Treating Low Back Pain: Unexpected muscles to strengthen

Treating low back pain is complex and is tailored to a patient’s individual needs. I get asked all the time about different ways people can work their core muscles to reduce back pain.

The core muscles include the abdominals, anterior hip musculature, and posterior hip musculature.

The “core” is made up of muscles that control the position of our torso. Therefore the core not only includes our abdominal and back muscles – it includes many muscles of the hip as well! Furthermore we don’t just want these muscles to have strength, we also want them to have CONTROL.

“Control? Daniela, what do you mean?”

Think about it like this – there is a difference between having the strength to hold a pencil, and the coordination to sign my name with it. I may have enough strength to crush a pencil in my hand, but without the control to write legibly, the pencil is of little use to me.

An overlooked muscle group in treating low back pain is the glutes

The glutes are a muscle group in the back of the hip. The help stabilize the pelvis, bring the leg to the side, and bring the leg behind the toros. Gluteus maximus extends your leg behind your torso. Some exercises you can do for the glutes are:

• Mini Bridges: Lay on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Squeeze your buttock muscles and slowly roll up from the floor one vertebrae at a time from bottom to top, then lower down from top to bottom. Do NOT try to go very high.

• Bird Dog: Get down on all fours. Extend your right leg behind you while keeping the rest of your body still. Lower back to start, and repeat with your left leg. Once this feels easy, you can add lifting your opposite arm while you lift your leg (so lifting the left arm in front of your body as you lift your right leg behind your body). Don’t let your pelvis rock side to side!

• Hip Hinges: Stand with a soft bend in your knees. Hing forward from your hips. Slowly hinge forward from your hips, keeping your back straight. I have an instagram video demonstrating this, which you can find here.

I’d like to draw a little attention to the hip hinge exercise. This exercise is what we’re referring to when we say “lift with your legs”! Being able to perform this exercise correctly really helps reduce injuries with lifting activities.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you’re struggling with low back pain I offer virtual assessments. Click here to discuss your options.