5 Stretches for Low Back Pain You Can Do at Home

Before you start: how to do these well

A stretch is not a contest. If you're holding your breath or gritting your teeth, you've gone too far — back off until you can breathe normally. I want my patients to feel a gentle pull, somewhere in the 3–4 out of 10 range, never sharp pain. Each stretch should feel better on the second rep than the first; if it feels worse, stop and call us.

Do these once or twice a day. Most of my patients see real change in two to three weeks of consistency — which is faster than they expect, and slower than they hope. Stay patient.

1. Single knee-to-chest

Lie on your back on a firm surface (a yoga mat or carpet — not a soft mattress) with both knees bent and feet flat. Bring one knee toward your chest and gently pull it in with both hands clasped just below the kneecap. Keep the opposite leg bent and the foot grounded so your low back stays neutral.

Hold: 20–30 seconds. Reps: 3 per side. Why: This decompresses the lumbar spine and lengthens the deep hip rotators (glute medius, piriformis) that often go quietly tight in desk workers. Almost every post-laminectomy patient I see gets prescribed this in their first week home.

2. Cat-cow

On hands and knees, hands directly under shoulders, knees under hips. Inhale as you drop your belly toward the floor and lift your tailbone and chest (cow). Exhale as you tuck your chin and tailbone and round your spine toward the ceiling (cat). Move with your breath — slow and deliberate, not rushed.

Reps: 10 slow cycles. Why: This is the cleanest way to mobilize every segment of the spine — cervical, thoracic, lumbar — in both directions. The breath coordination is doing half the work; it's quietly resetting the autonomic nervous system, which is why patients often report feeling calmer afterward.

3. Child's pose with side reach

From hands and knees, sit your hips back toward your heels and walk your hands forward, lowering your forehead to the mat. After 20 seconds in the center, walk both hands to the right and hold for 20 seconds — you'll feel a strong pull along the left side of your low back and lats. Repeat to the left.

Hold: 20 seconds center, 20 seconds each side. Why: The latissimus dorsi attaches to the thoracolumbar fascia — the same connective tissue sheet your low back muscles live in. Lengthening the lats almost always relieves low-back tightness that "stretching the back" alone won't touch.

4. Pelvic tilts (the unsung hero)

Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Without lifting your pelvis off the floor, tilt it as if you're flattening your low back into the ground. Your belly button should sink toward your spine. Hold for two seconds, then release. The motion is small — maybe an inch — and that's the point.

Reps: 10–15. Why: Pelvic tilts rebuild the brain-body connection between your transverse abdominis (your deep core) and your lumbar spine. Most patients with chronic low back pain have lost this connection — the muscle is there, but it's not firing on time. This exercise is how we wake it back up.

5. Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch

Drop into a half-kneeling position — one knee on the floor (put a folded towel under it), the other foot flat in front, knee at 90 degrees. Tuck your tailbone under (this is essential) and gently shift your hips forward until you feel a stretch in the front of the hip and thigh of the down leg.

Hold: 30 seconds each side, 2 reps. Why: This is the stretch I prescribe most often. Tight hip flexors (psoas, rectus femoris) pull the lumbar spine into hyperextension, which loads the small joints in the back of the spine — a hidden driver of low-back pain in anyone who sits more than four hours a day. Do this one daily even when your back feels fine.

Putting it together

Five stretches, ten minutes. Done daily, this routine will do more for the average low back than any gadget or supplement on the market. If you want a fuller program, layer in a brisk 20-minute walk on the same days — movement is medicine for the spine.

When to come in instead of stretching at home

• Pain that radiates down your leg below the knee, especially with numbness or tingling
• Weakness in the leg or foot (catching your toe, foot slap when walking)
• Pain that wakes you from sleep at night
• No improvement after two weeks of honest, consistent home care
• Any change in bowel or bladder control — this is an emergency, go to the ER

In the clinic we can do things stretches can't: hands-on manual therapy, targeted soft-tissue work, joint mobilization, and a personalized exercise progression. Most low-back patients are back to normal in 6–8 visits.

Call us at (248) 208-7492 if any of the above sounds like you — or if you just want a thorough evaluation to know exactly what's going on. No referral needed in Michigan.