We all take for granted what we have been given, and this is especially true when it comes to our lower back. In clinic, we treat many people who come in with lower back pain. In some instances the pain is so great that it makes it incredibly difficult for our clients to walk let alone do anything else!
From a musculoskeletal perspective, what we’ve found is that the most common cause of lower back pain is the inability for our glute muscles (e.g. our butt muscles) to activate properly and a weak core.
The butt
Our butt (i.e. our glutes) are the biggest muscle in our body so they actually are designed to bear a lot of the load of the body. They are crucial to ensuring the stability of the pelvis and movement of the hip joint. Weak glutes means that your lower back muscles, hip flexors and hamstrings start to fire on (e.g. get more tighter) more than they should. This means you’re at a greater risk of injuring yourself.
If you’ve got a job where you’re sitting down on your butt for many hours of the day, chances are you have weak glutes.
Glute strengthening exercises
When muscles are weak, it’s important to strengthen them. Squats, lunges and side leg raises are great to strengthen your glutes.
Our favourite Youtube yoga instructor Tim has put together a great video to strengthen your glutes and core which incorporates all three of these exercises. You can check it out below:
Stretching
We said above that your hip flexors (e.g. psoas), hamstrings and lower back muscles start to fire on a bit too much if your glutes are weak. When muscles are tight, we need to stretch them. Here are some exercises to help you stretch these muscles:
With all stretches, if you feel pain whilst doing them, please stop immediately.
Obviously if the pain persists make sure you see a professional who can assist you.