Eliminate QL Muscle Pain With This Exercises – Quadratus Lumborum Muscle Pain

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi. We all know that back pain can be debilitating. Have you had pain when you try to bend to the side like this, or when you’re trying to lean back, like that? If so, you might be dealing with a QL issue or a quadratus lumborum muscle problem. Today during this episode, we are going to cover three main exercises that you can do at home to help stretch and move that QL muscle or quadratus lumborum. Quadratus lumborum is a large, rectangular sized muscle that sits from the bottom of your pelvis and attaches all the way up until your 12th rib. Why that’s important is because QL actually fixes your 12th rib during inspiration and expiration. That means it controls your back when you’re breathing in and out, so your back doesn’t come out of alignment and cause pain. The quadratus lumborum also allows for you to bend from side to side like this, and it allows for you to lean back, just like so. So today we are going to cover three main exercises that you can do at home to help stretch and move the quadratus lumborum. So let’s start with exercise number one. The first exercise that I’d like to go over is a seated exercise for QL. It’s very, very simple. So what you’re going to do is if you want to stretch say this right side on me. This side here take the arm on the same side. Bring it over your head and bend to the side. What you’re going to want to do with the opposite arm is actually push it through, almost like you have a ball in your hands and you’re rolling the ball over like this.

So you see how I’m pushing the arm underneath as I bring the other arm over the top, I can really feel a nice deep stretch along the side of my spine here, just in that QL muscle. So the more that you bring the arm through and over, the further that stretch is going to be. And you can hold that stretch for roughly 10 to 15 seconds. And then you can do the same on the other side just like this. And driving the bottom arm through and bending to the side. The second way to stretch the QL muscle is in a side lying position. So I’ll position myself just facing you guys here this way. And what you’re going to do from this position is to stretch the top QL here. So in my case, it’s my right side. What you’ll do with the top arm is you’ll bring the top arm out in front of you like this. And you’ll take the top leg and drop it behind you. Let it fall. Now I can really feel a nice deep stretch along the side of my spine there, and you can feel it from the bottom of your pelvis right up until that mid-back section. Again, the top arm comes forward out in front and the back leg drops just behind you. Again, you can hold this stretch for 10 to 15 seconds to really get a nice deep stretch in that muscle.

And you’d want to take nice deep breaths in and out. So really letting. That muscle relax as the diaphragm moves back up. The third stretch that we want to cover is actually in a quadruped position. So you want to get onto, you know, a surface a yoga mat on the floor works just fine as well. And you’re going to go down into this child’s pose so your hands are equal distance apart here. Knees are equal distance apart. And then we just sit back just like so. And already I already I can feel a stretch along both QL’s. So if you want to target the muscle more specifically, say we want it to do again, my right side. All you do with that arm is cross it over the other hand, and then you can feel a nice deep stretch along that side. Similarly, you could do the same thing with the left arm. Bring it over the other side and again holding that stretch for 10 to 15 seconds. And then coming out of that position. It’s great to perform these exercises first thing in the morning, because it’s the proper time during the day to warm up the tissues, get the joints moving, and that way you can prime yourself and prepare for whatever stressors your back is about to go through before the start of your day. So there you have it. Three main exercises that you can do at home to help stretch that quadratus, lumborum or QL muscle. Specifically when you’re having issues going this way, this way, or backwards.