Pain in the lower back: 3 relieving and preventive exercises (only 5 minutes)

Matias Welsien
January 15, 2021

Do you have a sore back causing you pain?

Watch and follow the video with 3 exercises below, which you can do right now to loosen up the lower back. The exercises only take 5 minutes to do and can be repeated after the need.

We will also explain the following:

How you can prevent pain in the lower back
Why you get lower back pain
The most common symptoms of lower back and back pain

Do you also want to avoid neck, back, and other physical limitations when you work?

With Pleaz you get access to short video-guided breaks based on science to give you renewed energy – for body and brain.

Exercises for lower back pain

In this video, you get three exercises that will help you loosen up in the lower back. If the pain is very serious and suddenly you should contact your doctor. If you don’t experience a decrease in pain after doing the exercises, you can easily do them again the next day.

Before the exercises

Get up and place your feet in hip width
Find a grounded position – stable and effortless
Lower your arms along the side
Stand straight – without tensing the shoulder muscles
Take a deep breath through the nose
Let your breath expand the chest
Before exhaling – hold your breath
Exhale
Repeat step 5-8

Exercise 1: Move the hips in a big circle

In the first exercise, you should slowly move your hips in big circles.

Grab your hands by the hips
Spread your legs even more – with good distance
Bent the knees a little bit
Do big slow circles with the tail bone
5 times clockwise
5 time counterclockwise

This exercise will loosen up muscles in the lower back.

Exercise 2: Move the hips in small circles

In the second exercise, you should slowly move your hips in small circles.

Good distance between your legs
Bent your knees even more than before
Grab your hands by the hips
Press the knees and heels outwards (away from the body)
Draw small circles with the tail bone
Relax the muscles around the lower back
Repeat the exercise 5 times in both directions

This exercise will activate the muscles around the lumbar spine and it will loosen up the hips.

Exercise 3: Squeeze your buttocks together

This exercise should tense and loosen your gluteal muscles. This helps you strengthen your lower back.

Feet in hip width
Grab your hands by the hips
Pull the stomach in
When you inhale, lift the heels from the ground
When standing on your toes, squeeze your buttocks
Repeat the exercise 5 times

This last exercise can also be used if you will avoid pain because it helps you prevent overexertion.

Now, repeat the exercises when it fits your working structures and needs.

The above–mentioned exercises will both relax and relieve pain in the lower back. When you also are performing deep breaths while doing the dynamic stretching exercises you will increase the oxygen intake to the brain – which will give you renewed energy that will increase your performance the next hour.

Other advice when having pain in the lower back and back

When having lower back and back pain it is important to move the sore area.

If the experience of pain is too intense, or you having trouble moving around, you should contact your doctor for help. But other than that, it is a basic trick to variate your ergonomic position in a working day in order to decrease pain in the lower back.

You should also remind yourself to drink water and after follow the diet guide from WHO.

If you often experience pain, you should talk with your company’s health insurance to get the right support before it turns out in an office injury.

Prevention: How to avoid lower back pain

Being sore or stiff in the lower back is not uncommon when you are inactive and sit at work.

It counts manual work but also when sitting too much doing computer work.

If you want to prevent lower back pain it is important to often change the ergonomic position when working from a computer. To be standing or sitting in the same position over time can trigger back pain. When we sit, we have a tendency to push our pelvis back in the wrong ergonomic position. It pushes a lot of pressure and overloads the muscles and joints in the lower back.

Moreover, you should always remember to prioritize breaks and basically just move a little to avoid stiffness and soreness of the muscles and joints.

Why do we experience lower back pain?

We are experiencing lower back and back pain because we are not moving enough or we are not moving in the right way.

The reason is caused in the muscles and tendons and almost never in the spine. The stiffness and tenderness you feel is your body’s way of warning you about not getting enough movement or should take your daily ergonomics into account.

According to the Patient Book 80-90% of back pain cases is due to a strain in the back. The normal way of treatment is regular and science-based movement of the strained area.

Reference: Patient Handbook, sundhed.dk

Symptoms of lower back and back pain

Symptoms of lower back and back pain is:

Pain or strain in the back
A radiant feeling in the legs
Decreased mobility

Unfortunately, back pain often returns. It is caused by both that someone has a vulnerable back, but also the fact, that we will return to the activities that triggered the pain in the first place for instance bad ergonomic working positions.

With a regular focus on small exercises, daily breaks (with movements), and enough rest and water, most of the pain will leave the sore area. According to the Patient Handbook will 50-80% of the people having lower back pain be free of pain within 2 weeks and within 6 weeks almost everyone will be free of pain.