Question:

I seem to have no mobility in my lower back. I can easily touch my head to my knees, but my lower back is very rounded. I am nearly 50 — is there anything I can do to improve this?

Answer:

How do we dissolve the bubble in the lower back? This was a question I had to ponder for years as I patiently waited for my hamstrings, glutes and lower back to open. The rounding in the lower back is usually a tightness of the muscles I have just mentioned but specifically it is the hamstrings' lack of length that doesn't allow the pelvic rotation to flatten out the back.

This can be quite dangerous too, as the angle of the sacrum to the femur (upper leg) bone should be an acute angle in forward bending. If it is not (ie, it's at an obtuse angle) then excess load will be given to the sacral and lumbar spine area and the sacroiliac joints will also be overloaded.

What does that mean and what do we do? Well, when we bend forward we learn to bend our knees so we create an acute angle in the lower back and femur bone. This may feel like you are stretching less as you won't feel the same intensity behind the knees or up in you buttocks but you will be putting the emphasis of the stretch in the belly of the hamstring muscle and it is that area we want to encourage to lengthen.

It can be quite humbling bending the knees a lot in forward bending especially, as you say, you can touch your knee to your head, but over time you will find this is the quickest way to lengthen hamstring and back extender muscles.

So how do we dissolve the bubble in our back? We ease off and hold good alignment and focus the stretch into the belly of the muscle. Another factor that will help is by contracting the thighs in all forward bends. This helps what we call reciprocal inhibition. Basically, if you contract the quads I forward bends then the hamstrings will be able to release further because of their neuromuscular relationship.

Good luck, be patient and protect your lower back. It isn't important how flexible or strong you are but it is important that you treat your body with care and listen to its needs. Work on taking the attachment points further apart by turning the sitting bones up, engaging the quads and grounding the heels rather than jamming the legs straight.

Duncan Peak — yoga expert
www.powerliving.com.au