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What Exercises Can I Do For My Lower Back While Driving?

Last updated on March 16, 2022 By Dan Baumstark, MSPT, CHT Leave a Comment

driving in a convertible car
Several times per month I make a two-hour drive from DC to West Virginia. This has given me countless driving hours to test out strategies to deal with lower back stiffness and pain. I can proudly say that I have come up with a few remedies to deal with my lower back when it starts to bother me while driving.

1. Bucket seats are awful.

They place the lumbar spine in a partially flexed position and roll the pelvis backwards. The result is usually increased pressure on the intervertebral discs. Bucket seats are also typically “low,” meaning that the knees are placed at about the same height as the hips. (Check your knee height in relation to your hip height the next time you are in a car.)

A simple correction to this is to simply raise your seat up so that your hips are a bit higher than your knees. If your seat does not adjust to the appropriate height, sit on a pillow or a small cushion. This does place you in a better alignment.

2. The gluteal muscles are on hiatus during driving.

I often feel my gluteus maximus muscles falling asleep with extended drives. Weak and under-used gluteals are hugely problematic in terms of lower back dysfunction. Why not use the massive amount of time that we drive as an opportunity to perform some gluteal squeezes? As silly as this sounds, I will often perform a set of ten gluteal squeezes with a solid five-second hold for each contraction. One set of ten squeezes per thirty minutes of driving is not that much of a commitment.

3. I am a huge fan of the “pelvic clock” exercise.

Take a look at the video below for a detailed explanation. Sitting in a car tends to place the pelvis and the lumbar spine in the rolled back, or “twelve o’clock position.” When this happens for hours and hours, we actually lose our ability to bring our spine and pelvis into the upright “six o’clock position.” The exercise that is demonstrated on the floor is actually totally transferable to the seated position!

I practice my pelvis clock while driving, making especially sure that I can roll through the entire lower one-half of the clock range (three o’clock to six o’clock to nine o’clock). I use a scouring type motion, gently rolling through the range in an arc.

Next time you are in a car, try it! (If you have no idea what I am talking about, you really need to look at the video.)

Image credit: Top © Günter Menzl/Fotolia

Filed Under: Exercise & Fitness, Featured Tagged With: Lower Back



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About Dan Baumstark, MSPT, CHT

Dan is a licensed Physical Therapist in the District of Columbia, license #PT2916. He has a Masters of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Dan specializes in sports medicine & upper extremity rehabilitation. He is a Certified Hand Therapist, certified by the American Society of Hand Therapists (initial certification date 11/6/2004, certification #1041100023). Dan has extensive continuing education in manual therapy from the Michigan State University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
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DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for Educational Purposes Only and is not designed to diagnose, treat, mitigate, prevent or cure any health conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated statements about these health topics or any suggested product compositions. Answers to questions submitted are merely the opinion of the physical therapist and should not be taken as a prescribed course of action. Any advice given by the therapist must be cleared with the treating physician involved in direct patient care. The person posing the question absolves the responder of any liability in regards to opinions given. PhysioDC insists that all patients receive approval from a prescribing physician prior to starting a structured exercise program involving any of the exercises included on this site. PhysioDC.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com; proceeds from product sales help cover the operational & maintenance costs for the site.