"I've got you covered with a monster stretch for your lower back," says Dr. Mike Wasilisin, founder of MOVEU. "It stretches your quadratus lumborum."
What is a quadratus lumborum you ask? You probably know it as your QL, or the deepest of all back muscles. It's on either side of your spine, connecting your ribs and hips. People often experience QL-related pain because this major muscle is used in many bodily processes such as sitting, standing, walking and of course pumping iron.
Because the QL is often strained, people often suffer from pain in this area, but there are simple ways to keep your lower back in check. One way to release tension in the lower back is to stretch the quadratus lumborum.
dr Mike teaches his more than a million followers on Instagram no-fuss ways to exercise and exercise safely through his popular social media posts, and this is great for avoiding unnecessary injuries and the subsequent need for pills and stressful insurance claims. In this latest installment of Form & Fixes, the MoveU Maven offers a simple — but difficult — demonstration of how to decompress your lower back by focusing on that stretch.
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"You have to go through a door," he says. “Stand two feet from a door or derrick [if you have one]. Place your outside foot behind your inside foot, in the doorway, and roll the outside of your foot.”
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With his feet in position, Dr. Mike tells his subject that the inside arm should grab the door frame at nipple level and the outside arm should move in front of you and also hold the door frame, this time at head level.
"w pull your hips all the way forward," says Dr. mike “w rotate your body (away from the door frame) and look through (the inside of your outside arm) and pull your hips forward (away from the door). If you do it right, it will elongate that deep, deep quadratus lumborum.”
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He explains that the quadratus lumborum muscle is prone to tangling, adding that if you have pain in your QL, it can spread down the length of the muscle and you can even experience delayed pain in your leg. The QL muscle can become incredibly tight, so, "By relaxing it, you'll decompress your back," assures the charismatic chiropractor.
