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Lower Back Stretches
The muscles in the lower back often get neglected as part of an effective stretching routine. It is time to correct this oversight and incorporate lower back stretches into our overall workout routine. If you are worried that this is complicated or difficult to do, you are wrong. Provided there is no physical limitation, stretches are easy to do and should be incorporated at the beginning an ending of the workout.
Enough extolling the virtues of stretching, it is time to go into detail about what exercises you can perform that will prevent injury to the muscle groups in the lower back and loosen them up so you can work with them effectively. Now in order to do the stretches we must know what the muscle groups in the lower back are before we get to the exercises to loosen them up. Doing stretches for the lower back can also relieve back pain over all. The benefits are well and good, but what you need to know now is how to get started with these stretches.
The easiest stretch is performed by lying flat on the floor. An exercise mat will make this easier, but is not necessary as long as you are comfortable. Extend both arms outwards so that your body looks like a T. Then bring your knees up and twist them side ways until you can feel a slight strain in the lower back. Hold the position of this back stretch for several seconds and then twist to the other side.
If you want to stretch all the lower and upper back muscles all at the same time, there is another exercise that is just as easy that can be performed. As with the first exercise, this upper and lower back stretch must be performed while lying down. The first step for this exercise is to bring the knees up to your chest and wrap your arms around the shins. It should look like you're trying to give your shins a hug, but the hunched position will cause tension on all the muscle groups in the back. Stay in this position for several seconds and go back down. Repeat this exercise several times.
A third lower back stretch can also be done in a prone position. Raise one knee so that it comes up to your abdomen. With the arm opposite the knees try to grab the heel of the raised foot. Hold this position for several seconds when the muscle becomes strained and then bring it back down. Switch the legs.
There are other stretches that will work well to exercise the lower back. Be sure to experiment with what works and what is most comfortable for you to do. The lower back stretches help increase flexibility like all stretches do, but they can also be used to bring relief to people who suffer from chronic pain in their lower back. Do not worry about what the best or worst stretches are, concentrate rather on making sure that you make stretches part of your daily routine either for workouts or to relieve back pain if the latter is your goal.
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