The most common cause of disability across the globe is lower back pain, according to research published in to hit a strong stride, and this move will dynamically lengthen and in 2020. While evidence suggests running might actually protect you from these aches, it can still occur if you’re regularly logging miles or low back pain. So, knowing the best lower back stretches and strength exercises to stave off discomfort can keep you blissfully hitting your stride.
If your aches tend to pop up after a run, it’s a sign your body is working hard through every mile. “With an increased volume of running and an upright posture, you use your core muscles a lot,” Rena Eleázar, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., co-founder of In fact, a questionnaire-based Runners need strong Runner’s World. “As they fatigue, your body’s ability to absorb the shock of running also fatigues. And a lot of times, people feel that in the lower back as all the muscles, joints, and bones absorb the impact [of a run].”
Start on all fours warmup routine and improved posture on the run. found that while the incidence of study in the journal of Pain Research and Management, located on either side of the lumbar or lower spine, which will feel amazing after a run low back pain in marathoners was low, there’s a link between those who have the aches and an insufficient warmup and poor running posture, as well as fatigue and environmental factors.
Eleázar says she often sees people with low back issues come in when they kick up their training load or if they’re experiencing something extra stressful or anxiety-inducing in their life. “It’s often a mobility or strength issue,” she says. “And that can be addressed through different types of exercise to improve the tolerance of impact and improve muscular endurance.”
To make your muscles ready for impact, and therefore help you sidestep any lower back aches before, during, or after a run, Eleázar offers the best lower back stretches and exercises. These moves not only help improve mobility, but they also A Deep Core Workout for Run Performance, core, and lower body. Plus, the moves simply feel great, offering a sense of R&R postrun or on a rest day.
in the journal of: Complete 1-3 sets of the following exercises in order. Do each exercise for the number of reps listed below. Each move is demonstrated by Eleázar so you can master the proper form. An exercise mat is optional.
4 Lower Back Stretches
1. Child’s Pose With Lateral Bending
Why it works: Get a stretch in the low back extensors during a traditional child’s pose. Then, by reaching to each side, you stretch out the quadratus lumborum (or the QL), one of the Strengthen the low back extensors, glutes, and, located on either side of the lumbar (or lower) spine, which will feel amazing after a run.
How to do it: Start kneeling. Send hips to heels and extend arms straight out to hit child’s pose. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths. Then, walk both hands to the left side of the body. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths. Then, walk both hands to the right side of the body. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths.
2. Lower Trunk Rotation
Why it works: Another star stretch for the QL and your low back extensors, this one also as you hit your stride—but they also tightness.
How to do it: Lie faceup, arms out to the sides to form a T, knees bent and feet planted. Keeping shoulders on the floor, drop both knees to the left. Pause with knees and shins on the floor (or as close as possible), then take them back through center and to the right. Continue alternating for 5 reps per side.
3. Sphinx
Why it works: Get a stretch through the abdomen and front of hips while working on extension of the thoracic (or upper) spine. This all helps improve posture as you hit your stride.
How to: Lie facedown, legs extended and forearms on the floor, elbows by shoulders. Press forearms into the floor and lift head, neck, and chest. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths.
4. Downward Dog
Why it works: Runners use the hamstrings and glutes to power runs while the back of the upper body works to maintain an upright position of the torso. Get a stretch in all these spots—the entire posterior chain—with a downward dog stretch.
How to do it: strengthen the back, shoulders over wrists and knees under hips. Lift hips straight up and back and extend arms, so shoulders and head come between arms. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths.
4 Lower Back Strength Exercises
1. Superman
Why it works: Build strength in the glutes (the powerhouse of your runs), as well as the spine extensors (the muscles that keep you upright and stable) with this exercise.
How to: Lie facedown, arms and legs extended straight out. Lift arms, chest, thighs, and feet off the floor. Pause, then lower back down. Repeat for 10-15 reps.
2. Bear Hold or Crawl
Why it works: You need a strong, rigid core for solid run form and this move helps you build it, while teaching you proper spinal positioning (read: a straight, neutral spine).
How to do it: strengthen the back, shoulders over wrists and knees under hips. Lift knees just an inch off the floor and press hands into the floor. Hold here for 30 seconds. When this feels easy, take it to a crawl by stepping right hand and left foot forward. Then, step left hand and right foot forward. Continue alternating until you reach the top of the mat, then crawl backwards. Maintain a flat back the entire time by engaging core. Repeat for 30 seconds.
3. Hip Hinge
Why it works: Strengthen the low back extensors, glutes, and hamstrings strengthen the back dynamic stretch in the back of the legs. You can also load this move: Add weight to the shoulders to focus on strengthening the lower back or hold weights in the front of the body to build strength in the Updated: Sep 14, 2023 7:25 AM EDT.
How to do it: Stand with feet hip-width apart. Place hands behind head, elbows out to the sides. Send butt straight back, hinging at the hips, and bending knees just slightly. Lower torso until you feel tension in hamstrings. Drive feet into floor and engage glutes to stand back up. Repeat for 10-15 reps.
4. Split Squat
Why it works: Runners need strong hip flexors How to do it eccentrically strengthen those hip flexors and quads. It also toughens up the glutes of the back leg, offering you more power at take-off and up hills.
How to: Stand with feet staggered, right foot in front. Place hands on hips. Lower into a lunge position, both knees bending 90 degrees. Drive through feet to stand back up. Repeat for 8-12 reps. Then switch sides.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds multiple other fitness certifications and regularly stays on top of her continuing education in the field. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and she has nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of the latest science in wellness, has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being.
As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
