Lower Back and Leg Stretches, Triggering and Foam Roller Exercises 

Lower Back Stretches & Triggering 

There are numerous muscles that have an affect of the lower back. These are several of them. We highly recommend loosening off through these muscles for people that sit down for long periods of the day or sports that involve hip flexion such as running, rowing, cycling and swimming. 
QL Stretch*
  • Seated, one leg out straight in front, opposite knee bent, twist away from leg out straight
  • Lean toward the out stretched leg.
*Warning can irritate your back. Be careful! 
Psoas Stretch
  • Two hands on the ground, one foot behind,  hip extended as far as possible.
  • Push hips forward and towards ground
Psoas Stretch 2
  • 1 hip flexed, knee bent & foot flat on the ground. The opposite knee on the ground hip extended.
  • Push hips forward, you may need to think about rocking the hips backwards.

Glut Stretches and Triggering

For those of your experiencing lower back pain, releasing through your gluts can help to make you feel better. For anyone performing sport or physical activity on a regular basis gluts should be part of your self treatment routine. Talk to your remedial massage or myotherapist about a program that would best work for you. 
Glut Triggering
  • Sit with your hands behind you, 1 leg bent, your feet out in front of you,
  • Rotate your pelvis slightly towards the side you are triggering.
  • Sit on ball on the fleshy part between the top of your pelvis and your hip,  Gently lean in and move around until you find a spot that particular hurt.
  • Hold until you feel a change and move to another spot. 1 - 2 mins
Glut stretch
  • Lying on back, bring one leg to 90 degrees, grab the ankle and rotate leg, bring towards opposite shoulder.
  • Draw leg across body, towards opposite shoulder
Hold for 1:30mins
Glut Foam Roller
  • One foot off the roller
  • Hands behind taking your body weight
  • Cross one leg over the other
  • Tilt pelvis slightly to the side you're trying to roll as your gluts are a very large muscle 
  • Roll back and forth.

Quads Stretches, Triggers and Foam Rolling

Anyone doing rowing, swimming or cycling should be loosening off their quads on a regular basis. If you are doing squats at the gym it is essential that you have enough flexibility in your quads to be able to get into a strong position in a squat. 
People who sit at desks all day will shorten these muscles so stretching them out during the day can help with lower back pain. Additionally loosening these can help to  improve your running technique (efficiency) and improve your posture. 
Trigger Quads 
Against a wall.
  • Place ball between the side of your quad muscle. (Front of your upper leg)  and the wall. Gently lean in until you hit a 5/6 our of 10 pain threshold
  • Adjust the ball to a few different spots down the side of the muscle
Lying on the floor:
  • Place the ball between your upper leg muscle (quad) and the floor
  • Gently press into the floor through the ball until you hit a 5/6 our of 10 pain threshold
  • Adjust the ball to a few different spots down the side of the muscle
Quad Stretch
​Position:
  • Facedown, strap/ towel around top of foot
  • Draw your heel to you butt, making sure that the back is not arching too much. Push hips into floor.
  • Push your foot against the band to load up the tension. 
  • Push for 10 seconds and relax and pull the strap closer to your butt.

1:30min
Quad Foam Roller
​Knee/foot parallel with the foam roller. Take the weight on the forearms and knee & foot.
  • Long glides up & down the muscles of the front of the leg  turning the foot in and out  to get inside and outside of the leg.
  • Small pulses over anywhere that feels particularly tight or lumpy.

Hamstring Stretch, Foam Roller & Trigger 

If your hamstrings are tight it can be difficult to rock over at the finish of your rowing stroke. Hamstrings also play a part in lower back pain. 
Hamstrings Triggers
  • Sitting on a chair or on the floor, place a ball underneath your hamstring. Find the spots that hurt and lean in. 
  • If you feel numbness or pins and needles change the position of the ball
  • If using the chair try bending and straightening the knee with the ball on the hamstrings
Hamstring Stretch with Band 
  • Lying on your back, put a towel/ strap around the middle of your foot. Take the leg up to 'bind.' Make sure the pelvis is not moving as you flex the hip. 
  • Pressure through the knee, push towards the ground/ against the resistance of the strap
Hamstrings Foam Roller 
  • 1 foot on the foam roller
  • Hands behind to take some of the body weight
  • Roller back and forth along the entire muscle group
  • Rotate the foot from one side and to the other to reach all parts of the hamstring

