Exercises for Back Pain Relief: Hug Knees to Chest

Video Transcript

"So the next exercise that you can perform to reduce lower back pain is simple. It's just lying on the mat with your knees in. This really helps to stretch the back and it also helps to really just release the tension that you may have in your back and it feels really great when you're doing it. So I'm going to demonstrate how you're going to do this exercise. First you start by lying back, get into a good position where your lower back is into the mat. And then you're going to bring your knees in to your chest and wrap your hands around your legs. So you hold this and you can really feel your back like really think about relaxing your back, relaxing those muscles. Another reason we have lower back pain at times is because we're not very flexible in other areas of our body like our hamstrings. So from this position it's a great way to get a good stretch in your hamstrings. So to do this I'm going to wrap my arms under one of my legs and then I'm just going to lift up. And I'll feel the stretch in my hamstrings and so I'll hold it here with my toe flexed, I'll hold it here for at least fifteen seconds. And then I'll release it and do the same thing on the other leg. You can really feel this stretch in your hamstring and this is really great. And release it and do the other side again. And the other side and make sure you're breathing when you're doing that and you can hold it for at least fifteen seconds, longer if you like. And come back to starting position. Really make sure that the lower back is into the mat relax it and that's another great way to reduce lower back pain."