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The best thing to remember about back pain is that most of the time the pain is not due to a problem in your back, but a problem elsewhere on your body. This is

The best thing to remember about back pain is that most of the time the pain is not due to a problem in your back, but a problem elsewhere on your body. This is commonly referred to in the medical field as referred pain. So if your feet are fucked up, the rest of your body is going to be fucked up. If your calves are tight, they will cause issues up the chain and it will/can eventually lead to pain in the back. If your thigh muscles are too tight, same thing happens. For those of us who sit often, we tend to get what is called an anterior pelvic tilt -- or in plain english a pelvis that is rotated or tilted slightly forward. This ends up causing your lower back to pick up the slack and curve more than it is supposed to, and on and on up the chain. The single best thing I have found for releasing a tight psoas (to remove the tension and allow your pelvis to orient itself correctly) is to use a ~20lb slam ball and basically lie directly on top of it with it lodged right in the trinagle area that is below your belly button and to the side of your groin. Shove it in there, take a deep breath, lean into it and you will really feel it loosen the tension on your posas. This is makes a profound difference in my hip flexibility and usually does a killer job eliminating lower back pain. For a good video demo of the psoas release I do often: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI @ 1:15 is the pose that I use.

marpstar 7y ago
This. Back when I was overweight I had a fair amount of back pain. Once I started lifting (and foam rolling) I discovered one day that spending 10 minutes foam-rolling my glutes caused 100% relief in my back for a day or two. A few years of squats and my back pain is now non-existent. Not because my back is "stronger", but rather it seems because of the increased flexibility from the waist down.
- SheepSlapper 7y ago
  Squats and deadlifting is what got rid of my back pain, which had been mild to moderate for years. Highly recommended, as long as you are VERY mindful of your form.
  - JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
    To people maybe not confident with their form: you can do free weight squats (deadlifts too, I suppose, with empty hands). Just get the form right, then add a small amount of weight. Then, in small increments, add more weight.
- btilly 7y ago
  Very frequently one part of your body compensates for a failure in another part of your body. As a result the bit that hurts can be surprisingly far from and the part where the underlying problem exists. That said, the principle is simpler to apply in theory than practice. There really are people who understand the human body well enough to debug it. Their results demonstrate that they aren't making it up, but I have no idea how they actually do it.
programmertote 7y ago
Thank you for sharing. I'm having a little bit of difficult time imagining your recommendation in the last paragraph above. Is there a video online that kind of shows what you've written above? Thanks in advance!
- whalesalad 7y ago
  Yeah, my explanation is not great. Here is a video using a much smaller ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuQ_aKlDjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuQ_aKlDjI Here is another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI @ 1:15 is about the position that I use. Lying down, one leg out to the side and one leg straight back. I use a slam ball but a soccer ball or volleyball that is adequately inflated would probably work too. If you are tough and flexible you can use a softball or something much firmer but it will hurt a lot more if you are not ready for it. I regularly roll out my ass and upper back with a lacrosse ball or softball, but haven't tried it on my psoas yet.
  - random_kris 7y ago
    What a coincidence. I was searching YouTube for exercise for back pain. I actually have pain in my left side of body. Some pain is in back and some in leg. And this dude's (jujitsu master) exercise was the only thing to help with my pain
zackangelo 7y ago
I know it seems ridiculous to spend $50-100 on a piece of injection molded plastic, but this thing[0] has been the best I've found for getting deep enough into my abdomen to loosen my psoas. [0] https://pso-rite.com/ https://pso-rite.com/
- whalesalad 7y ago
  That is really interesting. I know some people use a kettlebell (the handle) which resembles the tool you are sharing without the nice flared base.
  - jessaustin 7y ago
    Kettlebells help the back in other ways as well...
- localhost 7y ago
  Thanks for recommending this! Just ordered one to try it out. I've found that foam rollers, even the knurled ones, don't quite dig in deep enough.
- atom-morgan 7y ago
  I bought one of these and was never fully satisfied with it. Do you put the prongs directly in line with your belly button? Just above or below it?
- sethammons 7y ago
  I simulate that with a lacrosse ball and a kettle-bell. I lay on my back, and put the ball about 2 inches to the outside of my belly button and then place the kettle-bell atop the ball. From there, I move it slowly down passed my hip/groin. Don't go too heavy on the kettle-bell. I don't go over 35# usually.
mbesto 7y ago
> The single best thing I have found for releasing a tight psoas (to remove the tension and allow your pelvis to orient itself correctly) Funny you mention psoas. PRI[0] + Stott Pilates[1] has been life changing for me because its basically all about getting your psoas muscles strong and limber. Anyone with back pain, I highly recommend. [0] - https://www.posturalrestoration.com/ https://www.posturalrestoration.com/ [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stott_Pilates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stott_Pilates
taco_emoji 7y ago
> This is commonly referred to in the medical field as referred pain. To be a bit pedantic I don't think this is correct--"referred pain" specifically refers to a quirk of the nervous system where acute pain is perceived in a spot that is NOT actually undergoing the harmful stimulus, as when a heart attack causes pain in the arm (rather than around the heart/chest) or acid reflux in the esophagus manifesting as pain/pressure in the chest (rather than the throat). What you're describing seems more like your back is actually traumatized and therefore in pain, but there's some underlying chronic issue outside the back which has, over a longer period of time, led to said trauma. In other words, referred pain means trauma in locus A causes pain in locus B, whereas what you're talking about is trauma in locus A causes trauma in locus B causes pain in locus B.

