You’re getting back ache so the first assumption that people usually make is that the back is weak.

In some cases yes the back is weak but from what I have seen there is a much more common scenario. The back feels weak but actually it is just working harder than it should be. It is actually too strong as opposed to being weak.

The body is a very clever machine and like if you were a football manager you would pick the best players for the pitch, the body picks the most efficient muscles to do any job / movement.

So if you have a muscle that is superior in terms of strength to the other muscles surrounding it, then the body will chose that muscle to do more jobs than it should be.

If you just picked the best footballer instead of all 11 players then the result would end negatively. In the same way if your lower back is given all the work, that should be distributed between many muscles this is going to be far too much pressure and the result will be pain.

So in most cases the lower back is not weak it is just been overloaded with resistance / stresses it should not be taking.

Usually this is due to an individual’s posture not being optimal and the individual suffering from at least one postural dysfunction.

The most common being an anterior tilt of the pelvis. Where the front of the pelvis tilts downwards due a downwards pull from the quadriceps and hip flexor muscles as well as an upward pull at the back of the pelvis by the lower back.

I find that the most common reason for this postural dysfunction developing is the increase in a sedentary lifestyle. People are sitting down more than we have ever before as human beings. We are all effectively becoming sitting athletes. The muscles used to hold the body in a seated position are not the same as a standing position. As a result the biomechanics of our bodies change and the muscles that are intended to do specific joints no longer do.

I believe that the biggest problem is weak gluteal muscles, yes there are lots of other reasons for an anterior tilt of the pelvis, however seen as the glutes are the biggest muscle in the body, and if there not working the way they were intended this is going to have a negative effect on the body. This causes the surrounding muscles to work more which happens to be the lower back.

If you have lower back pain then it is very likely that your gluteal muscles are not firing / not working and they are constantly on stretch. This will result in them been flabby and the storage of fat there will be increased.

So stretch your lower back and strengthen your bum muscles, do this as well as stretching the quadriceps, hip flexors and strengthening the hamstrings and abdominals and you will enable yourself to say goodbye to your back pain once and for all.

It is very easy to look at the problem, the area of pain, but when we look at the cause, the reason for the pain it is far easier to correct.