Exercises to Relieve Back Pain from Sitting

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Moving the hips is one of the best medicines for low back pain from excessive sitting. Ideally served in short bursts throughout the day.

The obstacle I run into with clients is that as great as it sounds in theory, it’s impossible for them to do in their office. Either they feel goofy doing them (fair), or their attire makes it impossible. And I get it. Fancy Italian suits and skirts are less than optimal for exercise in public spaces.

Working from home removes this issue. You can get off the computer and out of the sight of your webcam to get a dose of the movement medicine. Besides, most of us working from home are probably not even wearing fancy clothes. I for one can’t even remember what pants look like.

In a perfect world, you’d do a set of each exercise every few hours. But we both know that won’t happen. Instead, do a one set of one movement. Rotate them throughout the day.

Controlled hip rotations x 3 each way

As big circle as you can without twisting your hips. Think of balancing a glass of midday Scotch on your low back. Stay out of any painful range. You could do the whole sequence, but hips are the most important for our low back pain purposes.

Hip external rotation kinetic stretch x 5

Actively pull chest to knee on the way down. Actively drive the knee to ground on the way up. Push chest forward at all times to avoid moving from your low back. Keep hands on the ground if necessary.

Hip bridge x 10

Drive tailbone to knees, keep ribs to hips, and use your butt to crack a walnut. Or any other nut of your choice. Do a powerful exhale at the top to get the core going.