Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo and Super Girl Remy, and today I'm going to show you some stretches and
exercises for low back pain. So let's get started.
For these stretches and exercises for the low back
pain, you can do them on a couch, you can do them on a bed, you can do them on the floor, most of
them will be lying down one of the exercises at the end, we're going to get over onto all fours,
I like to start with stretches first, just because you can lengthen out the muscles,
get them nice and stretch and then go into the exercises after their length. And some people
will tell you different, that's just my personal preference of what I like. Also, with a pillow,
I'm using a pillow just because it's easier for me to see better, you really usually want your neck
in a neutral position, I like having the pillow sometimes the angle makes it look like I'm in a
different position. But I'm in a pretty neutral position. But you don't have to use a pillow,
a lot of times people have different opinions on that as well. So the first one we're going to go
into first stretch is a pelvic tilt, pelvic tilts can also be exercises, but I like them
as stretches. So with a pelvic tilt is kind of like it sounds you're tilting that pelvis,
this is going to be a posterior pelvic tilt. So bringing up your knees propping
propping up and having your knees and your hips and about alignment, just into that comfortable
position. So all you're doing is just like it sounds tilting that pelvis back, you're trying
to flatten out your back into whatever you're lying down on the bed, the couch or the floor.
But the key is not to use your feet. So I'm not pushing my back into the couch here, I'm
rotating my pelvis back, you want to work those lower back muscles, that's kind of
the point of stretching everything out and working those muscles. So I'm rotating here,
I'm talking while I'm doing it, I'm using those core muscles, those pelvic muscles,
not using my legs eventually want to really get to a point where you can hold it for
easily for three to five seconds, you can work it up a little bit higher. But if you
just need to start off with one to two seconds, that's fine, you can you can do that as well.
The next one is going to be just a simple knee to chest stretch again is just like it sounds,
they're usually named of what you're doing. So a need a chest, still keeping those knees propped
up, you're going to bring one knee towards your chest, if you don't have any knee issues,
you can you can grab around the outside, sometimes that gives people a better pool, if you have
some knee issues you can grab underneath, so then you're not putting so much pressure on your knee,
try and bring that leg up into us a straight line. So sometimes I'll see some of my patients kind of
go out to the outside, because a lot of times that will take that pinching away from the hip if you
have a little bit of hip issues. But really try and bring it straight up, because that's what's
going to get that low back stretch in there. If I'm bringing it out this way, I'm taking
away from that stretch a little bit. So just come to comfort level. Again, if you're getting that
little pinching, don't, don't push through that pain just kind of go up to that pain. And this is
going to be a full 32nd Hold. So you're holding that stretch there and then relaxing back down.
Then you're going to go to the other side, I'm just going to kind of come up and stretch and hold
it there. If you want to get a little bit of a hip flexor stretch while you're doing it, you can
slide that leg down. So now I'm getting a stretch right here.
Some people like this way, stretching it a little bit better. That's completely up to you.
Sometimes I like doing that to get my hip flexors stretched out a little bit. So for 30 seconds,
that's going to be the hold. And then you're going to do three on each side. So then the next one is
just going to be a simple trunk rotation stretch. So now you're going to bring your knees and your
feet together, just just so they can kind of lay on top of each other, then all you're going to
do is kind of like it sounds, you're going to rotate those knees over to get some rotation in
your trunk, your hips can come up but you want to keep your shoulders down, you don't want
that opposite shoulder coming up, because then that's going to take away from the stretch.
Just again, go to comfort level. And then you're going to hold that stretch for 30 seconds.
And then as you come back up, then you're going to alternate to the other side and hold that 30
seconds. If you want to follow along in a real time video where I'm actually going through the
whole time of the stretches and exercises. I have a whole bunch of real time videos and you can
click on that link up there to check those out. And so now we're going to go into the exercises.
We've gotten everything nice and stretched out. And so now we're going to work those muscles.
So for the first exercise is going to be bridges. Again, bridges is one of my favorites because
it works a whole lot of those muscles lowers the glutes and the hamstrings. It really works
that pelvic area so it strengthens and loosens everything up. So again, go back into where your
knees and your hips are kind of in alignment with your with your knees propped up. So with a bridge,
you really want to kind of roll up as you go. If you're just kind of going up and down like this.
Then you're using momentum and you're not really using those muscles to work. You don't have to
stop at each segment. Have your spine. But that's kind of what I tell people, you know, roll up
where you're kind of rolling at each segment of the spine to really kind of work everything out
and go slow and work those muscles. So I'm just kind of rolling up as I come, and then come into
a straight line, if you can, if you can't, you can only come to about right here, that's okay. But
the key is, you should never have pressure on your neck. Sometimes people are saying, you know, they,
they feel the pressure in their neck, that means you're probably trying to go up too high and arch
now see how that gets some pressure on my neck. But now I'm trying to arch my back. And that's
not what we're doing, we're just coming up into a straight line, if you're going into extension,
you're not doing the bridge quite right. So you should feel the the weight should go at your
shoulder area should never go into your neck. So just rolling up little pause at the top,
you don't have to hold and then rolling back down. So again, if you want to watch some of
those real time videos and go through, you can do that as well. So then the next one is going to be
a dead bug. So the dead bog exercise, this one's going to be a little bit modified, you might see
some that are a little bit harder, this is just a great way to start. So the dead bog is just if you
imagine a dead bug kind of as its dying, lying on his bed back moving his arms and legs. That's kind
of why it's called that. But this first step of the debug exercise is to go into that pelvic tilt
that we did at the beginning. So not using the legs. But really just rotating that pelvis back,
this time, you're going to try and hold that tilt. So this is something you might have to work up to
holding that tilt in place. But you know, you're not going to be able to use your legs,
because this time of the debit, you're going to lift that leg up a little bit, and then do the
opposite arm as you lift it up. So I'm bringing both of these up, but I'm keeping that pelvic tilt
the whole time. And then I'm coming back down. If you need to reset that pelvic tilt each time,
that's fine. But eventually you want to be able to hold that tilt, and then alternate back and forth.
So now I'm lifting this one up, and I'm bringing this arm up, the distance doesn't really matter.
You can see I'm just bringing my arm up a little bit, you can go all the way back if you want to,
you can bring your leg all the way up if you want to. But the key is to hold that pelvic tilt. So if
you can't come all the way up, and hold that till then modify it a little bit and just start off
with a little bit less with each movement. So the next one,
we're gonna get onto all fours. And we're gonna go into a bird dog exercise. So the bird dog is
kind of like the dead bug. But now you're flipped over and you're working on different exercises
because now your your arms and your knees have something to push against. So it's more
of a stability exercise now. So with the Berdahl, you want to try and keep your back flat, so you
don't want to be arched down. You don't want to be arch back, you want to try and kind of keep
it in that neutral position, which is sometimes a little bit harder on a squishier surface. So
you know, really try and find a spot that is comfortable for you. You can also modify this
a little bit by just starting off with the legs where you're kicking out. But the key with this
one is, again, you're not rolling in kicking, you want to keep that back flat. Imagine that maybe
there's a cup of water on your back and you don't want to spill the cup. So once you get that leg,
kick out and you're comfortable keeping it in that nice neutral position, then add your arm
to get that kick and then come back in. And then alternate size. So just like that dog
is pointing towards the bird. There's the birds. So that's why it's called that bird dog.
So there you have it. Those are some of my favorite stretches and exercises for low back
pain. If you'd like check out some other videos, click up there. And don't forget to subscribe by
clicking down there. And remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.