Active Release for Low Back Tension

Got a tight low back? 

Here's an exercise that you can do either sitting or standing. You can do it on yourself, do it for someone else, or teach someone else to do it on you. This is an Active Release Technique - meaning that you're actively moving through a range of motion to release tension from your low back muscles.   

Sit comfortably on the edge of a chair or bed, so that you have enough room to reach behind you. With both thumbs overlapping, touch the vertebrae of your low back, right under the bottom of your ribs. You should be a few inches above the waistband of your pants.

Now slide your overlapped thumbs over about an inch, onto the strong muscles to the RIGHT side of your spine.  You'll feel the difference as you go from bone into muscle. Hold gentle pressure on that spot. Your thumbs are going to hold that spot without moving or sliding.

Here comes the magic. Bend FORWARD a few inches from your waist. You'll feel the muscle tense as you bend forward. Then bend to the right a few inches, and then bend back a few inches, then come back to your starting position. What you're doing is making a half-circle to the right with your body while your thumbs stay in one place. It's not a big move - you're not trying to touch your nose to your knees or arch back like a gymnast - it's a small-range, smooth half-circle.

Now slide your thumbs down again, an inch or two, and repeat that half-circle, and then slide your thumbs down another inch or two, and repeat the half-circle to the right. You should end up just ABOVE the bone of your pelvis at your waistband.  Usually three thumb-widths is all the space you have between the bottom of your ribs and the top of your pelvis.

Next, repeat this on the left, sliding your overlapped thumbs to the LEFT of your spine, and making a small half-circle forward, to the left, arching back, then upright. Slide your thumbs down, repeat the half-circle to the left two more times. 

You can teach someone else to do this for you, or do this for someone else who has low back tension. When you're working with someone else, please communicate with them regarding the amount of thumb pressure. You're not digging in with your thumbs - the goal is to hold gentle stationary pressure with your thumbs and moving your BODY to get the low back to release. You definitely should not have thumbprint bruises when you're done! The key is gentle pressure and small movements with your low back muscles. 

If you have questions, please email me, or I'd be happy to show you how to do this the next time you come in.