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Never Foam Roll Your Lower Back! (HERE-S WHY)

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

The foam roller is a tool used to increase mobility and improve the soft tissue quality. That said, one are you never want to foam roll is your lower back or lumbar spine. There is a big difference between the thoracic spine and lumber spine when it comes to the benefits of foam rolling. In this video, I-m going to show you exactly what that is and tell you what to focus on instead if you are attempting to loosen up a stiff lower back. It helps to start out at by looking at the anatomy of the spine. There are three defined zones of the spine; the cervical, thoracic and lumbar verterbrae. The cervical spine is the upper 7 segments that are located in your neck. The thoracic spine is the middle 12 segments that make up the middle of your torso. The lumber spine is the final 5 vertebrae that make up the lower back. Most disc issues occur in either the cervical or lumbar spine. If you look closely at the differences between the thoracic and lumbar spine there is one that should jump out at you more than any other. That is, the thoracic vertebra articulate with the ribs on the front side at each level while the vertebra in the lumber spine has no connection with the ribs. This means that the middle back is supported on the front by a very stable ribcage while the lumbar spine is afforded non such luxury and is much more unstable because of this. If you are going to foam roll your upper back you also get the benefit of having the force dispersed to the nearby scapula or shoulder blades as well. In fact, you consciously have to raise your arms out over your body if you want to target and hit the spine most effectively during the foam rolling. But beyond this there is another very important anatomical difference that accounts for the approval of rolling of the upper back and disapproval of rolling of the lower back. That is, the natural curvatures of those areas of the spine. The thoracic spine is naturally curved forward into something called kyphosis. This is when we slump our shoulders forward and look hunched over. This gets worse the more we ignore our posture and develop muscle imbalances over time. We are all chronically deficient in thoracic extension. Using the foam roller to help us get more extension is one of the most valuable things we can do in the gym, especially on back day. On the other hand, the curve of the lumber spine is opposite. It is naturally lordotic which means that it curves backwards. Forcing your lower back into more extension is going to aggravate many conditions that are devastating if the extension gets worse (like stenosis or a spinal stress fracture. Even if neither of these conditions exist, you are never really able to effectively roll this area because the muscles surrounding the lower back spasm to try and protect the delicate unprotected area. For all of these reasons it is best to look to other ways to address the stiffness and tightness you are feeling in your lower back. Namely, its time to look to the muscles of the hips and glutes. For a complete training program that overlooks nothing and puts the science back in strength every step of the way to get you the best results possible, head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and see how much better you feel, function and look in just the next 90 days
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

Karimson
First of all, use a rolled up towel, but about half or a third of the diameter of that roller. Then put it on the lower back. This conforms to your muscles and spine and does not cause pressure spikes. Then you selectively apply pressure to the sides of the spine, by extending and compressing your own muscles using your weight just like a situp. Very effective. I have removed a lot of back pain from my clients, with no deleterious effects. This method is very close to my techniques.
For foam roller, s they are often too much pressure. But the spine can be accessed at a 45 degree angle. If the end of the roller is used. This is a rather ackward setup, especially as most foam rollers are too big in diameter for the lower back of most people, especially women.
The gluteus is part of the lower back and is often the cause of perceived lower back pain. Roller those thigh muscles out and the lower back will restore itself. Almost exactly as the video recommends.
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Stanimir
Hi Jeff, I have a thoracic spinal stenosis in Th9-10 due to disk herniation and my spinal canal and all nerves inside are compressed all the time. Do you think that it is still okay for me to foam roll or I should stop because according to what you said It might worsen my condition due to pushing my spinal canal to my herniated disk more which might lead to putting more compression on the spinal canal. By the way just a side note since I started foam rolling(1 month ago) on my mid back in parallel with McKenzie method stretching and extension exercises(which are usually advisable for disk herniations) I noticed that I started having bladder control disorder which is one of the typical symptoms of spinal stenosis especially in the thoracic area. So my question to you is based on you experience do you think that I might be worsening my condition by foam rolling my mid back considering my spinal stenosis? Thanks in advance!
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Body
Good advice. Actually foam rolling the lower back moves the lumbar vertebrae into extension which compresses the facet joints (the sliding joints) of the lumbar spine and can badly INFLAME your spine. It also closes down the space where the nerves come out of your spine (the Intervertbral Foramen) which increases pressure on the NERVE roots. BUT foam rollers are ok in the thoracic (midback) spine because that area of the spine tends to get very restricted with all the sitting and slumping that we do. I recommend lying on a rolled up towel (lying along the length of the spine in the midback) for the thoracic spine though. It works better.
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Ghostflame92
I-ve seen so many articles and vids telling me it not to roll my lower back and why it-s bad to do so, and then that-s it. But obviously if I-m foam rolling my lower back it-s because it hurts. Yet these -geniuses- aren-t telling me what I can do to ease the pain. Then theres Jeff and athlean-x who gives a link of other exercises to help relieve the tightness. It-s not just about telling us what not to do, people also need to know what to do. I guess I should be thanking these dumb ads though, they brought me back to the OG for the info I-m looking for
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Angelina
i was fit & did dancing, horseriding, nursing-(they caused their own problema) but 10 yes ago diagnosed with fibromyalgia x i have bulging discs, intermittant bilateral siatica, lordosis, tendenitis -most joints, TMJ, tight shoulders & neck - years of osteopathy, chiropractic steroid injections in wrist, elbow & spine --- OK so now i have a frozen shoulder 2yrs now had steroid injection - awaiting orthopedic referal - HELP what can i do? sooo much pain
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sport
We are not Raymond. We have muscles, ligaments, and tendons supporting our lumbar spine. Rolling the lumbar spine opens the joints individually. It doesn't hyperextend the joint. It causes minimal extension in the joint. The upward pressure opens the joint just as downward pressure would laying on the treatment table. Agreed if you have stenosis, subluxation, or a herniation be careful using the roller.
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riri
I've been curious, for a week I've been putting a soft pillow underneath my lower back to match it's natural curves to sleep. It's a rather comfortable position for me since I started doing so. What it is I am doing, I think is similar to rolling my lower back. Though, I'm not necessarily rolling it, I'm placing something in support of that lower back and so my spine wouldn't be very good.
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David
I roll my lower back all the time if I don't do it my back gets really stiff and I walk pretty crooked but after I roll it it feels good I've been doing it for years and I asked the chiropractor if this is safe he said do whatever works for you to relieve your pain and make you feel better. Not everyone's built the same or have the same problem or the same pain
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John
Lol I-m watching this and I-m also foam rolling my lower by, but I have a bulging disc from my L5 and S1. I do this once a week for the past 3 months and I don-t get the pain with The sharp little pain going down my legs and my feet but if anyone have a better way to take that pain and I been dealing with this pain for 10 years, I-m all ears
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Fahad
4: 36 I promise I will never foam roll my lower back. Also, I can't touch my toes, I tried rolling my hamstrings, glutes and upper back. But my calves just don't loosen up. They are too tight. Is it the problem with my method? Thank you for reading, any kind of help or advice from anyone is appreciated. Thanks
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