I tried this three-minute stretching routine for my back after hours of gardening and it really helped

I recently spent several hours pulling up weeds in my yard and, despite trying to maintain good posture, all the bending and twisting wrecked my lower back.

My usual trick of a hot bath didn’t help, but thankfully, I stumbled upon this video by certified mobility coach Anthony Green and thought it would be worth a try to see if it could soothe my aches and pains.

How to do this stretching routine for the back

Do the first stretch for one minute, then the second for two minutes, one minute per leg.

My experience

The first stretch really opens up the hips and helped my back pain

I really like this stretch because not only does it feel like it’s mobilizing my spine, it also really works the hip flexors.

In that sense, I imagine this move would also help you warm up for a run. And the more often you do this move, the more flexible you should become.

The second stretch is very challenging

I struggled to get into position for the second stretch, which may say a lot about how flexible I am!

I can see how this move would feel good when you get it right, but it’s definitely not an easy one to try and I found it hard to achieve with good form.

I should make more time for stretching

Often when I’m injured, I tell myself to wait it out and eventually I’ll feel better, but doing these stretches reminded me how useful mobility work is for injury recovery—provided you are not in acute pain.

The expert take

I spoke to physical therapist Stephen Rapposelli from Performance Physical Therapy to get an expert’s opinion on these two stretches.

“They are relatively advanced movements, and I doubt that someone in acute or severe pain can do them,” says Rapposelli.

“The first movement focuses on the hip rotators. As depicted in the Instagram video, the movement stretches both directions (internal and external rotation).

“I like that it is being done in a prone (face down) position as this focuses the movement to the hips, which is good.

“Why should you be concerned with hip rotation flexibility for back pain? Research has shown that limited hip rotation flexibility is one of the few common traits of most people with back pain.

“The second movement in the post is definitely advanced. In this movement, the person is using the weight of their legs, as well as that face-down position, to put all the motion into the lower spine.

“This is good in that it uses the person's bodyweight to their advantage, but it might not be tolerated by people in acute pain, or someone who doesn't have good body position awareness.”