What stretching your back helps—and what it doesn’t

Most of us are not dancers. We spend our days sitting on chairs and rotating through a series of small poses intended purely to prevent pins-and-needles. 

We think of dancers as capable of movement beyond our reach: they can bend forward, backward, sideways, or into a full circle without any problems. 

But are they born hyper-mobile? Or do they just keep moving their spine? 

For many of us—particularly those with desk jobs—we tend to favour just one or two regions of our spine.  

Think about how you move day-to-day: 

• Can you touch your toes? 

• Can you twist your spine side-to-side?  

• How low can you limbo? 

These movements all move different parts of the spine in different directions. If we don’t move in different ways regularly, we can lose mobility. 

What’s the difference between stretching and mobilising? 

Let’s get this out of the way first—it seems minor, but it’s important to know! 

Stretching is typically done with muscles, and mobilising is used for joints. So you can stretch your glutes, but mobilise your hips. 

How does sitting at a desk all day affect your back? 

Modern life doesn’t ask much of our spines. Long periods of sitting reduce the need for: 

• Rotation 

• Side-bending 

• Flexing and stretching different parts of your back 

Over time, the body adapts. Movement that isn’t required simply drops out of the system. 

This doesn’t mean the spine stops moving altogether. Instead, movement becomes concentrated in the areas that still feel familiar and predictable—most often the lower back. 

So, while you may feel like you’re moving enough, the reality is that only a small portion of your spine is doing the job.  

How can moving make your back feel better? 

Your spinal discs—the cushions between your vertebrae—have very little blood supply, so they rely on movement to get fluids moving: nutrients in, waste out.  

If you’re sitting all day at your desk, your spine doesn’t get what it needs. This can cause: 

• Stiffness 

• Degeneration 

• Back pain 

Movement also helps your connective tissues—these are the ligaments and muscles around your spine—stay strong. These tissues adapt to the loads placed on them, so when you sit at a desk all day, your lower back is under constant pressure; a pressure that only goes in one direction.  

Why the lower back ends up doing the whole job 

You use your lower back a lot: for bending forward to pick things up, for standing up, for pushing open a door, and for walking. The lower back is meant to assist the rest of the body as it moves.  

Pain can flare up when it stops assisting, and starts being the focus of movement. The rest of your spine can start clocking out if your daily life doesn’t require it. 

For example, sitting at your desk means you’re using some muscles more than others; for long periods of time. 

• The muscles at the front of your hips are tight 

• Your glutes stay stretched for hours 

• Your upper back doesn’t have to do much 

If you’re not moving much outside of work, your spine could end up honing in on this position. It doesn’t need to move other parts as much, and your body stops prioritising them. They drop off the map. And your lower back becomes the go-to for movement. 

Can stretching help heal your spine? 

Stretching definitely feels good! For a short time, anyway. But it doesn’t address the underlying issue: your movement is still concentrated in one place. 

What really helps is getting better at articulating your whole spine. Your daily life needs to include every segment, so the load can be shared. 

How can you properly move your whole spine? 

Let’s start with something simple: a swan. If you’ve ever done Pilates, yoga, or even a 10-minute YouTube stretching routine, this will have come up. 

Lie on your stomach and slowly lift your chest by lengthening and bending your spine one section at a time, rather than pushing straight up with your arms. The movement should feel smooth and wave-like through your back, not stiff or hinged in one spot. 

Feel your spine? Add the swan to your routine to keep it moving, or explore more back and spine mobility exercises at Freedom On Demand.