5 Of The Worst Stretches For Back Pain Relief
Have you been stretching your lower back for a while and not getting any lasting relief?
Maybe you’ve done a few too many YouTube searches for the “best stretches for back pain relief” and you feel like you’ve tried them all with no luck.
Well, there is a reason for that.
Stretching sucks and it won’t help with your low back pain.
Okay..okay that’s a bit aggressive but the majority of stretching geared towards back pain relief is terrible and today I wanted to share with you the 5 worst stretches for back pain relief!
Is Stretching Good For Lower Back Pain
The direct answer to this question is no. Stretching is not good for lower back pain relief.
I have covered this a number of different times along with targeting very specific stretches like the ones you see in this video today.
You can see the other content I have done on stretching below.
Stop Stretching Your Tight Muscles: Do This Instead
What Happened After I Stopped Stretching For Back Pain Relief
Stop Stretching Your Lower Back!
I genuinely believe stretching is one of the most overprescribed treatments for persistent low back pain. years of stress and anxiety dealing with your lower back pain and muscles start to get tight, they are tense and feel like they never get the chance to relax.
So you go see a PT or Chiro and are given stretches to do for lower back pain relief.
The problem comes in when we get addicted to the short-term relief that stretching brings. Stretching for low back pain relief is a band aide that only treats the symptoms and NOT the root cause.
What Stretches Are Safe For Back Pain?
When it comes to finding safe stretches for back pain I always encourage clients to think more movement-based stretches than just static pulling on muscles type of stretching.
A good example of this is the Cat/Cow exercise. This brings motion to the spine gently pushing and pulling on the tight muscles but not with the goal of creating substantial length in the back muscles.
The key with this exercise is to DO IT RIGHT.
By combining deep breathing and self-talk about relaxation and allowing the body to let go of these stiff muscles. Exercises like the cat/cow can be extremely powerful.
