Most of you know that stretching is helpful with back pain. It helps to ease muscle tension but it only ever deals with a third (at most) of your back pain issues. Back pain occurs because of tight muscles (which stretching helps), weak muscles (due to lowered nerve supply), tight joints and pelvic imbalance.

Stretching therefore only covers a small amount of the factors causing back pain. There is also your general and emotional health to take into consideration also.

In a previous post I talked about how to stretch. Knowing how to stretch, what to stretch and when to stretch are the essential ingredients in back pain relief.

Why is knowing when to stretch important?

Stretching is there to relax and elongate the muscle. When a muscle tightens there is tension and the muscle shortens. To remove muscle tension you are trying to relax the muscle by stretching.

The problem is if you stretch and then use the muscle again immediately the relaxation and elongation disappear. So the stretch is virtually useless.

If you look at what happens to muscles you can understand why. Muscles are tight because they are habitually tight. The muscle tightens due to the other back pain factors that allow the muscles to come under tension. They shorten and tighten and stay that way for a period of time. As with all habits if they stay tight they become habitually tight.

To change the muscle tension you need to change the habit. To do this you need to retain the muscle to relax and elongate. Timing is essential in this process. Knowing what and how to stretch is important, but knowing when to stretch is essential.

This is why so many people will stretch for years and years and still have back pain. As soon as you stop stretching the muscle tension returns, as does your back pain. This is why you will see countless websites saying they have the best stretches or a new miracle type of stretch. In fact all will fail unless they teach you when to stretch. And then you still have only covered about a third of your back pain issues.

So when should you stretch?

You need to stretch 3 times each day!

The most important time is just prior to bed. This way you stretch and then relax the muscle by not using it. Stretch and then hop into bed and relax… go to sleep, read a book, watch TV or whatever.

This time to stretch is the most important as you are relaxing the muscle, elongating it and then resting it. This way the muscle stays relaxed for longer and starts to retrain itself.

The next 2 times are there to reinforce the night-time stretch. So stretch again in the morning when you wake. This way you are telling the muscle to prepare for the day. Then stretch again at the end of your working day to help release any tension form the day. This way you can stretch and then relax in the evening so you are not overusing the muscle.

(You should also stretch before any activity – this helps the blood supply to the muscle but will not change any flexibility from back pain perspective)

Stretching will then in a short time change the length of your muscles. If you add in the “how to stretch” techniques which means you are only stretching for 20 seconds, then you can target the main muscles causing your back pain.

Knowing what to stretch is also important in back pain relief. Then you have all the ingredients to stretch effectively.

You can lead a life free of back pain… if you know what to do. I was told a great quote a while ago, which states…

Your life will not change because you KNOW what to do. It will change when you DO what you know!

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