Running and participating in sports are great ways to stay fit and be active. However, sports can put a strain on your lower back. Running can be hard on your lower back, especially if you have a pre-existing lower back injury. As your spine compresses and expands, your lower back feels the impact as your feet hit the ground with each step. Below are three lower back injury exercises, tips, and stretches that you can do at home to help treat your lower back injury.

1. Get in a Proper Warm-Up

Too often, a lower back injury occurs because you haven’t had a complete warm-up before going on a run. A proper warm-up includes these three things:

• Get the blood circulating by doing a light jog.
• Stretch. Make sure you are stretching out your legs and your back before going for a run
• No rigorous movements at the start. Jog before you sprint.

These tips might seem silly, but they will make sure your body is ready to start working hard and will help prevent not only a lower back injury but other common runner injuries as well.

2. Applying Heat and Stretch

Gentle stretching and applying heat are recommended for a lower back injury. This makes the MojiHeat Lower Back Wrap ideal for treating lower back pain. The Moji back wrap uses moist heat, which penetrates deeply into the muscle for targeted relief. Another product to consider is the MojiHeat Heated Roller. It’s also a great lower back injury treatment tool. Foam rollers are an outstanding way to gently stretch and massage a lower back injury. Simply place the roller under your lower back and gently roll back and forth to stretch your lower back. The pressure provides a deep massage to really work the muscles in the lower back, with the added advantage of heat from the MojiHeat roller.

3. Strengthen Your Core

A lot of lower back pain might stem from a lack of hip mobility as you run. The lack of hip mobility is often a symptom of a weak core and the lack of flexibility in that area. Focusing on your core and doing more core exercises can help to improve your form and flexibility when running and lead to less strain on your lower back. Here’s a great core exercise you can do at home with the foam roller.

• Lie down with foam roller at your mid back
• Place your hands behind your back for support
• Don’t arch your back engage your abs
• Using your feet (while your abs are still engaged) move your body up and down on the roller
• Don’t go past the base of your neck or the bottom of your rib cage as you roll
• Roll for one to three minutes

This is a great core workout that you can do at home that will start to help your lower back injury.

As with all injuries, don’t hesitate to see a doctor after an injury. A doctor will give you even more ways to help treat a lower back injury and help you find ways to prevent further pain. For more information about common running and sports injuries and ways to treat them, check out more from Moji and see our other blog posts.