(upbeat music) – My name is Josh Whitney. I'm a physical therapist, and I'm here today to show you
exercises for low back pain. Unfortunately, 85% of our
population will experience some form of low back
pain in their lifetime. It is the second most common reason to seek medical attention from
your primary care physician, second only to the common cold. I'm here today to show you exercises that will stretch and strengthen the musculature supporting the spine. These exercises are safe and effective. However, you will still need to consult your primary care physician before beginning a new exercise routine. Our exercises can be done
on the floor or on the bed, and they all are going to be starting from this hook-lying position. This puts your back at ease and take stress off the
joints of the spine. The first exercise is
called Spinal Rocking.
What you're going to do here, is you're going to gently let
your knees fall to the side, and you're going to pause
for about a second or so, and then you're going
to bring your knees up, and then gently drop
them to the other side. You want to be slow and controlled
when doing this exercise so you're not creating too much torque on the injured segments of the spine. You want to make sure
that you're breathing as you're doing the exercises. Don't hold your breath, and you're engaging your abdominal region as you're dropping your knees to the side. Typically, I would recommend
10 repetitions, twice a day. Our next exercise is called the Curl Up. You're going to put your
hands onto your thighs, and you're going to slide your fingertips up towards your knees, and you're
going to do a gentle sit up and come right back down.
As you come up, you are exhaling to prevent holding your breath
and creating extra pressure that may irritate the disc of your spine. You want to take note as to
avoid too much neck bending as this will create some
irritation into the neck if performed incorrectly. Our next exercise is the Pelvic Tilt. When you do this exercise, it's going to engage your lower abdomen. This is effective for
supporting your spine in sitting and in standing. To do this exercise, you're going to gently
tighten the lower abdomen and roll your hips so
that you're flattening the lower part of your back into the bed or the mat or the floor.
You want to pause for at
least three to five seconds, and make sure that you're also breathing as you do this exercise. It is very common to hold your
breath during this exercise. This exercise is important
because if it's done incorrectly, this can actually add more irritation to the joints of your back. Our next exercise is called The Bridge. The bridge is an extension
of the pelvic tilt. You're going to perform a pelvic tilt, and then you're going to follow it by squeezing your buttocks and gently lifting up and off the mat, and then you're going to hold
for roughly three seconds and then slowly lower down.
This is important to make sure that you perform the
pelvic tilt before you lift as this exercise is really going to stress the muscles of the lower back. This exercise should only be done two to three times per week. You want to avoid hyperextension or overextending of the spine
as you do this exercise. Our next exercise is a
Knee to Chest Stretch. You will have the patient
bring up one knee and hold, and have them pull it towards their chest. I prefer this exercise,
again, in a bent knee position and one knee at a time. However, you can do it with
both knees up at the same time, and that is not a problem either. You want to hold this stretch
for at least 20 seconds. After you hold for 20 seconds, you're then going to move
into the hamstring stretch. The hamstring is a muscle that connects on the back of your pelvis
and runs to your knee. When this muscle is tight, it can pull down onto your
back, creating back pain.
Again, you want to do a 20-second stretch when performing this exercise. You can also add your
calf into the stretch by pulling your toes
towards your face, okay? Setting it down. And you would performed on both sides, twice a day, at least 20 seconds. Our last stretch is called
the Piriformis Stretch. We're going to take the right ankle and place it onto the left knee. Both hands are then going
to grab around the knee, and we're going to pull this knee to the opposite shoulder here.
You want to hold it at least 20 seconds and perform this at least twice a day. This is going to stretch
into the hip and buttock on the right side. This is good for individuals
that sit at a desk, work all day, that bend forward frequently
throughout the day. And it also helps stretch the muscle that sits right
on top of the sciatic nerve. So this is good for individuals
that suffer from sciatica. (upbeat music) Pelvic tilt, spinal rocking, and curl ups can be performed one to two times a day, about 10 to 15 reps at a time. The single knee to chest
stretch, the hamstring stretch, and the piriformis stretch can be performed two to three times a day, for at least a 20-second hold.
Bridges should be performed
two to three times per week, about 10 to 15 repetitions at a time. As with all new exercises, you may experience muscle
soreness initially. This should subside over
the next seven to 10 days. If these exercises become painful, please reassess your
execution of the exercise. If you continue to experience pain, it is advised to stop the exercises. It's important to maintain your stretches in between your therapy session to maximize your function and
to get you better quicker.
(upbeat music).
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