Morning Back Tightness
Morning Back Tightness
If you are working from home and experience morning back tightness, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s admit it, having back pain is no fun, especially when you wake up in the morning with it knowing that you have a full day ahead of you.
Add in sitting at your desk all day, and it can lead to more lower back stiffness and pain. This feeling can even extend into the neck, shoulder, and other areas resulting in more pain and issues at the end of your workday.
It’s important to pay attention to the times when your pain increases because it can give us insight into some of the factors influencing your pain experience and how to best manage them.
Morning back stiffness can also be a result of inflammation. A long period of inactivity like sleeping can intensify the feeling of stiffness and often will ease as you get moving. This is more common as we age, and see degenerative or age related changes within the spine.
Pain that gradually comes on over the day is often attributed to the activities you are doing across the day. This can be an indication that your body does not have the tolerance or capacity to do the task or tasks you are putting your back through.
Morning back tightness, stiffness and pain can also be a result of inactivity and sedentary behaviour. It is your back, screaming out to get moving as the body is designed to move!
Performing morning stretches can help you get moving, loosen your muscles and improve your flexibility, making your body more mobile and prepared for the day ahead.
If its morning back tightness and pain that’s troubling you try these movements below.
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 1
Childs pose
The most common pose in yoga, the child’s pose can help you relax.
Here is how to do it!
- Position yourself on the floor on hands and knees with your knees just wider than the hip. Push your hips backwards bending your knees.
- Once you reach a comfortable seated position, extend your arms forward fully and allow your head to fall forward into a relaxation position.
- Hold this pose for 20 seconds and slowly return to starting position.
- Repeat 3-5 times.
Pro Tip: For modification if you have shoulder pain or limited shoulder mobility, place your arms on either side of your body, extending towards your feet.
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 2
Knees to chest
Use this to stretch the lower back into flexion while in a comfortable laying position. It is a great exercise to help restore flexion (bending forward) and assist with restoring a normal movement following injury.
Here is how to do it!
- Lie flat on your back with toes pointing up.
- Bring both your knees to your chest wrap your arms around your thigh, knee or shin, and gently pull the knee towards your chest allowing the lumbar spine to relax and bend. (Don’t just flex and stretch the hip joint and buttocks muscles, allow the back to bend too.)
- Hold for 20-30 seconds.
- Repeat 3-5 times.
Pro Tip: If getting two legs up at once is difficult or painful, try just one knee to start with and once able, progress to two legs.
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 3
Lumbar rotation
This is a great movement to stretch the back and gluteal muscles as often back pain will extend into the upper buttock region..
Here is how to do it!
- Lie on your back with your legs extended straight out. Bend the right knee up, then cross it over the left side of your body.
- Use your opposite hand to grab the knee and push toward the ground for added stretch.
- Hold this position for 20 seconds while you feel a gentle stretch through the back and buttocks muscles.
- Repeat three times on each side.
Pro Tip: Remember to relax your breathing during each rep, it helps relax those tight muscles!
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 4
Cat-camel
The is a great exercise to help move the lumbar spine into it’s two main movements. Flexion and extension.
Here is how to do it!
- Start this movement by kneeling on all fours with your hands beneath your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips.
- Gently arch your spine bringing your head upward to the ceiling, making a hollow in the back.
- Then move in the opposite direction, bring you head down looking toward the feet and tucking the chin, lightly tighten your abdominal muscles to round your back to the ceiling.
- Repeat 10 times to complete the rep.
- Rest and repeat 2-3 times
Pro Tip: Move slowly between movements.
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 5
Cobra
This movement is helpful to stretch tight abdominal muscles and/or ease the lower back.
Here is how to do it!
- Start by lying on your stomach with your legs extended and with palms planted on either side of your head with your forearms and elbows flat on the ground.
- Slowly, push your body upwards, so your weight is resting on your forearms. Be sure to keep your hips on the ground.
- Once you reach a comfortable position that gently stretches your abdominal muscles and lower back, hold for 10 seconds.
- Slowly return to starting position and repeat five times.
Pro Tip: If you don’t have the flexibility in your lower back, try completing on your forearms, rather than extended elbows.
Morning Back Tightness – Exercise 6
Bow and arrow
This is great for the upper back. Remember it is connected to the low back and if you are sitting a lot they can both go out in sympathy for sitting too long.
Here is how to do it!
- Start in side-lying with knees tucked up toward your chest and arms outstretched. Keeping knees together, pull the uppermost arm back past your body (try to imitate pulling a bow and arrow back into firing position).
- Gently pinch your shoulder blades back and down to the ground and hold for 5 seconds and reverse the movement back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 5 times each side.
Pro Tip: You want to move slowly enough through the Bow and Arrow positions that your stretch is strong, but controlled!
As always if these lower back exercises increase your pain at all or if they don’t improve your symptoms they may not be right for you.
Remember no one’s back is the same. Therefore, everyone will respond differently.
If you are unsure how to perform any of these exercises, they cause more pain or discomfort contact us a Fighting Fit.
We will tell you if these exercises are the right ones or not, treat you with our expert physiotherapy techniques and then show you how it’s done properly.
Kyle Wells is a Physiotherapist at Fighting Fit Physio.
He has a special interest in arthritis, neck pain and tendinopathy. Just to name a few.
Kyle loves cross fit and has an exceptional eye for technique and performing exercise correctly.
He use exercise to improve patient results and get them moving better for the long term.
