Do you feel like you have a limited amount of time on your feet before your back pain sets in? Does standing or walking seem to make the pain worse while sitting, bending, or lying down brings relief to your back pain or leg pain? When your back is aggravated do you have sciatica symptoms like pain that radiates down into your buttocks or legs? Do you have episodes that you describe as your back "going out?"

If this sounds like you, you may have a directional preference for lumbar flexion. Having a directional preference for lumbar flexion means that you feel relatively better when you round, stoop or flex your spine (i.e. sitting, slouching, bending over). In this case, you will likely feel worse when your low back is straight, arched or extended (i.e. standing, walking, lying on your stomach). When you have lower back pain it is important to understand your directional preference so you can move your spine frequently in ways that are therapeutic and healing and avoid movements that promote more pain and dysfunction.

Join Esther Smith (Doctor of Physical Therapy) and Eva Kauffman (Master Pilates Instructor) as they help you understand what is happening in your back so you can self treat common low back conditions like sciatica, lumbar arthritis, lumbar stenosis, and lumbar herniated discs. Learn Pilates exercises for back strengthening and core support, and physical therapy exercises for back pain and back mobility.

Recommended for: Lower back pain, lumbar degenerative disc disease, lumbar stenosis, lumbar spine arthritis, lumbar spondylosis, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, sciatica

Video Highlights-

Section 1: Education and Low Back Pain Treatment

• Learn sciatica pain symptoms and other common low back pain symptoms
• Spinal anatomy: what is a neutral spine?
• How to check the response of your low back pain
• Mckenzie Method physical therapy back pain exercises

Section 2: Low Back Movement Skills

• Pilates exercises for supported lower back movement 
• Flexion exercises for low back pain relief
• Lower back pain exercises

Section 3: Low Back Mobility Exercises

• Lower back pain stretches
• Hip mobility stretches: inner thigh stretch, hip flexor stretch
• Physical therapy back mobility exercises

Section 4: Low Back Strengthening Exercises

• Spinal mobility exercises
• Pilates exercises for core strengthening and back strengthening
• Pilates exercises for low back mobility and low back support
• Back extensor muscle strengthening 
• Core strengthening exercises for lower back pain
• Multifidus and Transversus Abdominis muscle strengthening