My Neck, My Back…That Old Rap Song and Why Your Hip May Be Causing Your Low Back Pain

Sep 14, 2023

 by Liz Rodriguez

Let's face it. Talking about low back pain isn't exactly sexy. It's boring. Talking about how to add core and mobility into your exercise routine is like when your parents told you growing up how you needed to have a savings account and to clean the fridge once a month. Yes we know we need to do that but seriously so boring.

My hopes as you read this is that you not only learn something that you can apply to your body but that it gets you excited about fitness! Our bodies are these amazing machines that are capable or so much. We can run marathons and climb mountains.  We can kayak, lift weights and cycle for hundreds of miles.  We can also create compensation patterns that leave us in pain and unable to move making us feel old and decrepit.

I digress. The goal of this blog is to help you connect the dots between your hips and your back.  So let's dive in...

I recently wrote a blog on the major movements of the hip and how to strengthen them.  When we look at all the hip can do, well it's a lot!  Below are the six main movements.

So you may be asking, what does this have to do with your back?  Because our hips can do so much movement it's super important for our mobility in these joints to stay solid.  Over time we can begin to lose mobility for a number of reasons.  We sit too much, we don't engage in activities that help to move our hips, and/or we may engage in activities that make our hips even tighter (ie my hips are so tight from my cycling class or my morning run). 

As we lose mobility or range of motion in our hips our body tries to find that range of motion somewhere else in the body.  Let's give you a visual.  Have you ever gotten up quickly before and went to turn around a corner and you felt something in your knee or back?  Or you knew someone who was playing say basketball and they made a quick move and pulled their groin or aggravated their back?  These incidents can both be attributed to tight hips. Because the person couldn't move their hips properly another joint was forced to pick up the slack.  The joint above the hips is the low back or spine and the joint below the hips is your knee.  

So how can we apply this towards our own bodies?  Here comes the boring part.  You need to have a core and mobility component in your workouts.  It doesn't need to be lengthy or complicated.  But it does need to be there.  If you are looking on where to start check out some of my Reels that go into how to work on your hip mobility. And when it comes to your strength training program you want to ensure you are working on moving your body through different ranges of motion and in different directions.  This could mean varying up your squats by adding in some split squats or step ups. Or maybe you trade in your deadlifting for some hip thrusts or single leg deadlifts.  

If you are looking for more help on how to ensure your fitness program is supporting your goals set up a FREE strategy goal with me!  Happy lifting friends!