Roll It Out: Lower Back

It’s roller time again, and this week I’m highlighting my utmost favorite roller massage, the low back and sacrum roll out! Last week we all reduced tons of tension and found more flexibility in the upper back, but now we’ll hit it where it really hurts.

As someone who used to suffer from chronic low back pain, I can attest to this roll out’s fabulous benefits. Here I am demonstrating how it’s done:

-Lying on your back with knees bent, lift up your hips and place the roller under your pelvis. The roller should sit on your sacrum above your tailbone, but not too high as to rest on the lumbar vertebrae.
-You upper body should be resting on your shoulder blades with abdominals pulled into create a curve in the spine. The key here is to prevent arching the low back.
-Bring your knees into your chest so they are stacked over the hips and roller. Hands to the end of the roller to keep it from slipping.
-From here hold your knees together and make circles with the knees. Reverse the circle and repeat. Rock side to side and back and forth. Whatever feels good to you.

Heaven, right?!

Bonus Stretch: Bring both knees into the chest and extend the legs straight holding onto ankles. Pull the ankles and use your abdominals to lift the pelvis off the roller and legs parallel to the floor. This will stretch out the hamstrings and low back as well as create deep hip flexion, all which are important to low back health. Flex the feet for more of a stretch.

Couple this massage with abdominal work and you’ll be on your way to a pain free low back. If your back is still bugging you try this sacrum massage with a partner!

Stay tuned for more Roll It Out easy massages!