How To Stretch Your Hamstrings For Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain nearly always results in an associated tightening or stiffening of the hamstrings. The hamstring tightness itself acts as a factor that prevents the recovery of the injury causing lower back pain. This happens because the hamstrings reduce the mobility at the hip and therefore the injured lower back has to work harder constantly re-aggravating the injury that caused the pain and stiffness in the first place.

Hamstring stretching therefore is a sensible tool to employ to help ease lower back pain and get your back in shape again. There are however, two points worth noting when it comes to stretching the hamstrings to help lower back pain; the same goes for sciatica too.

Firstly, you must have stretching as part of a sensible strengthening program, otherwise, you’ll just end up going round in circles. For more information on this specifically, check out this episode of the Back In Shape Podcast & weekly publication.

Secondly, specific to all stretches, but so commonly relevant for the hamstring stretching, is the technique we use. All too often hamstring stretching is done in a way that is fundamentally detrimental to the lower back, especially in the early days of a flare up. The cardinal sin is involving the lower back in these stretches and therefore undermining the good, all-be-it temporary work, the hamstring stretching can do.

Hopefully this video is a helpful guide to help you work on your hamstring stretches. Remember, at a principle level, what we are talking about here applies to the glutes and hip flexors too when we’re talking about lower back pain and sciatica.