Questions people ask before they start

Research by Bandy & Irion (1994) shows 30 seconds is the threshold for meaningful tissue lengthening. Holds shorter than 15 seconds give negligible benefit. For the deeper stretches (child's pose, sphinx), 45 to 60 seconds is better. The timer on this site builds the right hold time into each routine automatically.

Both work; mornings address overnight stiffness (which is real and measurable), evenings address accumulated load from the day. If you can only do one, morning has the edge because daily morning stiffness is the biggest predictor of recurring back pain in cohort studies. The 5-minute beginner routine is designed to fit before getting in the shower.

No. Stretching should produce a sensation, not pain. Mild discomfort that fades within a few breaths is fine. Sharp, shooting, or radiating pain means stop. Specifically, if a stretch makes pain shoot down your leg further than before, that is nerve root irritation, not a stretch you should push through.

Two reasons. First, your spine decompresses overnight as fluid re-enters the discs (you're 1cm taller in the morning), making the discs slightly more pressurised and more vulnerable. Second, after 6-8 hours of stillness, your paraspinals and QL stiffen. Morning stretching addresses both. The first 90 minutes of the day is when you most need decompression (child's pose, knee-to-chest) and least need extension (don't do McKenzie press-ups straight out of bed).

Crunches and traditional sit-ups load the lumbar discs in repeated flexion under axial compression — exactly the loading pattern Stuart McGill's research identifies as the highest disc-injury risk. Replace them with pelvic tilts, dead-bugs, and bird-dogs to train the same core musculature without the disc load.

Foam rolling the actual lower back (paraspinals) puts compressive force on a structure already overloaded — not recommended. Foam rolling the glutes, hip flexors, and thoracic spine (above the lumbar) is safe and often helpful because it addresses muscles whose tightness drives lumbar compensation.

Once daily is sufficient for non-specific lower back pain. For acute episodes (first 48 hours), the McKenzie protocol recommends doing the prescribed exercises every 2 hours during waking hours, then tapering to 3-4 times daily for the next week. After acute resolution, daily is the maintenance dose.

A 2017 Cochrane review of 12 randomised trials found yoga produces small-to-moderate improvements in chronic low back pain function and pain at 3-6 months, comparable to other exercise programs. The active ingredient is sustained holds of specific positions — exactly what the targeted routines on this site deliver. You don't need a class; you need consistent daily practice.

Heat (warm bath, heat pack) is better for muscle spasm and tightness, which is what most non-specific lower back pain is. Ice is better in the first 24-48 hours of an acute injury with swelling or after a specific traumatic event. For chronic stiffness: heat wins, every time.

Classic disc-bias pattern. Sitting puts the lumbar spine into flexion, which increases pressure on the front of the discs and can push the disc nucleus backward toward the nerve roots. Walking puts the spine in slight extension, which decompresses the front and unloads the nerves. The McKenzie extension-bias routine is built for exactly this pattern.

Once acute pain has settled and you can move without protective spasm, yes — carefully. Glute-dominant lifts (glute bridges, hip thrusts) actively help. Avoid heavy axial loading (back squats, conventional deadlifts) for at least 4 weeks. Stuart McGill's "Big Three" (curl-up, side bridge, bird-dog) are the safest core stabilisation exercises during back rehab.

Lower back pain stays in the back. Sciatica is pain that radiates DOWN the leg, following the path of the sciatic nerve from a lumbar nerve root (back of thigh, down the calf, sometimes to the foot). Sciatica typically has a back-pain component, but leg-dominant radiculopathy without much back pain is possible. The presence of leg-dominant pain changes the protocol significantly; see the pain guide for the disc-bias test.

The 2020 Lancet Low Back Pain series concluded that spinal manipulation produces small, short-term improvements but no better than physiotherapy or exercise for most non-specific cases. If you want to see someone, a physiotherapist or osteopath who specialises in MSK is generally a safer first stop, particularly because they'll prescribe exercise rather than just adjustments.

Three reasons: the growing weight in front of the body increases lumbar lordosis (arch), the hormone relaxin loosens ligaments including the SI joint, and abdominal muscles lengthen and lose pelvic-stabilisation function. Gentle, supported stretches (child's pose with knees wide, cat-cow on hands-and-knees) are appropriate; avoid prone stretches (sphinx, press-ups) from the second trimester onward.

Almost never as a first step. NICE guidelines and the 2018 Lancet series both recommend against routine imaging for non-specific lower back pain because incidental findings (disc bulges, degenerative changes) are age-dependent and extremely common in pain-free adults — roughly 37% at age 20, over 90% by age 60 — so seeing them on a scan after age 40 typically reflects normal ageing rather than the source of pain. Imaging is indicated only with red-flag features (see the pain guide) or after 6+ weeks of failed conservative care.