tugging on the low spine in the back of the body. It’s a lot of stress and strain on the low back to be tugged all day, hence low back pain.
To give your low back a break, consider making hip extension part of your daily exercise routine.
Anytime you can get your knee behind your hip helps take pressure off your low back.
Try the Couch Test, named so because you can do the stretch using a couch (or bench, in my case).
If you’re more flexible, you can do in on the floor or, in my case, on the Reformer.
However you do it, the important thing is to fire your glute of the extending leg (meaning the leg that goes behind) and tip forward ever so slightly so you don’t arch the low back.
Hold the stretch while firing the glute for five slow breaths, relax. Repeat five times. Repeat daily.
See if your low back feels better in a month.
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