In this video, I'm going to show easy exercises that can
relieve a stiff, achy back in seconds. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Thanks for tuning in to SpineCare with
Dr. Rowe. The first exercise that we're going to do is what
I call the ballin' bridge. It's great for both quick and
long-lasting lower back pain relief. Great part is you can
do this one right in bed or on a floor. So, with the first
part of this exercise, we're going to focus on loosening up
tight muscle that includes muscle knots and spasms,
getting everything loosened up. For this one, we're going to
need something soft and round. A tennis ball works perfectly.
If you don't have one, you can several large socks, roll them
up into a ball, it should work. If you want a much more intense
self massage while doing this exercise, you can use something
like a lacrosse ball even a baseball but I would start with
something soft first and then progress into it. So, let's lie
on our back just like this. Our knees are going to be bent feet
flat. We're going to take our ball and place it right over
the spot that we're having muscle pain. With this one,
we're only going to go over muscle. Don't put it over the
spine because that can cause irritation. What you want to do
is your body weight into the ball to the point where it will
be a comfortable self massage but not causing any discomfort.
So, once that's in place, what we're going to do next is known
as a pelvic rocker or a pelvic tilt. It's going to really help
open up not only the hips but also the lower back. So, what
I'm going to do is take my hands, put them right on my
hips just like this. Imagine taking your tailbone and
curling it up like this allowing your hips to rock
forward. As you do this, you're going to feel a lot of muscles
across hips and the lower back start to fire. So, really focus
on rocking up as much as you can, holding that for a brief
second and then going in reverse by pressing your
bottom, your tailbone down into the bed or the floor. Again,
holding for a brief second. You just kind of want to do this
over and over again for about five to ten repetitions and as
I do this, I really focus on trying to drive my body weight
into that ball as much as I can to deepen that self massage. It
usually feels really really good. Afterwards, see how you
feel. If it's pretty loose, you can just switch over to any
spot that's needed including the other side until everything
is nice and loose but if you do have one spot that just will
not release. Maybe there's a big muscle spasm right there.
This is how we can take it to the next level and hopefully
get some more relief. So, let's take our ball right here and
place it right over that spot that won't release. We're going
to press our body weight into it. Whatever side the ball is
on. In this case, it's my left. I'm going to take that side's
knee and take my hands right here cup around my knee and
then do a gentle knee to the chest just go slowly up like
this as you do this you're going to feel the glutes and
the lower back muscles really start to fire they really tend
to tighten up that will allow you to really drive your body
weight into the ball and dig into those muscle fibers a
little bit more so what I like to do is kind of take my knee
as much as I can to my chest press my body weight down and
then I rock forward and backward like this if you
really good but it can become intense so build into it nice
and slowly again do this for about five to 10 repetitions of
rocking forward like this and then back and then afterwards
see how you feel keep repeating it until everything is nice and
loose and you can switch over any spot including the other
side and repeat until again everything is nice and loose so
once we do have everything nice and loose what we're going to
focus on now is the bridge exercise which is going to help
strengthen muscles for long-lasting relief. Again, we
can do this one lying on our back, in bed, or on a floor.
What you want to do is have your legs roughly hip width
apart, knees bent, feet flat. What you're going to start off
with is bracing the core muscles to help support the
spine. It's kind of like sucking your belly button
towards your spine and feeling your core muscles tighten and
then you're going to squeeze your glutes and then hold that
position. Your hands can be put on your hips or off to your
side like this for support. So, it's pretty straight we're just
going to lift our hips upward towards the ceiling as much as
we can until our knees our hips and our shoulders are in a nice
straight line if you're not able to get into that position
due to weakness or pain like let's say you can only lift up
an inch or two do the best you can over time hopefully you'll
gain strength and flexibility to get into this position but
you should feel a ton of muscles start to fire the core
the lower back the glutes a legs, everything that helps
support that lower back. So, we're going to hold this one
comfortably for 5 seconds. We're going to relax and then
we're going to repeat this ten times and with each repetition,
try to build into it just a little bit more. If it feels
like you have a little bit more energy, you can always throw in
another set or two. To take the bridge to the next level. As
you do this, you can do a marching motion by just lifting
one leg up, holding it for a second, coming back down and
then doing it on the other side. It's definitely a lot
more challenging. So, give that a try for about 10 repetitions
on both sides and again, throwing in another set if you
feel you have the energy. So, here's one of my favorite
exercises for treating a stiff back. It's known as the
ballerina. The great part is you can do this one standing so
it's great to do right at work. What we're going to do is
whatever side that you're having pain. Let's say it's
your right side. You're going to take the painful side's leg
and place over the other just like this. Your toes are going
to be pointed straight ahead. The non-painful side, you're
going to take the hand on that side, stabilize the hip. The
other hand is going to go overhead just like this. Now,
you know why we call it the ballerina. The movement from
here is very straight forward. What we're going to do is bend
through our waist and lower back like this towards the
non-painful side. So, if my right side hurts, I'm going to
bend towards the left. The more that you bend towards that
side, the more it's going to help open up the lower back and
it usually feels really good. What you want to focus on is
feeling a deep stretch from the bottom of the ribs going into
lower back towards the hips right here and only go to a
point where it's comfortable. Once you feel that, you want to
hold this for 20 to 30 seconds and do nice, slow, controlled
breathing. Let out as much tension as you can. From there,
you're going to relax, take a breather, and then repeat this
three times and with each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. If you would like to take the bell
to the next level. As you do this stretch, what you want to
do with the other side, the non-painful side is drive your
hips towards the painful side. So, I'm leaning towards my left
and then driving my hips towards the right. This will
really intensify it so build into it slowly and I do
recommend doing this on both sides just to keep everything
imbalance. So, here's a great stretch that cannot only help
with lower back stiffness but also help target our hips. So,
if you have a lot of lower back pain and hip pain, give this
one a try. It's known as the 9090 stretch. Let's get into
position. What we're going to do is start on a floor with one
leg straight in front of us like this. Knee bend at 90
degrees. The other leg is going to go straight off to our side,
knee also bent at 90 degrees. A couple notes about this
exercise. Whatever side that your feet are pointing towards.
