This video, I'm going to show you how to self pop your lower
back with a foam roller. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to show safe,
effective foam rolling exercises that can help unlock,
release, self pop, crack, whatever you want to call it,
the lower back. If you don't have a foam roller, I will
leave a link in this video's description. I'm using a
24-inch firm foam roller diameter roughly about six
inches. With all these exercises, they hit the lower
back just a little bit differently. So, go through
them all, take what works best for you. As a bonus, all of the
exercises can be done at home only require a foam roller and
may give quick lower back pain relief even in as little as 30
seconds. So, let's get started and self pop the lower back
right now. A great way to be able to unlock the lower back
and hopefully get that satisfying self-pop crack or
release is with the technique called the side lumbar roll.
Before we start though, when it comes to foam rolling the lower
back, a big mistake that most people make is rolling up and
down on it like this. That puts the back into hyperextension,
it jams up the joints and can cause a lot of muscle strain.
So, instead what we need to do is focus on tilting over the
foam roller targeting off to the side and that's how we're
going to do this side foam roller technique. What I'm
going to do is start off on a floor. Let's position the foam
roller right at the lower back and I'm going to roll over
towards the side. Doesn't matter which side you start off
with. I'm going to straighten my bottom leg. The other leg is
going to go bent. The foot is flat. This leg right here, this
top one is going to kind of push up and down right over
this foam roller. So, once you're in position, what you
want to do is angle your body to the point where the muscles,
it's pretty much right over the foam roller right off to the
side of the spine. So, it's right here for me. I'm going to
support my upper body weight on my forearm like this and again,
just use your leg to roll up and down pretty much from the
lower part of the lower back all the way to the upper. This
feels really good. It's just a very deep stretch. What you can
do is nice, slow movements going all the way up, all the
way down. Should take you about five seconds in each direction
and try to do this for about 10 repetitions. If it is locked
up, you might get that sudden pop or release that you are
looking for but you can adjust your body by tilting it a
little bit more to target a little bit differently over the
side of the spine. What we want to do to take this one to the
next level is focus on pinpoint areas that are really tight
locked up or you just feel like it needs to be released. So,
maybe it's right here for me. What I'm going to do is
position the foam roller right over that spot. I'm also going
to angle my body to the point where it feels like it's really
pinpoint. From there, I'm going to lower my shoulder down
towards the floor like this and this is a really deep stretch.
It feels really good. The further that you go down with
your shoulder, the more it's going to open up that spot. So,
only go towards a comfortable stretch. If it is locked up,
again, might get it to pop right away but the focus with
this one is just to get a deep stretch. Don't force anything.
Try to hold this one for about 15 seconds, come back up, take
a breather, and you can do this three to five times. From
there, you can just switch over different spots as needed but
go through all of those motions. Really target the
whole side and when you're done on one side, always switch to
the other to keep them both in balance. This exercise is what
I like to call the pelvic tilt and pop. Very easy to do. Let's
go next to a door or a the starting position I'm going to
be laying flat on my back I'm going to position the foam
roller right over the spot in the lower back you really want
to feel that spot on the top of the foam roller so try to
pinpoint that my legs are going to be up like this knees bent
roughly at 90degrees my feet are going to be flat against
that door or a wall I like to wear shoes with this exercise
because it offers more grip but you can also do this one
barefoot the nice thing is what you can do is raise and lower
your body using your legs to control the amount of pressure
over the foam roller. So, the more that you press down, the
more the body is going to, I should say the lower back is
going to be put into extension opening up offering a deeper
stretch. So, with this exercise only go to your comfort level
by controlling the amount over the foam roller with your legs.
So, in my foam roller in position, I have just enough
pressure where it feels like a very deep stretch. I'm going to
start off with a basic pelvic tilt. My hands go on my hips
just this. It's very easy to do. I'm rocking my pelvis up
and down, kind of like rocking the butt up and down, tucking
the tailbone. When you do this, you're going to feel the lower
back glide over the foam roller and with this one, I usually
get a sudden popper release into my lower back. It usually
feels really good. This motion just helps open up the hips,
the pelvis, and the lower back and really puts just enough
pressure over the lower back too. Yeah, hopefully get it to
unlock and release but try to do this and slowly. Hold it for
a couple seconds going down, hold it for a couple seconds
going up, try to do this for about 10 to 15 repetitions and
with each repetition, try to control the amount of pressure
into the lower back by pressing down a little bit more with
your legs. I try to do this for about three sets. From there,
we can take this one to the next level by doing a wall, I
should say, a leg march. So, what I'm going to do is
pinpoint that spot with my foam roller, press down just so I
feel that initial stretch and then I'm going lift one leg
off. I just try to take this knee to the chest just a little
bit. You'll notice that it really helps open up the back
just a little bit more. You can also do a passive stretch by
taking your hands and really pulling that knee down towards
the chest. Try to hold this for about 10 to 15 seconds. From
there, you can relax and then repeat this up to five times.
