This video, I'm going to show you how to instantly unlock
your lower back. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in St.
Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
some great stretching exercises that are going to help loosen
up a tight, stiff, achy back. These exercises are perfect to
do first thing in the morning if you have a lot of stiffness
in your back but all of the exercises, they work just a
little bit differently and I'm going to go through different
positions too to give you variety. So, go through them
all, take what works best for you. As a bonus, all the
exercises can be done at home. Do not require any special
equipment and make a quick lower back pain relief even in
as little as 30 seconds. So let's get started and unlock
that lower back right now. If you deal with a lot of
stiffness and tightness first thing in the morning, here's a
very easy exercise that you can do in bed or on a floor to
really help unlock it very quickly. I call this one the
dead bug twist. What I'm going to do is start off on my back
just like this. My knees are going to be bent, feet are
going to be flat. Let's start by doing a slight pelvic tilt.
So, I'm going to take my hands, put them on my hip, and then
rock my hips like this. So, I'm kind of like tucking my
tailbone in towards my belly button. When you do this, you
should feel the core muscles start to get engaged. That's
going to be very important. We want to engage the core muscles
during this exercise. From there, I'm going to straighten
my arms up towards the ceiling just like this. I'm going to
then lift one leg up and then I'm going to lower my
alternating hands so my right knee is coming up and I'm going
to just tap it with my left hand. This for about a second
come back down and then just simply do it on the other side
by doing this you're going to activate a lot of muscles
across the lower back the glute buttocks into the leg and also
the core it will really help loosen them up so do this for
about 10 to 15 repetitions on both sides if you feel like you
need a little bit more when you come up with your knee press
into it but resist against it with your hand this creates an
isometric exercise and you'll feel a lot more engage in the
core and also into the lower back but only do this if it's
comfortable. You can hold it for about two to three seconds,
relax, and then just simply repeat on the other side for
the same amount of repetitions. Take a breather afterwards and
if you feel like you have a little bit more energy, throw
another set or two in. What I can do to take this one to the
next level is pretty much do the dead bug. So, what I'm
going to do is raise my legs up just like this. My knees are
going to be bent at 90degrees and what I'm going to do is
just simply lower one leg down straight like this but I'm only
going to allow it to hover over the bed or the floor. So, I
don't want my foot or my leg to touch. I'm going to hold this
one right here for about three seconds and you're definitely
going to feel it into the core and lower back and then I'm
just going to come back up and then just repeat it on the
other side. This one will be a little bit more challenging.
So, progress into this one but you can do this one again 10 to
15 repetitions on both sides and if you feel like you need
another set or two, throw one in. Always challenge yourself.
From there, I like to focus a little bit more in two row
rotation to open up the back just a little bit more. So,
what I'm going to do is put my legs together. My feet are
going to be flat. Take your arms off to the side. Just hold
it down for a stable anchor point and simply rotate your
body, your lower body I should say in one direction while
keeping your upper back and shoulder blades flat. When you
do this, you're going to feel a lot of good motion into the
lumbar spine, the lower back. You might get a sudden pop,
crack, or release with it if those joints are locked up.
That is pretty common but you just want to do this nice and
slowly go down as far as you can hold this for about five
seconds you're just going to come back up relax and then go
towards the other side and do it about five to 10 times very
easy if this one becomes too easy you can do what is known
as a corkscrew so what I like to do is just go towards the
side of the bed I'm going to straighten one leg bring one
leg up at 90° like this put my hand on the outside of the knee
and then just simply rotate the top leg I should say the bent
side's knee over the side of the bed I stabilize off to the
side with my other hand. When you do this, it's going to
intensify that rotational stretch. So, progress into this
one also. Just do this one right here for about five
seconds, you can relax, take a breather, and then just simply
do this five to 10 repetitions, and I would just switch to the
other side to make sure that both are kept in balance but go
through all of those and if one motion feels like it hits the
back just a little bit more, throw more reps in at that
point. Target the spots and movements that need it a little
bit more. So, here's a very easy two-part exercise that can
quickly unlock a tight achy back. I call this one the cobra
scorpion. Pretty ferocious, right? You can do this one in
bed or on a floor. Just start off on your stomach like this.
We're going to rest our upper body weight on our forearms.
For demonstrated purposes, I'm going to keep my head up
because of the microphone but for you, just rest your head
right on your hands like this for a little bit more support.
