Here is the transcript for the video – Safe and Easy Lower Back Stretches. We have had many people get relief and increased movement into their backs from doing these simple and safe lower back stretches.
“Hi, this is Rudi and Tracey Marashlian. Today we are going to give you a sample of a little routine that we do with a lot of people that really helps their lower back discomfort or pain and you can make it a little harder or easier as you go.
“One of the key things is how do you get into the stretch. You will need to have a mat on the ground and you will move in sideways and then you lean back and lift up your legs and you want them to be as close as possible to the wall. Ideally, if you can straighten your legs, that is great, but if not, and a lot of people can’t when they first start off, you can leave them slightly bent. The goal is to eventually be able to straighten your legs against the wall.
“So once you have your legs against the wall, you hold them up there for 30-60 seconds. Once you have done that, you go to stretch number two where you bring your legs apart. You bring them out as far as you can, but not to the point of pain, with the stretches you just want to feel a little bit of discomfort. Once this stretch is done for around the same amount of time, you are going to go to Stretch 3: this one is a groin stretch. You are going to bring your legs in so that your feet are touching each other, like if you were going a butterfly stretch on the ground, but you are against the wall, and you are going to push on your legs, which is when you will feel the stretch and you are going to hold that one for the same amount of time as the others.
“After you have done those three, you are going to do a bridge against the wall and slowly bring it up and down. This is going to stretch the spine. Once you have done that a few times, you are going to keep your back up and leave one foot on the wall and bring the other across the first and push. Make sure you are breathing the whole time. This is going to stretch the hips and the bottom muscles. While you are doing this stretch, slowly lower your back to the ground, if you feel pain, then back off the stretch. Once you have done one side, switch to the other doing it the exact same way.
“Once done with that, you are going to do lower back rotations. You will put both feet back on the wall and lower your back down to the ground and you want to your knees and hips to be positioned in a 90-degree angle. Your knees are going to be together and your arms should be positioned in a way that will keep them on the ground. You are going to move your legs, keeping them together, from one side, slowly to the other side. If you’re sitting down all day, this is going to release your back.
“After doing that, you are going to slide back on the mat and do some bridging. You are going to keep your legs bent and feet on the ground with your hands flat by your sides. You will lift your bottom up and down. Once done with those, the last stretch you will do will strengthen the tummy muscles. You will get into a plank position, but you will keep your knees on the ground.
“Make sure you are breathing the whole time you are doing these stretches. If you don’t have a stop watch, you can count breaths; one breath in slowly and one breath out and you might do about 5 breaths for each stretch. This is a great little routine that will give you some strength and some more mobility around the lower back.”
