Lower Back Pain When Running: How to Fix the 2 Most Common Causes

Experiencing lower back pain when running can be incredibly discouraging and debilitating. One of the world's most popular forms of exercise, something that is supposed to be good for you, has left you sidelined and feeling all out of whack. Well, we’re here to help. Let’s take a look at some of the causes behind your low back pain and how to prevent it from hurting you long-term.

Prevalence of Lower Back Pain

Despite having a relatively low prevalence among runners (compared to other running injuries), lower back pain during, before, or after running is still something that many of us will deal with at one point or another. With so many parts of modern life already contributing to this chronic and multi-faceted condition, running carries the risk of exacerbating it altogether.

Lower back pain is the leading cause worldwide of years lived with disability (YDLs), which is a metric used to quantify the burden of non-fatal health conditions on individuals and populations. It is the leading musculoskeletal problem humans face today, and has a massive economic and social impact on health care systems, resultantly.

Many of us get into running for the health benefits and to prevent problems like low back pain from occurring, so when it starts to rear its ugly head, the motivational fallout can be drastic. Fortunately, there are some common contributing factors that, if appropriately addressed, can mitigate the chances of developing low back pain while running or in any other parts of life.

Why Does My Lower Back Hurt From Running?

Running is a wonderful activity that is easily accessible. As a result, however, many people start running and get injured because their bodies were not prepared to run in the first place. It’s easy to throw on your shoes and hit the road, but that road might be a lot bumpier than you’d ever expect.

Let’s look at two of the most common causes of lower back pain from running, followed by some simple strategies to eliminate them once and for all.

Weak Core Muscles

The core in this context refers to the midsection (abdominal and lower back muscles). Weakness in this area has serious consequences for runners, because the muscles here have an important duty of stabilizing and protecting the lower back. All movement emanates from the core, and ensuring it is strong, healthy and functioning is the first step to fixing low back pain.

For the abdomen, the lower abdominals are of particular importance. These muscles (lower portion of rectus abdominis and external oblique) rotate the pelvis backwards, which helps to stabilize the lumbar spine against the pull of your hip flexors (psoas). When these don’t work properly, the lumbar spine moves excessively, accelerating wear, with every stride you run.

In the low back, your erector spinae (thick ropes adjacent to the lumbar spine) and multifidus (deep muscles that run along either side of the lumbar spine) are important stabilizers of the low back. If a runner doesn’t do any strength training outside of running, these muscles are usually weak and underdeveloped, resulting in what is known as a naked spine.

This woman has tremendous muscle tone throughout her body. Notice how supported her back and torso look as a result. This type of definition is not typically achievable just by running, but needs the addition of a well-balanced strength training program. (Image credit: Adobe Stock)

Tight Hip Flexors

Your hip flexors (psoas, iliacus and rectus femoris) are responsible for pulling your leg from the end stages of stance phase through swing phase of your running gait. This means they’re working hard, literally thousands of times, on every run. In combination with sitting, driving, office work, and watching TV, our hip flexors get hammered. Here’s how that affects your back.

The psoas muscle connects to all five of your lumbar vertebrae, and is the only muscle that bridges the upper and lower body. When it becomes tight, it pulls on those vertebrae, pulling the low back into an excessive curve - this is called lordosis. A lordotic posture can wear out your low back by putting large amounts of pressure on the discs, joints, and vertebrae over time.

Heel striking and overstriding is a common cause of tight hip flexors in runners. This posture tends to land the leg out in front of the runner's body. This forces you to carry the leg farther than it needs to go (overworking the hip flexors). It also applies braking forces to your forward momentum, and encourages a footstrike that doesn’t transfer well to faster running.

This runner is displaying signs of both of the issues we just discussed. Notice the exaggerated curve in her low back, and the dramatic overstriding that is about to be completed with a high-impact heel strike. Despite her fit figure, there is likely a lack of core/low back stability and overuse of the hip flexors. (Image credit: Adobe Stock)

How Do I Get Rid of Lower Back Pain When Running?

With the above info in mind, let’s now draw our attention to some ways we can resolve these common causes of back pain through simple stretches and exercises that can be done from home. 

Lower Abdominal (LA) Exercises

LA exercises involve resisting the pull of the hip flexors and rotating the pelvis backwards. This teaches the two sets of muscles to work together, which is exactly what they’ll have to do when running as your legs are moving while the low back stays stable. A strong core also helps efficiently transfer power to the legs, and will improve your running performance overall.

A fantastic beginner LA exercise is the dead bug (below). This exercise teaches the whole body to work as a unit with a focus on maintaining lumbar stability against the pull of your hip flexors. It also trains the body contralaterally (opposite arm/opposite leg), which is the same coordination needed for running.

Dynamic Runner

Instructions:

1. Start by lying on your back with your legs elevated to 90° and arms pointing straight up towards the sky
2. Engage your core by rotating your pelvis backwards so that the space between your low back and the ground is eliminated; maintain this pressure on the ground throughout the exercise
3. Raise one arm overhead while simultaneously stretching out the opposing leg (remember to keep your back flat throughout)
4. Return to the starting position, and stretch out the other two opposing limbs
5. Repeat for 5-10 reps on each side to complete one set; perform 2-4 sets

Hip Flexor Stretches

By giving the hip flexors some gentle stretching before or after a run (even intermittently), we can help relieve tension in them that may be pulling on the low back. It is important, however, that this is coupled with abdominal exercises similar to the one above, as both the hip flexors and abdominals should work together to effectively support the low back while running.

A wonderful stretch that reaches deep into the hip flexor muscles (not just the psoas, but iliacus and rectus femoris as well) is the low lunge (below). Give it a try, and if you notice a difference in your low back pain, you know you’re on the right track.

Dynamic Runner

Instructions:

1. Start in a kneeling position with your spine erect, rest your hands on your front knee or use a chair/wall for balance, if necessary
2. Squeeze the glutes to help tilt the pelvis backwards and support the back, hold this throughout the stretch
3. Lean forward gently on the front knee until you start to feel a stretch in the front of the hip/thigh
4. Play with the position and work into areas that feel the tightest
5. Hold for 15-30 seconds if doing prior to or intermittently throughout your run
6. If doing after your run or on an off day, you can hold for 60+ seconds
7. Perform 1-3 sets on each side

Compound Strength Movements

Running alone doesn’t adequately train several parts of the body, one being the low back. It’s important to build up the erector spinae and multifidus muscles because of their important roles for low back stability. Full body compound movements where we’re picking things off the ground and hinging at the hip are key. Try adding this dumbbell deadlift into your next workout.

Dynamic Runner

Instructions:

1. Stand with two dumbbells and your feet hip width apart, toes facing forward
2. Begin by taking a deep breath in, hold, then draw the belly button in towards the spine to engage the core
3. Start hinging at the hips until the weights get below your knees, then bend the knees as well until you’re in the position of picture 2
4. Reverse the movement, exhaling through pursed lips as you squeeze your glutes to come back up to standing
5. Repeat the movement 10-20 times, 2-4 sets
6. Adjust the dumbbell weight as necessary

Run Pain-Free with Dynamic Runner

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive training program you can access 24/7, consider signing up for Dynamic Runner, where we have built injury rehab, mobility, and strength training routines all into one convenient online portal. You can try us out for 7-days FREE by clicking here.

Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist