are you suffering from tightness and stiffness in one side of your lumbar spine have you heard
about the quadratus lumborum hi my name is annie and welcome to my channel annie pilatus physical
therapist in this video i'll be discussing about the quadratus lumborum of physiology and different
ways to strengthen lengthen and support through pilates yoga physical therapy to finally fix
the tightness stiffness and pain on one side of your back so get your mat ready and join [Music]
so let's discuss about the quadratus lumborum it's actually
one of the deepest abdominal muscle but it's also called a back muscle it's a quadrilateral shape
and it has different origin insertion and it's parallel together one on the left and
one to the right paired posterior abdominal wall so it's actually part of the abdominal
wall but at the back area so it's also a little bit confused for most people because they think
it's just the back muscle but it has a purpose of different functions that will help support your
lumbar spine threatens lumbar's muscle also called the ql muscle is irregular and quadrilateral in
shape where does the quadratus lumbar muscle originates or the keel muscle it originates on the
ilium of your pelvis all the way down here and slowly goes up with different shape and it inserts
on the transverse processes of the upper part of your lumbar spine so there's four the higher part
all the way to the rib cage area to the floating rib so when you massage that area and if you're
too aggressive you have to be careful as you go up near the rib because the floating rib
is not as stable compared to the tenth to the first rib where is attached to the thoracic spine
when you're having pain on the quadratus lumborum it gets tight and stiff and it almost looks like a
crunch muscle and the purpose of this muscle is to one of the purpose on each side is to
side flexion of your body but when they come together when you utilize both of the muscles
at the same time the function of this muscle is to extend your back purpose of the muscle if you're
just covering one side if you're gonna isolate one muscle it's a side flat reflection of your trunk
at the same time it also hikes the pelvis up so when you have spasm and stiffness it really
crunch up and one of your pelvis goes up higher so it makes it your pelvic alignment irregular
or called lateral pelvic tilt because of the stiffness and tightness of this muscle
and then if you have both muscles activate the left and right it is a back extensor muscle so
it helps extend your back together with your erector spinae most patients who have tight
quadratus lung worms may be because they've been sitting a lot and it causes stiffness in that area
and the number one factor as well is weakness on your hip so if you have unstable hip if one side
has a weaker buttocks so what will happen your quadratus lumborum muscle will stiffen and tight
and overwork to compensate the weakness on your gluteal muscles this release the gluteus medius
that helps your pelvic alignment to be stable so most patients who have injury on their hip joint
like labral tear or having dead butt syndrome which is a weakness on your bluetooth muscles and
you're not activating your glutes when you walk stand stair climbing then your quadratus lumborum
ended up working harder and causes that stiffness and tightness so no matter how much you stretch
these muscles and if you don't fix the root of the problem which is the weakness on your glutes
then you will be in the never ending battle of fixing and releasing the muscle and no matter how
much you stretch it won't get better and if you're doing a lot of high impact activities transferring
patients like for those who are working in the medical field and they're transferring patients
and doing a lot of trunk rotations you could be straining your quadratus lumborum so as a
muscle strain the best way is to rest the area and also and strengthen it in an isometric exercise
which means you're holding it and helping the muscle contract without pulling it excessively
so one of the exercises that we're going to learn today it's a lot of contraction and applying
multiple movement patterns with our biomechanics so that when you do you're not just doing side
flanges stretches strengthening with the dumbbell but also strengthening your gluteal muscles
so let's begin with our exercise program we're going to start targeting first our gluteal muscle
before stretching your quadratus lumborum so if your problem side is your right side you're going
to start lying on your left and you're going to do some lovely clam shells so clamshell
really targets those smaller muscle group of your glutes and my recommendation is do that 10 times
start just doing up and down range of motion and you could start progressing by holding it
for five seconds hold without any resistance band yet and try your best not to lean back
keep your body forward if you need to so you're really targeting and isolating that muscle
the gluteus medius and minimus and then after clamshell then you can do the reverse glam shell
and after doing three sets of ten and progressing with five seconds hold
then you can challenge lifting your knees up higher level to your hip
and do a parallel clam shell making sure your knee and foot is level
and progressive five seconds hold and do that three sets of ten and if you find this too easy
and not as challenging and you don't feel any activation in your glutes medius and minimus
then you can start adding some elastic bander on your knees for a gentle progression
and after doing those lovely clam shell progression then you can do some side lift
just slowly up and down i know this quadratus lumbar might start getting stiff and tight
so try your best to lower your side down so you're not really over compensating your
quadratus lumborum and then you can pull back your foot a little bit behind your other leg sure my
left foot is in front my right foot is behind place your hand in front of you and kick back
a little bit to target your glutes so you lift and kick back a little bit diagonal and then your
