These foam roller exercises can be a helpful short term tool for calming low back pain and improving how your body moves. If pain persists or limits your ability to perform these movements, it may be time to seek guidance from a licensed professional to address the underlying causes more directly.
Author: Dr. Elyse Dinan, DPT
If you are dealing with low back pain, even basic daily activities can feel difficult, not to mention workouts. While these foam roller exercises are not meant to be long term solutions, they can provide a valuable window of relief. That relief can help calm symptoms so you can get through your day and continue moving while you work on addressing the deeper root causes of your back pain.
Foam rolling in the traditional sense, meaning rolling out tight muscles, is often most effective as a warm up or for short term relief of tightness. However, foam rollers can be used in many other ways. They can help encourage pelvic and rib cage mobility, improve muscle activation, and reduce sensitivity in certain areas.
Try the five exercises below and focus on the ones that feel best both during and after performing them.
1. Traditional Foam Rolling: Hip & Thigh Muscles
(Glutes, piriformis, quads, hamstrings, IT band)
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Low back pain often stems from restrictions in the hips or thigh muscles. When these areas are tight, they can pull on the pelvis and limit its movement, which increases stress on the lower back.
You may notice significant tenderness when rolling areas such as the IT band or deep hip muscles. This is often a sign that your pelvis is positioned in a way that increases load through these tissues and that hip range of motion is limited.
While these positional issues need to be addressed for lasting relief, foam rolling these areas can temporarily reduce restrictions and create some relief. Spend extra time on the most sensitive spots and move slowly. Improving hip mobility can help give your lower back a more supportive foundation.
2. Lazy Rolling
Low back pain can also come from a lack of relative motion at the pelvis. Relative motion refers to the ability of the hips and lower back to move independently from one another, which is necessary for walking, running, squatting, and most lower body activities.
This lazy rolling variation encourages small, gentle movements at the pelvis. It is especially helpful for individuals with SI joint pain, which is located where the spine meets the pelvis.
Try this exercise on both sides and notice if one side feels more sensitive. The movement should require very little effort and should feel slow and relaxed, just as the name suggests.
3. Wall Supported Hip Hikes
Many people fall into what is often called a right dominant pattern. In this pattern, more weight is shifted into the right leg and hip, and the pelvis adapts accordingly. This can be difficult to notice on your own but is commonly identified during a movement assessment.
One key to shifting out of this pattern is learning how to properly use the right glute to move your body back toward the left. You may have been told you have weak glutes, but often the issue is difficulty activating them rather than true weakness.
This exercise helps specifically recruit the right glute to counteract a right dominant pattern. When performed correctly, you should feel a strong muscle burn in the right glute.
4. Hip Mobilizations: Sit Bone Decompression
The area around the sacrum and sit bones is another common location for muscle tightness and restriction. When these tissues stiffen, they can affect how the lower back moves and manages load.
Sit bone decompression can feel surprisingly uncomfortable. If it does, that is often a sign that the area needs attention. Start with a small towel roll to reduce intensity and make the position tolerable. As comfort improves, progress to using the foam roller.
5. Rib Cage Mobilization
While many low back strategies focus on what is happening below the spine, restrictions in the rib cage can also contribute to low back pain.
The rib cage should expand during an inhale and close down during an exhale. When this movement is limited, the body can get stuck in one extreme. Lying over a foam roller helps close the bottom side of the ribs while allowing the top side to expand.
This exercise can also be sensitive at first. If you have trouble relaxing over the foam roller, start with a rolled towel or folded pillow to reduce discomfort. As tolerance improves, gradually transition to the foam roller.
