When I talk to golfers, the lumbar spine is the area they complain about the most. They talk about their lower back being stiff. The lumbar spine are the only bones connecting our upper and lower body, they have a huge job to be stable and keep our upper body upright. The hips and the thoracic (ribs) are supposed to be mobile areas around the lumbar spine, if we remember this we can generally start to help the lumbar feel less pain.
If we want the hips and thoracic areas to be mobile, why are we trying to keep the lumbar mobile as well?
One thing we have to remember about is to stay mobile you have to move, and even though we want the lumbar to be stable, there is one great reason to move it. Every joint the our body has something called bursa, in our lumbar we know them as intervertebral discs. In each of these bursa and discs are synovial fluid, which helps to keep the bursa or disc healthy and lubricated. Moving the joint allows the fluid to move around, keeping the bursa or disc healthy and lubricated. If we don't move the fluid around areas that aren't lubricated dry out and become brittle.
Looks a little stiff,
must need to move.
Follow this video to get started with some lumbar mobility.
Let us know how these first movements go and if they help your low back feel a little better!