The Simple Stretching routine that relieved my low-back pain

You go to the doctor with back pain, knee pain, hip pain, or whatever pain you choose.

The doctor says: "I see… Please, sit on the exam table with your knees straight and touch your toes".

In your best effort, you can barely reach your shins. It doesn't look good.

The doctor tells you that your pain comes from your lack of flexibility and sends you home with an impossible stretching plan that you never do. Of course, you are also not coming back to that mean doctor.

Another situation: You do an exercise at the gym with horrible form. You try to align your body, but your elbows, knees, or shoulders move involuntarily as if they were somehow limited by each other.

Both situations reveal that you need better mobility, and stretching would be the solution. But you already tried a few times without success.

Everyone talks wonderful things about stretching, but 3 things keep us from taking it seriously:

1. The false belief that our mobility can't be improved.
2. Uncertainty about the truth behind those claims.
3. Difficulty to follow a proper routine

If you can relate to any of these, let me tell you what I've realized over 2 years of making stretching a priority.

Stretching benefits

You can easily search for it on Google. And it seems to be even better than drinking water. It helps in our:

• Circulation
• Flexibility
• Posture
• Body Awareness
• Mobility
• etc.

Those claims may or may not be true, and I'm not here to judge any of these but to share my experience.

I started to take it seriously because of my back pain. I knew I wouldn't heal my back only by stretching. I'm not that naive.

I wanted the doctors to be more creative in their diagnosis. So I compromised to reach, at least, my toes. If I could do that, then the doctor would need to find another cause for my pain.

That was the reason why I started. But today, I'm also thinking about longevity. I spend too many hours sitting and want my body to move better for the rest of my life.

I get it, but…

You are right. It is not easy.

It takes time. I invest about 10-15 minutes every day (or more days than not). It is not that much, but we must set that time apart.

It hurts. At least at the beginning, and if we are too ambitious. Doing it with patience helps.

It is frustrating to feel like a robot while others are so flexible. That's part of life. You may find something else easier than the rest of the people. It happens.

But, honestly, the above items are insignificant if we know we will get a result. And here is where my experience comes, and also yours will come:

We can improve our flexibility. Not enough to participate in the next Olympic Games, but we can make good progress.

The benefits will depend on each individual. I'll share mine later on.

If you wonder what you may get from it, there is only one way to know. You should start doing it. It shouldn't be suffering; that's not how it works. This is my recipe to do it consistently.

Avoiding the pain

Now that we decided to try it, let's see how to make it easier.

The only way I could stick to the habit was by keeping it simple enough. These are the steps:

1. Find a routine that you can perform in 10 minutes.
2. Set a time in the day (I suggest first thing in the morning).
3. When doing the movement, don't exaggerate. It has to hurt "just" a little. Find that balance.
4. Be consistent and patient. You will start seeing results after a few weeks.

There are endless routines that you can adapt to your needs. I recommend taking the more generic ones and focusing on your most rigid parts. Let me share my routine as an example.

Example

Finding routines can be overwhelming. There are many complex movements, different theories, and supporters of static or dynamic exercises.

Your consistency is more relevant than any of the above characteristics, so that should be your focus.

Basics:

• I do these exercises first thing in the morning. Sometimes, even before washing my face.
• It takes between 10 and 15 minutes.
• I do each position once and hold it for 30 to 40 seconds.

Exercises:

• Calves
• Dorsiflexion (dynamic: 15 reps each ankle)
• Hamstrings (no help)
• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings (against a wall)
• Pectorals
• Hamstrings (using a chair or couch)
• Spine (4 positions: Touching the sky, to the left, to the right, and rolling down)
• Neck (4 movements, 6 reps each: No, Yes, Ear to shoulder, and Rotation)

Conclusion

Flexibility can be improved, but it requires consistency.

In my case, when the doctor asks me to touch my toes, I can now easily grab my feet (yes, I know, that's a bit of a brag).

This improvement relieved some low-back pain and helped me get a better doctor's analysis.

I still experience some crises, and the last diagnosis was that as long as they are not more than 3 or 4 per year, it is okay.

However, I'll continue to seek a better solution.

I can't tell you about longevity, but I can move slightly better and feel it when I miss some days.

Now it's your time to see what benefits it brings to you.