The first motion is going to be known as the scorpion. Again,
very easy to do. Let's bend the knees at 90° Put our legs and
our feet together. We're going to then turn our lower body in
one direction. Kinda like a windshield wiper taking the
heels towards the floor. Let's try to keep the upper body
stationary. So, we want that one to be flat while our lower
body turns. This will really help isolate and open up the
lower back. It usually feels really really good. What you
want to do is just focus on that tightness in a particular
spot in the lower back with this one. Once we hit that
point, let's do this for about five seconds. Come back up,
relax, and then go towards the other side. Just nice and slow
for about 10 to 15 repetitions on both sides. With each
repetition, try to stretch into it just a little bit more to
get more out of those muscles and hopefully unlock those
stiff achy joints and the second part, we're going to do
what is known as a cobra. So, the beginners cobra is just
propping up on your elbows just like this while keeping our
hips flat. The key with this one, don't raise up the hips.
Only the back is going to come up like this into extension or
a backwards movement. This one is really good because with
extension, it helps open up spinal disc in the lower back
that might be causing things like lower back pain or
sciatica. I try to hold this one for about 20 to 30 seconds.
Doing nice, slow, controlled breathing also with it. Just
let that tension out. When you need a breather, just come down
like this, take one but you want to do this one for about
three to five repetitions. With each repetition, try to drive
your back up just a little bit more to challenge those
muscles. If this becomes too easy, we can take a the next
level by going into the cobra. So, instead of going on my
elbows, I'm going to press up like this with my arms. Again,
keeping my hips flat. We don't want to raise up with them.
This will really intensify that stretch into the lower back.
You'll also feel it into the front of the legs because this
one hits the hip flexors which are a big instigator of lower
back pain. Again, 20 to 30-second holds, relax, and do
this one 3 to 5 times. How you can take this one to even the
next next level to put a little bit of a lean in your upper
body while doing it. So, I'm going to tilt just a little bit
towards my left with my upper body only and I'm going to
repeat this exercise. When you do this, you're going to notice
that it hits the back just a little bit differently.
Usually, you'll feel it on the other side. So, if you tilt
towards the left, you'll really feel that right side getting
stretched out. So, go through all the way or I should say go
all the way towards the left and then go all the way towards
the right and repeat that. If you do notice that one certain
spot just hits your back a little bit better and offers
you more relief, make note of that and throw some more reps
in. You always want to target the spots and movements that
need it the most. This is what I like to call the anywhere
lower back opener because we can do this one seated pretty
much anywhere. I'm going to start with very good upright
posture at the edge of a chair. Let's take one hand, reach
across our body, and then hook into the arm of a chair. If
your chair doesn't have armrest, what you can do is
just hook into the side of your leg instead. But I'm going to
take the other arm, bend it at 90degrees at the elbow, and
then just put it overhead like this. Let's tilt away with our
shoulders and upper body while I keep my bottom flat during
this exercise. So, we're really trying to move through the
lower back. The more that we tilt away, the more that you're
going to feel a very deep stretch into the side of the
lower back. It feels really good. This targets a muscle
called the QL or the quadratus symbolum which is a big
instigator of back pain but once we feel that deep,
comfortable stretch, hold this one for about 20 seconds. From
there, you can relax, take a breather, and then just simply
repeat this three to five times. With each repetition,
try to stretch into it just a little bit more to help open up
the back and when you're done on one side, switch to the
other to keep them both in balance. Here's how we can
modify this stretch to target a little bit more into the glute
buttocks, the hips, and the pelvis with what is known as a
seated figure four. So, I'm going to bring one leg up just
like this. Let's rest our ankle right over the other side's
knee. When you look down it should look like a figure four
very good upright posture I'm going to take my hands put them
on my shoulders just like this the movement is very easy I'm
going to pivot through my hips and my pelvis with my back so
I'm trying to keep my back straight I'm not trying to
round into this one go forward as much as you can the more
that you lean forward the more intense the stretch is going to
be felt on the top side so in this case my right side I
really feel it over my glute my buttock into my hip lower back
legs it works a lot of muscles including the piriformis which
if you're unfamiliar with the piriformis can cause a lot of
issues. Let's hold this one comfortably for about 20
seconds. From there, you're just going to come back up,
take a breather, and then you're going to repeat this up
to five times. With this one, we can take it to the next
level by also putting a little bit of a rotational stretch in
there. So, let's get back into that original stretch but this
time around, I'm going to twist my body in the opposite
direction. So, I'm going all the way towards my left. You'll
notice that this opens up the back a lot more. Go for a very
deep, comfortable stretch. Again, hold this one for about
20 seconds. You're just going to relax. On the next
repetition, go towards that side. Switch it up a little
bit. You'll notice that it hits the back. Again, just a little
bit differently 20 second holds, come back and then you
want to do this for 3-5 repetitions on both sides and
then when you're done on one side, switch to the other to
keep them in balance. Go through all of those motions.
If you feel like one just hits your back a little bit better,
always throw more reps in on the movement and through the
positions that you feel are most effective for you. If the
exercises helped, please support the channel by giving
this video a like and maybe subscribing too. If you have
any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks so much for
watching.