What's up, guys? Jake Hutton from Fitness Culture. Today we're going to be talking about a
couple things that you can do to help clear up your low back pain. So we're
gonna talk about some soft tissue work that you can do, a couple stretches, and
then we're also going to go over some core work and some bracing work
that you can do to help really fix your bracing pattern while you're doing some
movements and help clear up that low back pain. Alright, so the first thing
we're gonna address today is your psoas muscle. It's a muscle that a lot of
people don't work on as far as soft tissue release and stretching it out,
but it's a big muscle that is responsible for flexing your hip, and it
originates in the very bottom of your thoracic spine and all throughout your
lumbar spine, and then it attaches at your hip. With a lot of our clients we're
working out so much, and then people get into this seated position all the time,
because they're on the computer or students or something like that, and what
that's going to do, it's gonna really tighten that psoas, and it's gonna
force you into an anterior pelvic tilt. So, you've seen people that get
into this position, that's just gonna put a ton of stress in your low back and put
you in that overextended position, and it's going to cause a lot of low back pain.
But for a lot of people it's hard to brace because their psoas is so
tight, so they can't get into a good position. So it's really important
that we address these issues in the psoas first before we move on to our
bracing technique. Alright, so we're gonna cover two of my favorite ways to
release that psoas a little bit. So the first one is gonna be a kettlebell smash.
All you're gonna do is grab a kettlebell, if you don't have a
kettlebell you can grab a dumbbell as well. But you're gonna take the weight of
the kettlebell and you'll slide the bottom of the
kettlebell just right into your psoas. Basically, all you're gonna do is
literally just let it sit there and roll back and forth, and help that thing
release a little bit. And you can straighten your leg too, because that'll
release it a little bit, tighten that hip up, and then that will lengthen it a little
bit more, and you'll just sit here for a couple minutes and just work on moving
it back and forth, taking some deep breaths and letting that release just a
little bit. Alright, this next drill is one of my favorites because, not only
are you gonna be able to roll it out a little bit, you can also stretch it at
the same time. So what you're gonna do is set up on a foam roller, you're gonna go
basically right on the side of your stomach, right here, right in the edge of
this foam roller. From there, you'll bend the off leg and then make sure to point
that toe into the ground, and that's gonna allow you to really focus on...
point your toe into the ground, just point it up into the ground, yeah.
And then you're gonna drive your hip into the ground. So you're
flexing your glute, and from there you can posture up and really get a good
stretch in it. So you just work back and forth, get a good stretch, really focus,
turn that glute on, push that hip through. So spend a couple of minutes on each
side doing this as well. Alright, so now that we've worked on releasing that psoas
a little bit, we're gonna go over one of my favorite stretches for this.
You're gonna set up a band on the rack, like this. You're gonna step into
the band, basically right at your glute and hamstring attachment, right here.
From there, you're gonna step into a lunge position, and you can put a pad right
under your knee, right here. The band's good because it's really gonna help you
force that hip through, and really, you can press into the band to help a little
bit more. You're gonna squeeze that back glute. From there, see how she's nice and
extended right here, if this is enough tension that's fine. If it's not,
what you can do next is basically reach that hand up and then lean away during
the stretch, and just spend about a minute in this stretch and you'll open
up that whole side. Alright, so now that we've opened up your psoas a little bit,
stretched it out, we're gonna be talking about some bracing techniques that
you can do to really help you enforce a good neutral pelvis when you work out.
This is the drill we're gonna go over right now. You're gonna be on
all fours, it's a good drill to start off with to teach your client
or yourself basically how to brace this way. So what you're gonna do is, without
moving your back at all, so you're gonna get a tabletop, don't move it at all.
From there you're gonna let your stomach just completely relax. I'm gonna put my hand
under Sunny's stomach and I'm gonna have her flex her core, basically into her spine,
without moving anything at all. So take her stomach out of my hands.
Flex, flex, flex, hold it for 10 seconds, try to get your low back muscles to fire,
and then relax. So what you're gonna do is about 10 reps, 10 seconds. So it's
really gonna help you learn how to brace your core the proper way.
A lot of people, when they do it, the first thing they're gonna want to do is, tell
them to take your stomach out of your hand,
and they're immediately gonna do something weird with their back or
something like that. And so this is just a great way you can see it right in
front of you, you know your back's not moving and really try to pull your
stomach out of your partner's hand or off of the ball or off of a bench or
whatever you're using. So now, hopefully you've got the hang of learning how to
brace your core a little bit. Now we're gonna move on to a drill that I like to
use with my clients that forces them to use their core by adding band tension.
So what you're gonna do is set up a couple lighter bands just up on a
rack like this. Grab it, go ahead and grab it Sunny,
so you'll grab it just over your head, right here, legs are straight out. From there
you're gonna pull the bands down to your sides, and naturally that's gonna force
you to brace your core. So her core is nice and braced right here.
From there you're just gonna do a nice leg raise, and really focus on bracing that
core the whole time, and then bring it back down and then let it out. That's 1 round.
So the reason we're using this drill is basically, because like I was
saying, it forces you to activate your core while you're moving through this
range of motion. So we graduated from just basically working on bracing
your core, now this is gonna force you to do that. And now we're gonna move into
our next drill, that's a little bit more difficult. And you're gonna be
standing, working on bracing your core while you're doing it. All right, so now
that we've knocked that one out on the floor, we're gonna go into a
standing position. It's kind of a similar drill, and what
you really want to focus on is just that mindset to basically that bracing
connection. So think about what it felt like when you're bracing on the
ground and on all fours, you really want to brace your core, right here. So really
focus on bracing your core, make sure you're in a nice, neutral pelvic position.
From there you're gonna start with one leg out just in a quarter, basically a
quarter single leg squat position. And as you squat up, you're gonna pull the
bands, and that's gonna help you fire your core even more. Stand up and then go
back out, just like that. Stand up, fire that core... fire, fire, fire, good.
She will do about 10 reps, each leg on this one. Alright guys, that wraps it
up for today. I hope that these drills help you clear up your low back pain.
Like I was saying before, when I was coming out of high school I had such a
bad bulged disc that every time I'd go for a run my feet would go numb and it
actually sent me home, sent me to physical therapy, and these were the
drills that helped me fix my lower back and really make sure that I've lifted since
then, for over ten years, completely pain-free, no back pain at all. If I had
to pick one thing to do every day for my lower back, it would be to take care of your psoas.
It's really important, because if you keep that thing nice and long and
mobile, it's not going to tighten up and force you into that anterior tilt,
which is really going to cause that low back pain over the long term.
Another thing that's really gonna help is to work on your hip mobility. So besides the
stuff that we went over today, it's really important to work on your hip
mobility, so if you want to click right here you can check out our hip mobility video.
And as always, if you guys like this content please leave me a comment,
and click down here to subscribe. Thank you.