So last night I woke up in the middle of the night and my lower back was bothering me. When I got up this morning it still was a little irritated. I thought I would share this with you because I am not perfect, and just like some of you out there I have muscle imbalances that I know are causing the irritation in my back. The first time I experienced lower back pain was during labor with Ava. Besides hip surgery, this pain was hands down the worst. All you moms out there know the type of pain I am talking about.

This little back irritation is nothing compared to labor but rather then ignore it, I immediately did a stretch workout. The series of stretches I did was no more then 10-15 minutes. It was similar to the Ballet Stretch workout I did a couple of weeks ago. You can see some more stretches in the ballet post.

I find that the stretching I do with my classes just isn’t enough for how active I am, so I put in a little extra on my own time!

The reasons I think I had lower back pain:

1. Tight hip flexors

2. Picking up Ava with poor form. Bending at the waist instead of squating down to get her. (LAZYYYY)

3. Lifting heavier this week when I probably should’ve stayed at the weights I was currently lifting at.

4. Sleeping in odd positions. Last night I slept on my stomach but my arms and head were on my pillow, so my back was definitely arched

As a Personal Trainer, I know how to avoid lower back pain and what I should do to fix it! I’m not embarrassed that it happened to me but I am definitely aware that I need to make some changes!!

What has helped me to Ease my Lower Back Pain:

• Stretch
• Try not to sit for long periods of time
• Keep moving to avoid extra tightness
• Strengthen my hips, pelvic, and abdominal muscles.

After 10-15 minutes of stretching I felt like brand new

Do you ever have any back pain or tightness?

What are your favorite stretches? How often do you stretch?