How To Reduce Hip And Back Stiffness With Range Of Motion | Part 2
In this video we talk a little about understanding stiffness. Firstly we want to consider that sometimes there will be short tightened stiff muscles, but more likely the muscles are weak and as a protective mechanism they stiffen up. On top of this there is often a difficulty in verbalising what we are feeling and therefore understanding what’s caused this in the first instance.
Most of us spend more than enough time on a daily basis with their spine and hips in a flexed position. So continuing to focus on flexibility and pulling the knee towards the chest and rounding these areas more has the effect of further compounding the problem. With this out the way, we can think about practical steps we can take to start to address this back stiffness, improve ROM and ultimately put the back in a much better condition.
Firstly, the most sensible thing to do if we’ve a back injury is to stop making it worse, stop doing things that fundamentally cause further trouble for the lumbar spine, even though pain may be classified as sciatic pain, or it may be in the back and buttocks. Consider what is the cause of the problem and cease doing things to make this worse.
Next, start to consider the maintenance of a neutral spine, holding it in the best possible position with equal pressure through the structures of the spine. To do this does often involve working with your body in slightly different places and ways.
You want to consider daily movements and making sure that you are bending from the hips, whilst maintaining a neutral spine. Whilst doing this you’ll be using your back muscles and core muscles to create protective tension as you move through space.
Now you can begin working on strengthening the muscles of the lower girdle, with practice and consistency you can start to improve the competence of these areas of the body to provide more stability.
With all of this done, with significant strength improvements made, we can go back and feed back in stretches to improve range of motion in an effective manner. This way we can focus on joints that contribute to normal movement that are limited, and the muscles that move them have a head start as you’ve already done some work to improve their capacity. Improving flexibility will now be more effective for you!
Finally to round things off, focus on consistency over time. Stretching will have more notable effects more swiftly when compared to strengthening work. Prioritise the one, add in the other a little later and then work with both to continue to progress and improve over the long term. This is by far the best way to get, and keep, your Back In Shape for the long term!
