Do you have trouble with low back pain when gardening or doing other activities that require bending forward? Or have you stopped gardening or other fun things because it hurts?

The key to bending without hurting your back is to focus on bending at the HIPS instead of the knees

The reason is that while the vertebrae in our mid to upper backs and necks are shaped to allow us to twist and bend forward and backward, the vertebrae in our low backs are shaped in a way that actually limits these movements.

So when we try to bend or twist the low back, the muscles get pulled too tight and may trigger a protective pain response in the brain - that's when you feel those sharp spasm-like pains or deep aching in your low back after lots of heavy lifting or bending. It can also happen when we sit in a slouched position for long periods.

Here's how to bend better to support your low back and avoid pain:

(Remember to only use this technique if it feels comfortable for you, and check with your health practitioner first if you have a back condition.)

1. Stand with feet well apart, wider than hip-width
2. Give your belly and pelvic floor muscles a slight lift to support your low back (no need to grip them intensely - a mild hold will be more sustainable)
3. Keep your legs straight and bend forwards from the hips, keeping your low back straight and aiming for a 90 degree angle between your upper body and legs
4. You'll need to push your butt out behind you - no polite tail-tucking please! (tail-tucking posture is notorious for putting pressure on the low back and causing pain)
5. Press your pelvis down between your thighs
6. You'll feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings - at the backs of your thighs - this is a great exercise for them if it feels like a 'good stretch', but if it's too uncomfortable you can bend your knees slightly
7. You may find it easier to rest one elbow on your knee while you reach down with the other hand to work - pulling weeds etc

You may need to build this up gradually to increase your hamstrings' capacity to stretch - alternate with kneeling or sitting on the ground to work, but be sure to bend forward from your hips if you do and keep your low back straight.

One-Leg-Swing

Try this when you need to bend forward briefly to pick something up:

Hold onto a table, chair or other furniture with one hand, raise the same-side leg straight behind you keeping your back straight (making a straight line with your back and raised leg) and reach down with the other hand to pick the item up.

If you've hurt your back with a bit of bad bending, try this pain relief technique:

• Lie face-down on your bed or couch, allowing your leg on the painful side to hang down towards the floor off the side of the bed - let your thigh 'give in' to gravity and hang straight down from the bed, with your knee or toes resting on the floor (depending on the height of your furniture)
• Turn your head to the side away from your hanging leg and position your upper body away from the edge so you don't feel like you'll fall off the bed if you fully relax
• If you aren’t comfortable in this position, rest your knee on a cushion on the floor. Relax into the position - you can 'fine-tune' by making small adjustments of your leg position until you feel most comfortable and can fully 'let go'
• Rest here for up to 5 minutes as long as you're fully comfortable.
• When you're ready to get up, don't raise the leg up onto the bed as this would re-tighten your low-back - instead slowly bring your other leg down to the floor and push yourself up with your hands
• If you have pain in the other side of your low back as well, or across the whole area, repeat these steps with your other leg hanging off the bed

I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear from you.

Warm wishes,

Janine

PS: Do you have ongoing tension or pain? Book an in-person or virtual Ortho-Bionomy session

PPS: Want to study Ortho-Bionomy? You can learn simple pain relief techniques to help family & friends, or to add to your existing practice, in our next class "Fundamentals of Ortho-Bionomy" coming up on April 16&30 Learn more​