Lower Back Tightness?

Today’s post showcases 5 exercises taken from our online rehab library, that may help to reduce muscular tightness in and around your lumbar spine.⁣ ⁣

It is important to understand WHY the muscles in and around your lower back are tightening up though. Here is just a few (but not limited to) reasons:⁣ ⁣ 1) A sudden increase in load on the spine. E.g., getting back in the gym after some time off and performing squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, etc., without adequate enough rest and recovery methods.⁣ ⁣ 2) A lack of capacity of your lower back muscles to handle the amount of load/external force they are being exposed to over time. This is usually due to either:⁣ ⁣ 3) Lack of localised strength of the supporting muscles in around your lumbar spine and hips⁣ ⁣ The way that you move has been placing excessive load on your lower back over time. This comes down to the quality of your movement during day-day activities (picking up objects, carrying shopping, gardening) or whilst training (technique during back squats, deadlifts, running, etc).⁣ ⁣ Having a stiff thoracic spine, which ideally should be quite mobile, can lead to complications. If not addressed, other areas—potentially including the SI joint in your lower back—may overcompensate for this, leading to pain and reduced mobility ⁣ So why is this important to understand? Well, although stretches and self-release/massage techniques can definitely be very beneficial in reducing muscular tightness, or for self management when training regularly/working in a physically demanding job…. We quite often find that they alone are not enough. ⁣ SO: ⁣ ⁣ - Give the exercises in this video a go, see how you feel after each one, if you feel better add it in your daily routine. If over time the tightness has gone then great, keep them up for maintenance.⁣ ⁣ - If you’re finding only short term relief of your muscular tightness, but over time it keeps coming back then you may need to find out the reason WHY.⁣