If you have a physical job or are a weekend warrior with sports, yard work, home improvement, etc; or even spend too much time at a desk, then chances are at some point you have had a sore and/or stiff back. Kelli and I have been working hard on our house the last couple of months and after a full day of painting walls and ceilings the lower back is just one of many areas of my body that is aching. After stretching one night I thought to myself, I am sure that many of our viewers have had similar issues, so why not share some of my favorite lower back stretches in a video to hopefully help others who have worked themselves a bit too hard.  

This quick stretching routine focuses on the lower back and is intended to help relieve the aches and pains of stiff, overworked muscles.  Just keep in mind that because of the length of time that each stretch is held, this is only an appropriate stretch for after a workout or if done by itself.  If you do this routine just before a workout and hold the stretches for the full 30 seconds or more you run the risk of over stretching your muscles, ligaments, and tendons which can increase your chances for injury when exercising intensely.

Keep in mind that if you need to loosen up your lower back before exercise, you can still use this routine however, you will need to drop the amount of time you hold the stretch to less than 20 seconds.

This video is intended for a healthy population and should not be done by anyone with a preexisting or chronic lower back injury without first getting their health care professional's approval.

Workout Structure:
- 30 Seconds per stretch
- 10 Seconds of rest and setup for next stretch

Workout:

- Torso Twist
- Torso Circles
- Toe Touch
- Seated Hamstring and Torso Stretch
- Knee Hug
- Torso Rotation Stretch
- Deep Glute Stretch
- Lumbar Stretch
- Full Body Stretch
- Child's Pose
- Shell Stretch

Because this is a routine to help loosen up a tight back you are not doing any real heavy work so there is not much in the way of calorie burn here but there is still something.  With a routine like this one you can expect to burn anywhere from 2 to 4 calories per minute giving you a total calorie burn of around 32 to 64 calories for this 16 minute stretching workout.