heel is up so you're really targeting your glutes medius up and down toes pointing down
and then heel up and do that 10 times as well so after strengthening your glutes muscles
then it's time to slowly stretch this area so it's best to do it in the 1990 position
so when you do 1990 position one is behind you the area where you're tightening quadrats and
your foot behind and your left foot in front of you 90 degrees than your knee and 90 degrees
behind as well not too close like this with your feet but farther away and you're going to slowly
lean on your elbow on your left and opening this quadratus lumborum area and stretch it out open
and after stretching it and holding for 10 seconds hope for beginner and then slowly progress to 30
seconds hold and after doing that lovely opening of your quadratus lumborum then it's time to do
a gentle twist away and opening that hip tight hip and then center hold that 10 seconds as well
and then you can mobilize your hip too by lifting your knee up and do that 10 times as well with 10
seconds hold external rotate activate your glutes medius and keeping your back straight you want to
make sure you're not long lounging and tightening that quadratus lumbar so stretch open and after
stretching that muscle it's best to strengthen it as well one of the best technique of strengthening
is in a long seated position for beginners you're gonna have your knee bent if you have
very tight hamstrings keeping your back straight prayer position and you're gonna scoot forward
that's activating your glutes your hip flexors and your quadratus lumborum because it's also an
abdominal muscle and then backward pushing back try not to use your feet or your heels but your
buttocks are scooting through your buttocks and if you find this too easy in the prayer position
then challenge with your knees straight and then start scooting forward
then repetition 10 times scooting left and right and then 10 times backward keeping
your back straight try not to slouch keeping your back straight so you're not pro promoting
tightness and you're gonna find this challenging slowly start three reps up to ten repetitions back
and forth one of the best ways also to strengthen your quadratus lumborum is to do a modified
side plank so if my problem is my right side on my elbow with your knee bent for beginner program
lift and try your best not to hyperextend that causes tightness area quadratus lumborum you
want to make sure it's level just to strengthen your shoulder and this area and hold that for 10
seconds hold for beginner and then down and you can slowly progress by lifting the opposite hand
and do an opening backward extending and then flexion rotation a gentle rotation to stretch
another way you can do with your
quadricep position and then side stretch open
and then you can progress by getting a ball to roll to open and then after opening that area
you want to challenge it by using a dumbbell so with a dumbbell in a kneeling position
keeping your back straight you're gonna contract a little bit first on the quadratus so you want to
release it back on track relax by reaching towards your knee and then really focus on the other side
just a little bit to the right if your problem is in your right lean on your right and then exhale
and open that area and stay longer on your left stretch and hold that for 10 seconds hold on your
left feel that on your pelvis all the way to your rib cage and then back down so gentle pull to the
right and then away slow and steady and hold that for 10 seconds hold and do that three sets of ten
as you get stronger so i have a three pound weight if it's too aggressive then my recommendation
is to do one pound slowly progress until you get stronger i'm hoping it covers most of
your concerns on your quadratus lumborum i don't recommend you guys to myofascial release on that
area you're going to hurt your strain ql or the lacrosse ball is too aggressive it will cause more
spasm it will get angrier at you when you do that with the tennis ball or a bolster my
recommendation is just to stretch it and really target the root of the problem which is the
weakness on your glutes muscles and weakness also on your quadratus lumborum because it becomes weak
as well because of overcompensation from being tight so you can you have tight weakness on your
quadratus rumble and weakness on your glutes even though it looks muscular it looks strong actually
it's weak from being over strained overworked from compensation and my recommendation is not to sleep
away so my recommendation is not to sleep on the opposite side because when you lie on your left
side you're promoting tightness more on your right with the pillow on your left so if your problem is
right don't sleep on your left but instead sleep on your right side
with the pillows between your knees and your arms so you're stretching that tight quadratus lumborum
another way of stretching your quadratus lumborum is going to your hands in this position
and then if your tightness is in your right you're going to twist to the left and then open that area
and do a gentle child pose and opening that area and my recommendation is to start with 10 seconds
hold until you can build it up to 30 seconds home if you have any questions suggestions or concerns
if you want me to do a follow along video about thai quadratus lumborum leave a comment down below
or direct message me on my social media and i try my best to answer each one of you if you want to
learn more about the lotus yoga physical therapy health and wellness please subscribe to my channel
ring the bell so you won't miss anything like and share this video video every like you give to my
channel you are supporting me i'll be reopening my backmaster class for those who needed an extra
support on how to regain life without back pain to improve core strength and overall posture
click the link down below be part of my early birthday list for first come first serve basis
i'm so excited to meet my new students to regain their life without back pain
always remember be safe be well and healthier you see my next video training bye