Too Much Stretching
When people first experience any kind of lower back pain, they start freaking out and they start thinking they need to work out that area and perform a million stretches for it. As a chiropractor once told me, “too much stretching can actually become counter-productive to that area.” Relieving the pain in the lower back can actually benefit more from some rest than the extra stretches you may want to do.
Perform the stretches in a balanced manner followed by an appropriate amount of rest. Sleep might help your lower back during this time. During sleep the body repair and reconstruct the damage to the area of the lower back. Does the pain kind of go away when you lie down in your favorite pain-free position? That is why resting will give you some relief from lower back pain.
Start with performing five or so stretches at the beginning. Everyone is different so assess at your own risk. Select the appropriate set of stretches from the many resources on the web. Stick to a schedule and assess again at a certain evaluation point.
Create an Effective Stretching Routine
A routine must be developed in order to combat a problem like lower back pain. Randomly doing stretches here and there won’t cut it and you will not be able to effectively track your progress. So grab a pen and paper or go on the web and search for stretches that you might find interesting.
Create an appropriate amount of stretches in a list and break it down to five or so stretches that you’re looking to do. The popular amount of time to hold a stretch is usually around fifteen to thirty seconds. You can start with that amount and track that as well as you go along.
When to do it? This all depends on you and when you want to set aside time to do it. If the morning works well for you, then do it then. If you are going to gym three times a week, you can perform the stretching routine right around those times.
Whenever you choose to do it, I would begin with a weekly routine of three times of week. Follow this schedule and perform it every week, three times per week.