So, in this case, it's my left. We're going to use the other
side's arm off to our side like this for support. We're also
going to try to keep our knees flat during this exercise. So,
don't lift up on them like this. What we want to do with this
back hip is during the exercise press it straight down into the
floor this will help activate a lot of muscles across the hips
and the lower back including the glutes so let's press that
hip down into the floor and then what we're going to do
with our other hand is now kind of like a scooping motion
like this reach towards the other side so what I'm doing is
leaning forward and towards my right at the same time while
driving this hip straight down towards the floor and you do
this you're going to feel a ton of muscles start to fire
especially in the lower back and the hips usually feels
really really good when you can't go any further you're
going to hold this comfortably and now take it to the next
level by rotating your chest downward towards the floor at
the same time so really focus on trying to just turn that
chest down towards the floor you'll feel a ton of muscles
start to fire you want to hold this one comfortably for about
15 to 20 seconds. You're just going to relax and then what
you're going to do is repeat this three to five times and
with each repetition, try to build into it just a little bit
more and I do recommend switching the orientation of
your legs to the other side and repeating just to keep
everything imbalance. So, if you usually wake up with a
stiff back in the morning, you have to give this one a try. It
can give relief within seconds. So, what we're going to do is
start lying flat on our back in bed or on a floor. You want
your leg roughly hip width apart, knees bent, feet flat.
We're going to do what are known as windshield wipers
first. So what I'd like to do is try to keep my back flat and
then press my heels gently into the bed or the floor and then
what you're going to do is just take your knees from side to
side. Really focusing on moving through your hips only at the
beginning. So again, we're trying to keep our back flat.
Keep taking them down until you feel a deep stretch in your
hips. Usually feels pretty good. You want to hold this one
comfortably for second or two and then what you're going to
do is go towards the other side. So, just kind of like a
windshield wiper going back and forth. I like to do this one
for about 10 repetitions on both sides but if it feels
pretty good, you can throw in as many repetitions as you
like. So, after this, now, we're going to focus on opening
up the back just a little bit more. So, this time around,
what I'm going to do now is lift my legs up like this. So,
my knees are kind of right up towards the ceiling, knees bent
roughly at 90 degrees. Take your put them off to your side
for support. Similar motion but this time around, what we're
going to do is go down like this and now try to move a
little bit more through our lower back. This really helps
open it up and if your back is pretty stiff and locked up, you
might get a sudden pop, crack, or release but don't try to
force it. What you want to do is just hold this for a brief
second and then you're going to repeat on the other side doing
this nice and slowly again for 10 repetitions, but throw in as
many repetitions as you like. So, if you really want to open
up a stiff back. After doing all these, you can do what is
known as a corkscrew. So, for this one, we're just going to
lie flat like this. We're going to straighten one leg and then
the other leg is going to go bend at 90 degrees. What you're
going to do is take the hand on the other side, put it right on
the outside of your knee and what you're going to do is keep
your back flat and you're just going to turn or I should say
pull your knee across your body as much as you can until you
feel a really deep stretch form in lower back. Only go towards
a comfortable stretch. Again, this one might cause that
satisfying self-pop cracker release but don't try to force
it. Once you feel that deep stretch, how we're going to
take this one to the next level is putting our other arm up
towards the ceiling like this and now rotating our chest and
our head towards the other side and this was what puts that
corkscrew effect in the lower back. I'd like to hold this one
for about 20 seconds. I just relax and then I repeat this
three times and with each rep just try to build into it just
a little bit more and I do recommend doing this on both
sides just to keep everything in balance. If the exercises
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