Legs & Glutes: The leading cause of Lowback Pain

I could go on an on about this topic, but in the spirit of short reads, I’m going to leave my readers with a concise explanation about low back pain, and that nagging knot in your hip pocket that won’t seem to go away.

Long story short: The reason you have low back pain is actually because of your glutes, hamstrings, and other components that contribute to leg movement, that are immobilized, or not firing due to a lack of movement, or from being in the same position too much. When I say “being in the same position” what I am referring to is sitting, and sleeping in a compressed manor, or exercising, and not engaging the legs properly. Repetitive motion in an incorrect manor can be just as painful as a result as sleeping, and sitting in a compressed way. This idea can be related to any part of the body; particularly common at the neck and shoulders as well. For the purpose of today however, lets focus on that low back pain.

Why: The spinal vertabrae optimally would have full range of motion. When we lift something heavy, the clear solution to this task is to engage the legs in order to save the spine in regard to a more difficult task. What happens when the legs don’t engage? This one is obvious to most people: spinal injury. More commonly? The legs weren’t really functioning properly to begin with. Thats why it takes mental effort to think about using ones legs when lifting an object. Its not really natural, or comfortable to use your legs in 2020 unless your are in a career, sport, or workout program that encourages this. What I’m getting at here is that when the Hamstrings, and Gluteus muscle groups become stuck short, or aren’t really firing to begin with they start to put pressure and tension on the low back. Essentially, muscles of the low back must do a job they were not designed to do in order to compensate for the legs inability to function. Who knew being curled up watching 90 day fiancé for 4 days straight, and then immediately attempting to do yard work could be so dangerous?

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Since we can’t get to every muscle of the legs that cause low back pain, were going to put the magnifying glass on the two muscles that have helped me have the most amount of relief in quarantine. The illiopsoas hip flexor muscle, and the Gluteus Medius. Feel free to explore more about hamstring stretches. The internet has an abundance of resources for that. These two muscles are slightly more particular to stretch so below I’d like to offer a regiment I find effective twice a day in quarantine to relieve low back pain, and to open and help reengage muscles that have stopped working while being sedentary.

Spinal Decompression (Lumbar/Sacral Spine)

1. In this regiment there are two starting positions. Position A is the upward dog yoga pose with the spine fully extended. Position B is a kneeling position with the spine vertical ceiling to floor.
2. Position A (upward dog) should be taken slowly, and with caution if you are not used to yoga, or are unsure of your flexibility. This is because when the spine and paraspinal muscles are stretched too quickly it can cause strain. From position A take your body into the full range of motion for the upward dog pose. Look towards the ceiling and breathe into the stretch.
3. Once fully extended in position A, to stretch the gluteus medius muscle (located on the side of the hip) one must inch the hands to the opposite side of the body creating space in the muscle. So if we are stretching the left side we want to inch the hands to the right and bend at the trunk stretching that space in the hip pocket creating a C shape with the body. When I refer to the hip pocket, I am talking about the space nestled into the pelvic cavity where gluteus medius is housed. (See above diagram for clarification).
4. Position B (kneeling stretch) is intended to open the hip flexors, and to lengthen abdominals. Start in the kneeling position and place the right hand on the right ankle or calf, extending the spine backwards. The illiopsoas muscle is located between the bottom rib and the ASIS (boney prominence at the front of the hip.) This muscle as well as the abdominals will open with back bends as well as moving the body laterally. Lean into this stretch and really feel the spine open when you also bring hips forward in an almost static lunge. To assist with lunging the hips while kneeling, squeeze the glutes. This position will both help to reengage the glutes, and stretch the hip flexor in the front at the same time. Very effective and easy if you are having a lot of discomfort and require a quick solution. I find stretching illiopsoas usually has immediate results for low back pain. Stretch both sides, and remember to control your breathing. Restating: Inhale, reach back to the same side ankle/ calf, and on the exhale extend (bend the spine) and gently twist to unlock abdominals and hip flexors.
5. For each of these stretches work with good breathing (breathing instruction can be found in the blog at reefrx.health.blog) and attempt to go allitle farther each time you do a repetition. Remember that no stretch or functional excersize can be full proof without repetition and practice. Your muscular system wants to lengthen, but the body follows the mind.