10-Minute Routine To Fix Lower Back Pain

Mobility coach and former professional gymnast Alisa Zuravskaja shows us how:

The safer way to do it

It’s about gently mobilizing one thing and then the next in line, in a progressive sequence:

• Spinal decompression and breathwork: start in child’s pose, relax your neck and shoulders, and breathe deeply into your belly to encourage relaxation and spinal decompression.
• Spine mobility and hip flexor stretch: flow slowly between child’s pose and cobra to mobilize your spine, open your chest, and counter the posture associated with prolonged sitting.
• Cat-cow: move slowly through spinal flexion and extension, bringing movement to your spine, lower back, hip flexors, neck, and shoulders.
• Thread the needle: rotate through your upper back to improve thoracic mobility, which can help reduce stiffness and offload your lower back.
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch: squeeze your glutes, keep your hips facing forwards, and gently move your pelvis forwards to stretch your hip flexors. Raise your arm for a deeper stretch. If kneeling is uncomfortable for you, there’s a standing version also shown in the video!
• 90/90 hip shifts: alternate your knees from side to side to improve hip internal and external rotation. Work within a comfortable range and reduce the movement or stop if you experience pain.
• Deep core activation: lying on your back, brace your core while slowly lowering one heel toward the floor at a time. Keep your lower back pressed firmly against the floor; you can reduce your range of motion if needed, but do go as far as you comfortably can.
• Figure-four glute stretch: cross one ankle over your opposite thigh and draw the position toward your chest for a deeper stretch. Follow with a gentle rotation to further mobilize your hips, spine, and glutes. Repeat on the other side.
• Glute activation: do a glute bridge with your toes lifted so your weight stays on your heels, emphasizing your glutes and posterior chain.
• Knees-to-chest stretch: bring both knees toward your chest to stretch your glutes and hamstrings and gently mobilize your lower back. Gently shift from side to side, too. That’s all!

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

For a much deeper understanding of treating back pain, here’s a great book that we reviewed a little while back:

Treat Your Own Back – by Robin McKenzie ← he’s a physiotherapist and not a doctor, and/but with 40 years of practice to his name and 33 letters after his name (CNZM OBE FCSP (Hon) FNZSP (Hon) Dip MDT Dip MT), he seems to know his stuff. His work is very well-respected, and almost any English-speaking physiotherapist will have read his books.

Take care!