As chiropractors, we often get asked about the best lower back and hamstring stretches. Patients are surprised when we tell them to stop doing some of the most common stretches you see online.
While there are many effective stretches, we focus most of the routines we create for our patients on standing stretches as opposed to lying down or sitting stretches. Most often, you’ll get more results in less time if you stretch this way.
Start by learning how to do The Lengthener- the BEST lower back stretch for easing tension and relieving pain.
This post includes:
- The Lengthener - Start Here
- A 2 Minute Daily Follow Along
- Lower Back Stretching Routines
- Lower Back Strengthening Routines
How To Do The Lengthener Correctly
2-Minute Daily Follow Along
6 Reasons Standing Routines Are Better:
- Engage more muscles – making your spine more stable.
When you stretch while standing, you engage not just your lower back muscles, but also your leg muscles, core and more. You’ll be using the larger muscles as well as the smaller muscles that stabilize your spine making your adjustments last longer!
- Strengthen your core and fix your posture
By strengthening your core muscles through standing stretches, you are improving your posture and helping to prevent future episodes of low back pain, sciatica, and disc issues.
Stretching Routines:
- More functional
When you stand up, you are in a position that mimics real-life. You’re not only improving your flexibility but also training your body to move in a more natural and efficient way.
- Improve balance
As you perform standing stretches you can choose to use less balance support over time, working the small muscles around the spine that can grow weak as we age.
Strengthening Routines
- Safer
Often, when people stretch sitting they perform the stretch from an overly rounded position in their lower back, creating strain or pull in the lower back that is often mistaken for a stretch.
When you stretch while standing, you have more control over the intensity and range of motion of the stretch, making it safer overall. It’s much easier to focus on alignment in this position.
Additionally, standing stretches are easier to modify if you need to make adjustments for your specific needs.
- More convenient, so you’ll do them more!
Let’s face it, it’s much easier to do a standing stretch than to find a comfortable spot on the floor and get up and down from it.
Standing stretches can be done anywhere, anytime, and require no special equipment. This means you are more likely to stick to a stretching routine if you choose standing stretches over lying down stretches.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that lying down stretches are completely useless. They can still be effective, especially if you have a specific condition that requires a certain type of stretch. However, for most people looking to improve their pain and overall flexibility, I always recommend incorporating standing stretches into their routine.
There are many important reasons we create so many standing stretch routines for our patients. By improving spinal mobility, improving balance, strengthening your core muscles, and being easy to modify, standing stretches are a valuable addition to any treatment plan.
Chat with Dr. Shulman or Dr. Neely about which ones are best for you.
