Why Does My Lower Back Hurt When I Stand/Walk for a Long Time? (and how to help it) 

Is it obesity and lack of exercise? Because I'm out of shape, I live a relatively sedentary lifestyle. I also have a massive pot belly? Will that do it? I noticed when I stretch it helps.

Hi Molly, I'm so sorry to hear that. While I can't comment on specific advice you've been given as I don't know the full background of your situation, I wonder if you might want to check out our activation series that talks about glute and abdominal activation? I generally say if you try anything that I've shared, that it should be completely pain free and if you have specific medical conditions to check with a healthcare practitioner who knows your situation before trying any new exercises, and I hope that gentle ab and glute activation wouldn't be painful but might start to help. I hope you can get some help re pain management or something that helps your symptoms soon!

Thank you! I'm so happy you found it helpful :)

Thank you Bobbi! Your kind comment is very much appreciated, and I'm so glad it was helpful.

You're welcome! Thanks for your lovely comment!

Giuseppe, thank you so so much for your comment! I'm so glad it helped, and it makes a world of difference to know that it was helpful.

You're so welcome! Really appreciate you taking the time to leave a kind comment :)

Thank you so much for your kind comment - it is appreciated and I'm glad you found the video helpful.

I hear you.....I can't sit for long and I can't stand in one place but I can walk. The pain is there but after 10mins the pain gets better. Go figure,? I'm 78 maybe old age?

Mine too and hate it

That sounds tough! I hope stretching the hip flexors can make the ab activation easier - have you seen the stretching series we have on ways to stretch more effectively? Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind comment it is so appreciated!

Ouch I'm so sorry to hear that! There are definitely structural issues that can be at play. However, in our clients who do have structural issues they've found gentle psoas release (not stretches, though, for these conditions) and lower abdominal activation to be helpful. But of course, with those medical conditions it's best to follow the advice of the medical practitioners who oversee your care as they know your individual circumstances.

Mine too

Same here

Same here, plus I have what’s called a transitional lumbar vertebrae, aka an extra vertebrae. It’s like having too many teeth in your mouth, but in your lower back…not enough space. And yes, you spelled spondylolysthesis right 👏 Good luck to you.

I'm so sorry to hear about the pain you're experiencing. I see you said you self-referred to NHS services. Have you gone in to an appointment with your GP so he could make a referral for you to get a scan or be seen by a specialist? Your GP may be able to assess you and if they feel your symptoms warrant it may be able to push the scan/consultation forward a bit, depending on where in the UK you live and how overwhelmed the services are there. I can't give personalised advice to you without having seen you and knowing more about your individual situation, and given the pain you're in I'd definitely recommend checking with your healthcare provider / GP / consultant before starting any new exercises. However, for lower back pain in general we find that lower ab activation and glute activation can be very helpful in supporting lower back pain. The lower abdominal activation video is in the pinned comment above, and you can see the glute activation playlist in our playlist section of our channel. The most important thing is to only try the activations as long as they're pain-free - the effort should be low, like 10%, and should feel like they're supportive, not making anything worse. You may also want to check the NHS' website about lower back pain to check/be aware of any specific symptoms that may need more urgent care, in case anything changes in your back and it gets worse. I hope you're able to see your GP and get a referral soon!

Thank you! I'm so glad it was helpful.

So sorry to hear you're in so much pain. Have you seen the abdominal activation video that I included in the pinned comment? Of course, it's important to prioritise the advice from your medical practitioner as they're familiar with your specific situation, but hopefully gently working on the lower abs can help make it easier so you don't have to hold your stomach. You may also want to check this with your care provider to make sure it's appropriate for you given the amount of pain you're in. I hope you can find some relief soon!

yes. most of the video she was saying I might make a video on that to explain what I am not saying in this video which is what I said I would explain. But to be fair, I did stay to the end and will hold in the lower abdominal muscles (if I can find them) whenever I stand up or walk.😋

Hi Jan, so sorry to hear you're frustrated by the video and thank you for sharing your experience. You're right, the videos I share do tend to be quite technical as usually our clients like to have a thorough understanding of what's going on and how things relate to each other, and I totally get that approach isn't for everyone. To give you a TL:DR - the most common reason we see people's back hurting after standing for a long time is that their hip flexor (specifically psoas) is tight. In the video I explain where it attaches so people can understand it's all along the front of the spin in the lower back. So #1 is to gently stretch that, and I believe I shared a way to release that while standing up. #2 is that the lower abs aren't supporting the torso, so the second thing to do is focus on activating the lower abdominals. If you just strengthen or activate the lower abdominals but don't release the psoas (hip flexor), then you're just fighting tension with tension and you'll likely still have the problem. Of course, there is always the possibility that there are structural issues as well, which is why I say this is just the most common thing we see at the clinic! We also have a series on activating muscles including the lower abdominals - I can share the link with you if you like, but also understand if the style of my videos doesn't mesh with how you like to process information. But hopefully that description helps a bit and you can do some gentle release to the hip flexors.

Hi Siobhan, have you seen the activation series including the video about activating your lower abdominals and glutes? That is another video I did. But for if you have pain standing for long periods of time, the number one reason we see is tight hip flexors (specifically, the psoas) and the #2 reason is the lower abs. I believe I described a standing hip flexor stretch you can do in the video?

Hi Jessica, thanks for your question! I don't unfortunately. We did offer video sessions during the pandemic, which we've mostly stopped now that we're back in person, but I have done a couple video sessions where I teach the person how to do a release and then record it so they can use it for their reference?

Hi Priscilla, thanks for your question. I'm afraid I can't answer that one as it's not one that has presented in our clinic very often, if ever (the swelling, specifically) - I'd definitely recommend getting your back checked to make sure there aren't any spine or disc issues happening. I'd also say the potential reasons depend very much on what the swelling is like and where it's occuring, whether there's pain or no pain with it, etc. Hope you're able to get some answers soon!

@LSM Clinic thanks a lot for your quick response

We are designed to walk on two legs! We have a few distinct differences in our skeleton and pelvis compared to apes that support us walking upright - Daniel Lieberman talks about it in the Story of the Human Body. I believe that our pelvis being at an angle vs flat, and us having more lumbar vertebra than apes, mean we're designed for walking on two feet (paraphrasing as it's been a couple years since I read his book but I definitely recommend it).