ITB Triggers & Foam Rolling

Your ITB is a band of fascia that runs down the side of your leg. Often runners will feel pain on the side of their knee that can be caused by the muscles that attach into your ITB being too tight. We highly recommend triggering/ foam rolling through the area as well as addressing the muscles that insert into your ITB - hamstrings, quads, TFL and gluts if you are experiencing these symptoms. Talk to you myotherapist or massage therapist at our South Brisbane Clinic if you are experiencing these types of symptoms. 
ITB Foam Roller
  • 1 foot in front of the foam roller, one forearm on the ground
  • Use the forearm and foot to take the load and help push you up and down the roller
Exercise 1:
  • Small pulses up near the hip, middle of leg & close to the knee. Rotate hips inward to the side to get more into quad/ hammies insertion
Exercise 2:
  • Long glides up and down the muscles, rotating the pelvis inward and outward with each glide to get different muscle fibres.
Duration 1 - 2 mins
ITB Trigger
  • Lying down on your side with your legs slightly bent. Place a tennis ball underneath the side of your leg closest to the ground  just below the boney part of your hip.
  • Gently lean into the ball to increase to pressure to your comfort level. Take the pressure off the ball and move it to another position further down your leg and repeat. 
  • Lean in and hold until you feel a change. Pick 3 - 5 different spots along your ITB.
Duration 1 - 2 mins

Adductors

Your adductors are a muscle that often gets over looked, they can play a role in switching off your gluts (therefore contribute to lower back pain) can cause misalignments in your pelvis and even contribute to a hernia if left to become too tight! Talk to your massage or myotherapist about whether or not loosening up your adductors could help!
Long Adductor Stretch
  • Sitting down 
  • Legs out in front of you
  • Lean in until you feel a stretch on the inside of your legs
  • Hold for 30secs, take the pressure off and lean in a little further. Repeat 3 times. 
Short Adductor Stretch (Butterfly stretch)
  • Sitting down 
  • Legs out in front of you
  • Knees bent with the bottom  of your feet touching each other. 
  • Pull your feet closer to your body to load up the stretch on the inside of your legs
  • Gently use your elbows to press down and outwards.
  • Hold for 30secs, take the pressure off and lean in a little further. Repeat 3 times. 
Foam Roller Adductors
  • Position yourself on the ground and on your side with one leg extended down and the other leg flexed out in front of you.
  • Place the roller underneath your leg and position it so that it can roll towards your knee.
  • Begin with the roller as close to your hip as possible and begin to apply pressure while moving the roller further towards your knee.
Duration 1 - 2 mins

Calves 

Ankle range of motion is important for avoiding knee problems, foot problems such as plantarfasciitis, improve your catch position in rowing and 
Tibialis Anterior  Foam Roller 
  • One foot off the roller, shin on the roller
  • Gently lean in pressing your shin further into the foam roller
  • Slowly roll up and down the length of your shin to hit the entire muscle. 
  • Alternatively flex and straighten your foot to pull the muscle underneath you. 
​Duration 1 - 2 mins
Triggering Back of your Calf 
  • Sitting on the ground with your arms behind you.
  • One leg straight out in front of you with your other leg bent for support.
  • Position the tennis ball under your calf muscle. Apply pressure downwards through the ball to the floor. 
  • Aim to hit the two very fleshy parts of your calf ⅔ of the way up the muscle away from your ankle. (Gastros heads)
  • AVOID directly behind your knee.
Duration 1 - 2 mins
Foam Rolling for your Calf
  • Sitting on the ground with your palms behind you.
  1. Start with long glides up and down from your ankle to the back of your knee
  2. Roll your foot in and out to hit all those really tight, thick lumpy area
  3. Small pumps one your ankle (turning your foot in an out so you get both sides
  4. Small pumps on the top ⅓ of your calf to hit your 'gastrocs' one of the large muscles that help with running.