Many people suffer from lower back pain. There are over 26 million American citizens who suffer from this issue between the ages of 20 and 64 at the moment. Remember that often lower back pain and back pain are similar.
In our modern lifestyles, we spend several hours sitting in a certain position, working on a computer and this cause these types of pain. You will have to face pain and tightness in the shoulders, hip flexors and hamstrings and of course a weakening of our glutes, lower back, and abdominals when you sit for a whole day.
If the psoas gets tight, we start to feel pain and we cannot sit comfortably, and then we feel uncomfortable hip pain and achiness and stiffness as psoas is the deepest flexor in our body and it is directly bonded to our lumbar spine.
You can get rid of this tightness and pain quickly by doing regular stretches and exercise. Here are a few exercises that are pretty helpful and easy to perform.
Supine Figure
You can relieve from the lower back and hip pain, by stretching your lower back, piriformis and glutes with this simple exercise.
You need to lie down on the ground on your back and bend your knees and put your feet on the ground, make sure they are hip-width apart. Bend your left knee and put your left ankle over the other knee. Put your hand between your legs and grab the other one behind your right leg. Hold your shoulders and head on the ground, and slightly draw your right thigh toward you. Then you will feel the stretch of your hip, hold that body position for half a minute and repeat it with the other leg.
Child’s Pose
This is a pose which is very famous in yoga. By doing this, you can stretch your back and glutes, and open your hips at the same time.
Just like a baby go down on all fours and make sure your toes are together and your knees are open wide towards the outside. Then sit back on your heels and walk with your hands towards the outside as much as possible, you need to make your forehead touch the ground while hands are stretched. Start walking with your hands even further and keep both arms straight once your forehead has touched the ground. Then relax and hold that body position for about 30 seconds.
Runner’s Lunge
With this simple exercise, you will also stretch your abdominal muscles as well as your quadriceps and hip flexors.
Go down on all four in a tabletop position. Then step with your left foot outside of your left hand. Also, make sure that your toe is a little bit further upfront from your knee. Make sure your right knee is down on the ground. Both hands should be planted inside your left hand, and start pressing with your hips towards the ground. Hold that body position for half a minute and do it with the other leg as well.
Figure Twist
You can increase the internal rotation of your hips, and it will reduce the hip pain and stretch the lower back as well by doing this exercise.
First, you need to lie down on your back, place your feet on the ground and bend your knees, make sure your feet are hip-width apart. Bend the left knee and put your left ankle above the other one right on the thigh. Next, place your arms on the sides like you are making a form of a cactus and make sure your feet are flexed. Make sure your knees are also slightly falling to the left, and keep your left ankle over the right thigh, in order to twist your body. You will feel the stretch in your right hip. You need to hold that body position for half a minute and repeat it on the other side too.
Wide-Legged Forward Fold
This exercise will help you to stretch your upper back, lower back, hamstrings and glutes.
You need to stand tall to do this exercise, make sure your feet are wider than your hips and your toes should be pointed straight. Slightly bend your knees as you go down with your whole upper body in order to bring your hands on the ground. Keep your knees slightly bend, and let your head hang freely. Let your own body weight stretch your lower back, hamstrings, and glutes. Hold that body position for at least 30 seconds, and after that use support from your hands to come back straight. You can avoid injuries by being very gentle in the movements.
Adductor Opener
You can open up the adductor muscles with this exercise and your hip flexors as well.
Stand tall with your feet wider than hip-width, make sure your heels are in and your toes are facing outwards and making a 45-degree angle. Slightly go down like in a squat, like you want to sit on a bench, and put your hands on your thighs right above the knees. Add pressure on your thighs in order to open up your muscles and you will feel your inner thighs stretching. Hold that position for at least half a minute.
Cow Face Legs
You can stretch your lower back and outer hips with this exercise.
You should sit down on the ground, bend one knee and place it on top of the other bent knee. Make sure that your knees are stacked perfectly one over the other. The sit bones on your butt should be both on the ground and pressing. If you cannot do that, put a pillow under it to make it even to the bone that is not touching the ground. By doing that it can put equal weight on both sit bones. Then straighten your back and make sure you take deep breaths. Place your hands on the side and you can use them as a little support. Hold that body position for half a minute.
Happy Baby
This exercise will help you to open up your lower back and stretch your hip flexors.
Lie down on your back, bend your knees slightly and then bring them to your chest. Then with your arms try to reach and grab your toes or your ankles. Make sure that your lower back is always pressing the ground. If you cannot do it then grab your legs to the knees only to keep the lower back on the ground all the time. Hold that position for 30 seconds and feel the stretches.
Seated Twist
This exercise will help you to relieve lower back pain and stretch your piriformis and glutes.
Sit on the ground; bend your knees and feet on the ground then take your right heel close to your left sit bone. Then cross the other leg over it, so that the other foot is right next to your left thigh. You can hurt yourself as this exercise can be quite intense, don’t rush to perform it 100% correctly. Straighten your back by placing one hand on the ground for support, and the elbow of the other hand on the top knee. Then push in order to twist your upper body, be very gentle and take deep breaths. Make sure your back is straight and your head is gaze and tall. Hold that body position for about 30 seconds and do it with the other leg as well.
If you find this article interesting, share it with your family and friends!