Tight Hips Cause Lower Back Pain

This is me in my dreams ;) Actually I often dream about being able to do the splits (all 3 ways) and I'm so happy in my dream and I feel so sexy and nimble. Then I wake up and sigh. Maybe when I'm 50 I'll be able to do this...

But seriously.
So this is an image of a woman in a type of pigeon pose (yoga speak) while also bringing her leg up to hold it. The amount of muscles that need to be flexible in order to do this pose is multiple, but people often don't know that being too flexible can be dangerous for the joints too. I see people in yoga all the time that are very flexible, but don't have the muscular strength to support that flexibility. People that are too flexible often start to feel back or knee pain once they hit their 30's. So it naturally always comes back to balance. But this entry is about

How Tight Hips Can Cause Lower Back Pain

In my experience as a personal trainer for 5 years I've noticed that tight hips lead to lower back pain. I always like to use the analogy of a hammock when referring to how the body works with regard to tight muscles, connective tissue, tendons and ligaments.

When you pull on a hammock, the whole thing moves in that direction. The same thing happens with a tight area in your body. If your hips are tight (mostly meaning your gluteus muscles -- or butt) then the next closest joint that moves a lot besides the hip sockets is the spine. The spine (like all joints) will move. If the muscles that are supposed to make a certain movement happen (like a squat -- or sitting down) do not have the range of motion to function properly, then the next closest joint will take the impact of the movement, creating a faulty movement pattern. Multiply this by 15 or 20 years of, say, running and you might end up with knees or a lower back that hurts. Because most movement involves more than one joint, it often happens that people's IT bands (or iliotibial band) that connects the hamstrings, quads, knee and hip together are super tight. I've found that even working with someone for just 10 minutes with a foam roller helped relieve their knee or back pain!

So to have more functional movement or to try to help relieve knee and or lower back pain, try these options:

1. Foam Roll your IT Band. Typically the white is least dense, then blue, then black. When I first starting foam rolling I used a blue one with one leg up (as seen above) to alleviate some pressure. I now use a black roller with both legs on top of each other. The above image demonstrates the model at the top of the IT Band. You want to go all the way down to the knee. You want to find a sore spot, hold it for 20-30 seconds, move one millimeter and do the same. If it hurts so bad that you can't hold it for more than 20 seconds, then you need a less dense foam roller. Try putting one leg up to release pressure if it hurts too much at first. Don't feel anything? Stack your legs on top of each other. (If this hurts your shoulder then you need to strengthen your shoulder girdle). Spend at least 5-8 minutes on each side if you find a lot of sore spots. 
2. Foam roll your gluts as in the image below, but lean onto the right side of your hip. Play around with finding sore spots, holding each one for 20-30 seconds and then switch. Spend a good 5 minutes on each hip if you find a lot of sore spots. The more often you do this, the less sore spots you'll have and the less amount of time this will take. 

   3.  Foam roll your calves as in the image below, but play around with going from left  

        to right, up and down and pay attention to the insides and outsides of the calves. 

• What are these sore spots? They're called adhesions. Just like knots of tissue that you have in your back, you can also have them all throughout your muscles.  This balled up tissue needs to be broken up so that your muscles have range of motion. With age, we get tighter and accumulate adhesions -- leading to poor movement patterns and, ultimately, injury. These adhesions block nutrients from getting to your joints. These foam rolling techniques are called Self-Myofascial Release. 

   4.  Stretch your hips in a pigeon pose like the above, but without bringing the back leg

        up. Or you can also try doing a figure four while holding onto something very 

        sturdy. Like this:

   5. Stretch your hip flexors as in the below image. Try to tuck your pelvis under and 

       reach your arm (that is the same side as the leg that is back) up and over. 

You want to first foam roll and then statically stretch those muscles. But if you can't do one of those, the other is also good!

And that is a great start to getting more flexible hips to relieve lower back pain! Also make sure that you are stretching your hamstrings (the backs of your legs). Try bending over with your legs about 2 feet apart. Grab your elbows and relax your neck down.

I can't tell you how many clients I've worked with that have lower back pain or injured lower backs such as herniated, bulging or slipped discs.

Every single one of them had tight hips and hamstrings! 

Flexibility in your body and in your life is crucial to having a healthy body and mind. 

If you or someone you know would like more information on this, email me: mindy@baroots.com