How To Bar Hop Without Lower Back Pain

After a long day of work, spending a few hours unwinding at the bar with friends is common for a lot of us. But hours of drinking ultimately leads to prolonged sitting and standing, which could result in nagging lower back pain.

Nobody thinks about physical health while enjoying themselves at the bar. But you may want to reconsider and start using the chair or foot rail to help reduce that nagging lower back pain.

Difficulties meeting the prolonged postural demands hints towards a bigger issue than simply, “back pain.” This term has previously been called lower cross syndrome and is a way to conceptualize a combination of muscle imbalances that results in constant lower back pain.

These imbalances typically consist of the following:

• Tight lumbar extensors
• Weak / Inhibited Abdominals
• Tight Hip flexors
• Weak / Inhibited gluteus muscles

The result is a hyperlordosis in our back, more commonly known as anterior pelvic tilt. But good news! If you find yourself stuck in this situation, you can work to counteract some of the tight muscles that may be causing these issues.

Here are three quick exercises you can do at the bar without catching too much attention.

90/90 Breathing

This move is a great workout that uses specific muscle activation patterns to help alleviate a tight lower back and hip flexors.

• In a sitting position, place your heels in front of the two front legs of the chair.
• Make a fist with both hands and place them between your knees.
• Press your heels into the legs of the chair, activating your hamstrings on the backside of your thigh.
• Lightly squeeze together your knees against your fists, activating your adductors (groin muscles).
• While breathing slowly, imagine tucking your tailbone underneath yourself, this is called a posterior pelvic tilt.
• Repeat this for 2-3 minutes.

Couch Stretch

This move stretches out your hip flexors, which often tightens after prolonged standing ?

• While standing and using a high chair, bring your foot up to the seat
• Tuck your tailbone underneath yourself by lightly contracting your abdominals.
• Take slow and deep breaths in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
• Repeat this for 20 secs, 2-3 times.

Figure Four Stretch

This stretch will target a muscle deep to the glutes called the piriformis. Doing this move will help alleviate some of the tightness  on the tailbone you feel from a long period of sitting. 

• Using a high chair in front of you, bring your leg up onto it so that the outside of your shin is flat on the seat.
• Take a deep breath in and out, and lightly lean forward at the hips do go deeper into this stretch
• If your leg doesn’t lay flat, feel free to use a fist between your knee and the seat surface.
• Repeat this for 20 secs, 2-3 times.

So next time you decide to spend an evening at the bar, make sure to try these exercises and avoid a “lower back hangover.”