marpstar 7y ago

This. Back when I was overweight I had a fair amount of back pain. Once I started lifting (and foam rolling) I discovered one day that spending 10 minutes foam-rolling my glutes caused 100% relief in my back for a day or two. A few years of squats and my back pain is now non-existent. Not because my back is "stronger", but rather it seems because of the increased flexibility from the waist down.

SheepSlapper 7y ago
Squats and deadlifting is what got rid of my back pain, which had been mild to moderate for years. Highly recommended, as long as you are VERY mindful of your form.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
  To people maybe not confident with their form: you can do free weight squats (deadlifts too, I suppose, with empty hands). Just get the form right, then add a small amount of weight. Then, in small increments, add more weight.
btilly 7y ago
Very frequently one part of your body compensates for a failure in another part of your body. As a result the bit that hurts can be surprisingly far from and the part where the underlying problem exists. That said, the principle is simpler to apply in theory than practice. There really are people who understand the human body well enough to debug it. Their results demonstrate that they aren't making it up, but I have no idea how they actually do it.

programmertote 7y ago

Thank you for sharing. I'm having a little bit of difficult time imagining your recommendation in the last paragraph above. Is there a video online that kind of shows what you've written above? Thanks in advance!

whalesalad 7y ago
Yeah, my explanation is not great. Here is a video using a much smaller ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuQ_aKlDjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuQ_aKlDjI Here is another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-0rtFbOgI @ 1:15 is about the position that I use. Lying down, one leg out to the side and one leg straight back. I use a slam ball but a soccer ball or volleyball that is adequately inflated would probably work too. If you are tough and flexible you can use a softball or something much firmer but it will hurt a lot more if you are not ready for it. I regularly roll out my ass and upper back with a lacrosse ball or softball, but haven't tried it on my psoas yet.
- random_kris 7y ago
  What a coincidence. I was searching YouTube for exercise for back pain. I actually have pain in my left side of body. Some pain is in back and some in leg. And this dude's (jujitsu master) exercise was the only thing to help with my pain

zackangelo 7y ago

I know it seems ridiculous to spend $50-100 on a piece of injection molded plastic, but this thing[0] has been the best I've found for getting deep enough into my abdomen to loosen my psoas. [0] https://pso-rite.com/ https://pso-rite.com/

whalesalad 7y ago
That is really interesting. I know some people use a kettlebell (the handle) which resembles the tool you are sharing without the nice flared base.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  Kettlebells help the back in other ways as well...
localhost 7y ago
Thanks for recommending this! Just ordered one to try it out. I've found that foam rollers, even the knurled ones, don't quite dig in deep enough.
atom-morgan 7y ago
I bought one of these and was never fully satisfied with it. Do you put the prongs directly in line with your belly button? Just above or below it?
sethammons 7y ago
I simulate that with a lacrosse ball and a kettle-bell. I lay on my back, and put the ball about 2 inches to the outside of my belly button and then place the kettle-bell atop the ball. From there, I move it slowly down passed my hip/groin. Don't go too heavy on the kettle-bell. I don't go over 35# usually.

mbesto 7y ago

> The single best thing I have found for releasing a tight psoas (to remove the tension and allow your pelvis to orient itself correctly) Funny you mention psoas. PRI[0] + Stott Pilates[1] has been life changing for me because its basically all about getting your psoas muscles strong and limber. Anyone with back pain, I highly recommend. [0] - https://www.posturalrestoration.com/ https://www.posturalrestoration.com/ [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stott_Pilates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stott_Pilates

taco_emoji 7y ago

> This is commonly referred to in the medical field as referred pain. To be a bit pedantic I don't think this is correct--"referred pain" specifically refers to a quirk of the nervous system where acute pain is perceived in a spot that is NOT actually undergoing the harmful stimulus, as when a heart attack causes pain in the arm (rather than around the heart/chest) or acid reflux in the esophagus manifesting as pain/pressure in the chest (rather than the throat). What you're describing seems more like your back is actually traumatized and therefore in pain, but there's some underlying chronic issue outside the back which has, over a longer period of time, led to said trauma. In other words, referred pain means trauma in locus A causes pain in locus B, whereas what you're talking about is trauma in locus A causes trauma in locus B causes pain in locus B.