Are you tired of waking up stiff and sore from yesterday's workout? Are you incorporating proper stretching and muscle massage into your everyday routine?Learn how a speedy recovery through foam rolling can elevate your training to the next level. Using Foam Roll lower back technique is an easy and therapeutic way to bring flexibility back to your stiff muscles.
https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/g19529455/foam-rolling-mistakes/
Foam Roll Lower Back - Examining Muscles
Lower back pain is often caused from tension and tightness built up in different muscles around the lumbar spine. A few common areas are; Iliospoas, Gluteus Medius and Maximus, Piriformis, Quadratus Lumborum, and TFL (It band) Muscle. When tackling back pain it is important to trace the pain back to a specific muscle(s), because unlocking any one of these muscles could be the missing link between you and a pain free back.
Quadratus Lumborum Muscle (QL)
Foam Roll Lower Back - Technique
Foam Roll Lower Back for pain and muscle relief does not mean strictly rolling out your lower back. In fact, rolling out the arch in your lower back compresses your spinal joints in a negative way. You will most likely experience some cracking which may feel good initially, but is not beneficial to your lower back pain. Massaging surrounding muscles will make for a more flexible and healthy low back. Complimentary muscles to consider when foam rolling for back pain relief include; the glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors and QL muscle (Quadratus Lumborum).
Foam Roll Lower Back - QL Claw
Plenty of trainers and chiropractors will recommend you to foam roll lower back and other muscles. However, if you are looking for a deeper, more effective tissue massage, the foam roller is not the answer. You will need a tool that can reach deeper than just the surface of the muscle. Pain and tension often build up in Trigger Points. Trigger Points are irritable contraction knots in muscles that can cause a ton of pain throughout the body [1]. A foam roller will not reach the majority of trigger points.
A great replacement for foam roll lower back is the QL Claw. The QL Claw will find trigger points and loosen the muscle better than your typical tennis ball or muscle roller would. It is designed specifically for breaking up tissue and finding those hard to reach trigger points.
Check out this video of the QL Claw being used to release the Quadratus Lumborum.
QL Claw Testimonial
The QL Claw has impacted so many lives since its release in May of 2021. Check out our Testimonial Page and read why the QL Claw is the most practical and reasonably priced physical therapy tool out there.
If you are serious about your lower back health and want to learn more, check out my flexibility and strengthening programs below. Keeping mobility in the low back and overall posterior chain is important. Staying mobile through flexibility exercises will potentially help relieve any built up pain and tightness. Learning proper stretching techniques mixed with strengthening exercises will have your low back thanking you.
Flexible Back 2.0 - Lower Back Flexibility Program
Back of Steel - Lower Back Strengthening Program
Sources:
[1] Donnelly, Joseph M. Travell, Simons & Simons Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: the Trigger Point Manual. 3rd ed., Wolters Kluwer Health, 2019.