Pain in the lower back, more precisely in the lumbar spine (lumbar spine), is the number one pain disease.
“In 20 percent of people, the pain is chronic, in another 20 percent it is often very bad. That limits the quality of life, ”explains pain and health expert Roland Liebscher-Bracht.
Cause: sitting
The problems mostly arise from sitting too much. If it is not balanced, the muscles and fascia in the front part of the body shorten. In response, the back extensors have to pull in the opposite direction and are completely overwhelmed because the forces pulling forward are too strong. The consequences are, among other things, pain, herniated discs, inflammation of the facet joint, sliding vertebrae or osteoarthritis.
“If you know how, then these problems are not difficult to solve. We expand the shortened or rigid structures and make muscles and fasciae more flexible again, ”emphasizes Liebscher-Bracht.
The expert advises against conventional strength training. “It’s like pouring oil on the fire, because it reinforces the pulling force even more, even if things go well for a while.”
With three exercises you can eliminate the worst undesirable developments, the back relaxes and painlessly. “By relaxing the structures, he has the chance to repair himself.”
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Hyperextend your hips and torso
Stand in front of a wall and, with your elbows bent, place both palms against the wall at shoulder height. Pull in your belly button, step forward with your groin and push yourself away from the wall with your hands so that you are overstretching in the hip joints and trunk until you find the stretch in the groin, back itself, or hips sense.
Increase the stretch until you feel a stretching pain that you can just bear. As the intensity of the stretch subsides, carefully increase the stretch over and over again throughout the exercise period by overstretching yourself more and more.
Breathe deeply and evenly. Always increase the stretch at the same time as you exhale.
Here the front of the body is stretchedPhoto: Liebscher & Bracht
Stretch the back extensors
Bend your torso lower and lower, vertebra by vertebra. Let your upper body sink down until you feel the stretch in your lower back or hips. The legs don’t have to be stretched out, it’s just about stretching the back.
Go down until you can just barely take the stretch. As the intensity of the stretch subsides, carefully increase it over and over again, letting yourself sag more and more.
Breathe deeply and evenly. Always increase the stretch at the same time as you exhale. If you feel the stretch especially in the back of the knees and the back of the thighs, simply bend your knees a little more.
This movement stretches the back extensor, which holds and protects the spinePhoto: Liebscher & Bracht
Stretch the side of the body
Stand with your right side, about half a meter away, against a wall. Take your right arm straight up the wall and touch the wall with your hand.
Now put your left foot forward, past the right leg, and place it closer to the wall to the right of the right leg. Push your hips to the right towards the wall and at the same time push the upper part of your body to the left with the arm that is against the wall. So, from your hips up, bend further and further away from the wall until you feel the stretch in your back, right side of your pelvis, waist, or hips.
Try to increase the stretch by turning the pelvis a little to the left and to the right. Then let it stand where the stretch is most felt. Keep increasing the stretch until you can just barely stand it. As the intensity of the stretch subsides, keep increasing it by bending further to the left. Breathe deeply and steadily, always increasing the stretch at the same time as you exhale.
Repeat this exercise on the other side.
The hips remain pushed towards the wall, the upper body bends away from the wallPhoto: Liebscher & Bracht
Bend your upper body to the side as far as you canPhoto: Liebscher & Bracht
* Important rules so that you do not overwhelm yourself and the exercises are particularly effective:
1. Do not perform these exercises if a doctor has issued a prohibition on stretching (e.g. shortly after an operation that has not yet healed).
2. Always move slowly and consciously as you practice. It is best to follow the announcements, instructions and the pace in the videos.
3. Put – on a scale – limit the intensity of the stretching pain to less than ten. Ten means that the positive feel-good pain is tipping over and you must begin to tense against it, physically or mentally, in order to be able to endure the stretch. If you can just barely relax and breathe deeply without exertion, you are just below ten. Our exercises are most effective at an intensity of nine. If your body is signaling that the exercise is not good for you, don’t do it.
Attention: Please do not confuse our ten with the ten, some of which are determined using a sliding scale in conventional pain therapies. There the ten stands for the worst pain imaginable.
4. Movement pain may occur immediately after an exercise and disappear after a few minutes when you move the affected area again. If you’ve practiced intensely, it just shows that your body is responding.
5. If you use the exercises to trigger the pain that you want to get rid of, it means that you are stretching the muscles and fasciae responsible for your pain and releasing them from their excessive tension.
6. If you feel an initial worsening of your pain in the evening or at night, it is a protest from your stressed muscles. Don’t worry: it will pass. Bathe comfortably hot for 20 minutes and then stretch again at low intensity (8).