It makes sense to assume that if you have lower back pain, you should begin by stretching your lower back muscles.  This is true and false – but mainly false. Muscles act as pulleys that  pull against bones in order to move joints.  Bearing this in mind, you need to consider the origin, insertion and action of muscles and their antagonists (two muscles opposing each others pull).

Back pain is common (at least 80% of the population will experience back pain at some stage of their lives) and the causes and mechanisms are varied.  That is why it’s always important to seek professional advice (Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, Osteopath, Sports Doctor, Myotherapist – to name a few) to determine the cause and best management of your lower back pain.

In my experience a large percentage of the lower back pain cases that I’ve dealt with over the past 15 years are mechanical in nature.  That means that it’s a joint/tendon/muscle thing.  And the way to correct the problem is through muscle balance exercises – i.e. stretch and strengthen the appropriate muscles. The muscle group that is mainly responsible for mechanical back pain is the hip flexors and quadriceps.  They are normally tight from prolonged sitting (hip flexor tightness from driving, occupational sitting, couch lazing and cycling) and standing (quadriceps tightness from walking, running and occupational standing).  These muscle groups, when tight, pull down on their origin points (lower back and front of pelvis) resulting in an increased Lumbar lordosis (i.e. sway back) and forward pelvic tilt.  And this in turn results in a Lumbar facet syndrome – i.e. “jamming” of the joints in the lower back.

Solution = Stretch them muscles.

Quad stretch

Hip flexor stretch