Stiff lower back muscles cause unbearable pain while you’re sitting, sleeping and walking. Look at what to do and what to avoid.
Everyone experience stiff lower back muscles situation at least once in a lifetime. This is due to bad night sleep or a nap, wrong sleeping position or an old injury.
When someone advices you to do some exercises to lower the pain, you should be very careful. The wrong exercise can provoke and cause even greater muscle damage.
Dos and don’ts in treating stiff lower back muscles pain
Dos
Crunches, but partial – doing the full crunches can aggravate the pain. That’s why partial crunches are the best solution. This way, you’re gently stretching the muscles of your back and stomach.
Hamstring stretch – any hamstring stretch will do you good. All of your muscles are connected, so by doing an hamstring stretch, you’re also stretching your back muscles.
Wall sits – wall sits are probably the fastest way for you to feel pain relief. Doing wall sits, your back is flat and supported on the wall. Going up and down, you’ll use your leg muscles and you back will stay flat and a nice, gentle pressure will be applied on your back muscles.
Back extensions, pressing up – when you lie on your stomach and start pressing and lifting your upper body up, you’ll stretch and exercise your back better.
Bridging – bridges are probably the best lower back pain relievers. You’re lifting your back and butt the most you can; but you should be careful not to over-lift.
Don’ts
Toe touches – when experiencing lower back pain, never do toe touches. You would only worsen your state. This is because you’re adding more pressure on the ligaments and disks and you’re overstretching the muscles.
Sit-ups – sit-ups, as toe touches, add a lot more pressure on the spine disks. You’re making a lot of effort to lift your back, both with your abs and back muscles.
Leg lifts – if your abs are weak, you’ll have to use more of your back muscles in order to lift the legs. That being so, the whole pressure goes on your back muscles. If you really want to exercise your legs and abs using this exercise, lift one leg at a time; not both.