When I stopped stretching and started focusing on mobility instead, I finally began to get lasting relief from back pain! 10 years later, clients still tell me they start getting relief within the first few days of practicing their mobility exercises!

I know you want to stretch–mainly because people keep telling you to. But when you’ve had back pain, your body goes into “protective mode,” ordering muscles to grip around vulnerable areas. That usually means your back and your hips get tight- at least on one side.. The whole idea is to protect you from further injury. These muscles aren’t “tight” in a typical sense, so the body perceives stretching as another threat to your back. Often you feel even tighter an hour after stretching as the body works to further protect itself from harm.

The solution is to use gentle, pain-free exercises aimed at improving how well you move around key joints. This teaches your body that it’s safe to move. No more pushing. No more breath-holding. No more holding stretches for 30-60 seconds. This is much gentler.

Good mobility is the foundation of healthy movement.

This method won’t work without the other pieces.

Without attention to alignment, you will continue to give into your stiffnesses and borrow motion from your back.

Without lower back control, it won’t feel safe to move more in your traditionally stiff areas. You’ll continue to grip through the hips and the back to protect your spine.

Without pelvis/hip control, you’ll continue to over-use quads, hip flexors and hamstrings. Eventually you will develop knee and/or hip pain.

Without  strength, you won’t develop the durability that allows you to do more challenging tasks without injury–or the resilience to bounce back after you over-do it.