It is safe to say that we all have had lower back pain at some point in our life, whether it be from doing hard work, standing on our feet for extended periods, or even stretching incorrectly. Back pain has made its way into our lives one way or another. What if you are experiencing lower back pain daily? It could be caused by a few different things such as your sitting/standing posture, tight or weak hamstrings, or signs of a weak core. Most of these issues can be corrected with just a little bit of awareness.
Stop what you are doing and become mindful of your body right now. If you are sitting, are you hunched forward or slouched in your seat? If your seat has back support, is it firm or soft? If you are standing, are your shoulders rolled forward or are they pulled back? These are all things that we must be aware of daily. Start with a few posture checks throughout the day. If you can’t remember the check-ins on your own, set two alarms throughout the day to correct your posture.
Having tight hamstrings is one of the leading causes of lower back pain, so having healthy hamstrings is important. If your hamstrings are tight, that can result in pulling on and putting extra stress on the glutes, which affect the lower back. Sitting for long periods can also shorten and tighten the hamstrings, so try standing every hour or so to break up those long periods. One way to keep the hamstrings lengthened is by stretching and keeping them warm. We can stretch our hamstring by doing Romanian deadlifts (rdls), static stretches such as the towel hamstring stretch, or the hurdler hamstring stretch. Any of these stretches will keep those “hammies” happy.
Next on the checklist is your core, it is everything to your body, it helps with our posture and overall stability of our body. Your back is also a critical part of your core, believe it or not. The core is made up of the transverse abdominis, multifidus, internal and external obliques, erector spine, diaphragm, pelvic floor muscles, and abs. The stronger your core, the less stress and pressure there is on your back. We can strengthen our core by doing core exercises every day for just ten minutes.
The more we’re aware and in tune with our body, the less stress and pressure we inflict on our back. By being mindful throughout the day for a few moments whether that’s correcting our posture, taking some time out to stretch, or even performing a quick core workout, we increase the overall health of our lower back.
~Coach McCoy