You want to do it on the other side too just to make sure
everything is imbalance. Just another good way to help open
up and unlock the back. If you want to off to the side a
little bit more. This is how we can take it to the next next
level. So, I'm going to position the foam roller right
over the spot that I need to focus on. I'm going to take my
arms, lift them up like this and then lower em down. From
there, I'm going to tilt my body towards one direction. So,
I'm really just leaning towards the left as much as I can. I'm
also trying to keep my shoulder blades flat. What this will do
is stretch off to the opposite side. It targets a muscle
called the QL or the quadratus lumbar which is commonly
strained and can cause a lot of lower back issues and usually
can lock up joints so I go over all the way that I can I don't
know if you actually heard it over the microphone but I got a
really good release right there I try to hold this one for
about 15 to 20 seconds doing nice low controlled breathing
from there I just relax take a breather and then I do it on
the other side I want to do this one for about 3 to5
complete repetitions on both sides and with each repetition
try to stretch into it just a little bit more help open up
and unlock that lower back and hopefully get that satisfying
pop cracker release that you're looking for. This exercise is
what is known as the sacral roll. It's going to be a little
bit better for pain or tightness or trying to get that
self release below the belt line. So, pretty much right
across the pelvis sacrum over towards the hips. Let's start
off on the floor just like this. I'm going to take my foam
roller. I'm going to position it pretty much right below the
belt line kind of right at the top of the butt cheeks. So,
it's kind of resting right over the sacrum. From there, I'm
going to rest my head back like this. For this exercise, if you
do have a foam roller that is long enough, mine is roughly
about 24 inches. I can grab off to the side for support. If you
don't, just put your hands off to the side like this. What we
want to do is lift our legs up to the point where our hips,
our knees are in a nice straight line. Knees are
roughly at 90 degrees. You can either put the legs together or
you can just space them out a little bit. I tend to space
them out to the point where my legs are hip width apart. From
there, I'm just going to rock in one direction. Go all the
way over. I'm taking my knees towards the floor. What this
does is it puts a lot of good rotation into the lower back
but it's also going to target across the top of the pelvis
into the sacrum. Again, if it's locked up, you might get a
sudden pop, crack, or release. Go down as far as you feel
comfortable. From there, try to hold this for about 3 to 5
seconds. Come back up and then go towards the other side and
repeat. With this one you want to do it about 10 to 15
repetitions on both sides and with each repetition really
focus on trying to drive the knees down just a little bit
more to help unlock the lower back and again hopefully get
that self crack popper release that you are looking for just a
very easy way to open up the lower back and really target
across the hips pelvis and sacrum this exercise is called
the SI joint pop it's going to focus on the sacroiliac joint
so if you have a lot of pain below the belt line off to the
side this is one that I would check out start off on the
floor just like this put your head down and just have your
back nice and flat I'm going to have my legs roughly hip width
apart I'm going to raise them up like this to the point where
my hips my knees are in a nice straight line knees bent
roughly at 90°. what I'm going to do from there is take
my hands place them on the outside of my knees I'm going
to drive my knees outwards into my hands but my hands are going
resist against it. This creates an isometric exercise so you'll
feel a lot of muscles fire in the lower back but really
without any movement whatsoever. Really challenge
yourself. Drive those knees out into your hands. Hold this for
about five seconds. From there, just relax, take a breather,
and then do this for five times and here's the knee part. What
I'm going to do from there is take my foam roller, put it in
between my knees and this time, I'm going to drive inwards with
my I don't know if you heard it over the microphone. I usually
always get my SI joints to release with this one. You'll
get a nice pop right into the pelvis. So, just squeeze in as
much as you can. Hold this one for five seconds. From there,
just relax, take a breather, and then repeat this for five
times. It's just a very easy way to really open up the
sacroiliac joints, target pain below the belt line off to the
side. Give that one a try. If the exercises help, please
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