MUSCLES. LIGAMENTS. TENDONS… and the imbalances they have as well as tightness or weakness can cause your lower back to misbehave.
Sometimes it is a little more complicated than that, and a face-to-face consultation would be more beneficial for you.
Most Common Cause
One of the most common causes of low back issues could be your glutes. Those big fleshy muscles making up your bottom cheeks, are the most frequent issue in my treatment room and I will explain why.
Your Gluteus Maximus muscle is attached to your pelvis as well as your IT band, and controls movements of your leg and standing upright, to put it simply, and they can be incredibly lazy. I like to joke that that is where the phrase ‘lazy arse’ originates! When your glutes are being lazy or weak, your body quickly recruits other nearby muscles to help achieve the movement you need, the most common of these being the Quadratus Lumborum (QL) muscles. These relatively small muscles sit either side of your spine to help support it, and because of their positioning in your lower back, they can take over from your glutes.
Because the QL is not meant to perform any other action than what it was designed for, it tires out quickly when being recruited to work instead of the glutes and then is aches. If the ache is ignored, it escalates the warning signs to you and makes it hurt a lot more.
Massage can help relieve this as well as regular stretching – as well as strengthening your muscles once you are able to move with ease again.
Other Causes
Tightness and weakness in muscles that work in opposition to each other can cause a lot of issues with your lower back too.
I had a client with incredibly strong Quad muscles, the front of the thigh, and weaker abdominal and hamstring muscles. This had the effect of pulling on the bottom of his pelvis by the quads, the hamstrings and abdominals, causing a feeling of compression in his lower back which he was struggling to alleviate. Several weeks later after a few massage sessions to relax his quads and work to strengthen his hamstrings, with his own work on his abdominals, eased the pressure and discomfort in his lower back.
Another client, upon assessment of his posture, presented with very wide turn out of his feet, indicating tightness within the piriformis and Gluteal muscles. The piriformis muscle is attached to both the lower spine and the leg, causing the legs to turn out and causing discomfort there. A few sessions of massage later, working on releasing the piriformis and activating his adductor muscles proved to solve the issue.
I have seen several clients who all have the same thing in common, and all who suffer greatly with their backs as a result, and that is a lack of movement. They have sedentary jobs and sedentary lifestyles outside of those jobs, nearly all have poor muscle tone as well. If you’re one of these people, the first thing you need to do is MOVE.
Movement is healthy, movement is necessary, movement is medicine
If movement is difficult or uncomfortable for you, it is only a temporary state. Your body loves to move, and it will overcome aches from moving or exercising very quickly and you will feel better for it.
Thank you for taking time to read this week’s blog – Misbehaving Lower Back.
Don’t forget to get your next sports massage at www.astralfitness.co.uk. You can use my Booking Link or check out my website for a little further information at www.astralfitness.co.uk
We look forward to helping you.
Chloe, Jen, and Steve
Psssst. Reiki also now available at Astral Fitness… book now to avoid disappointment.