In today's video, I demonstrate how to do the tennis ball back exercise. As the name implies, sometimes all you need to help treat your back pain is a basic tennis ball or lacrosse ball. It may sound simple and that's because it is!
The tennis ball back exercise aims to free up any deep spinal joint stiffness - a common foundational issue with many lower back complaints. It's also fantastic for releasing surrounding muscle tightness and tenderness.
Spinal joint restriction is often overlooked in favor of a stronger focus on tight muscles. Both are important, but I find that back muscle tightness is often a compensatory response to the underlying joint dysfunction. So being able to understand and address both is crucial if wanting a healthy back long-term.
As far as exercises go, this tennis ball back exercise is a beauty to not only treat your back pain but understand why it's there in the first place. I highly recommend taking the time to explore this for yourself. You could genuinely discover the missing piece to your back pain puzzle. There is some nuance to how you do the exercise, but you are mostly just following what you find and how that feels. You'll understand what I mean when you give it a go.
So while some are spending big bucks on massage guns and expensive manual therapy, grab your balls and get to work! You won't be disappointed. Good luck!
- Grant
Related: Just Hurt Your Back? Here’s a 7-Step Acute Back Pain Action Plan!
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Equipment used in this video:
- Tennis Ball
- Lacrosse Ball
Please note: Affiliate link.