Relieve hard-to-release back tension by unlocking your QL muscles.
Ever noticed a lingering ache deep in your low back after prolonged sitting or standing? When your back muscles are weak or you have poor posture, intrinsic rectangular muscles between your ribs and hips called the quadratus lumborums, or QLs, work overtime to stabilise your spine and pelvis, leaving them tight and sore. These deep muscles are also near critical organs like the kidneys and colon, which means that in addition to contributing to an achy back they can adversely affect your digestive health, and therefore energy and well-being.
Fortunately, Yoga is one of the best methods for engaging these little known muscles and keeping them agile and pain free. Releasing tension from your QLs will lengthen the sides of your lower back (i.e. your flanks), a process that can be exquisitely liberating, creating powerful feelings of relaxation within the abdomen, low back, and hips. To experience this, you first need to know exactly where your QL muscles are.
The Quadratus Lumborum muscles, or QLs for short, are found on either side of the lumbar spine (lower back) and are important core muscles that help stabilise the lower back. They essentially connect the lower spine to the pelvis and assist with movements like side bending and raising the hip.
Many of you may know about these muscles in relation to back pain and they’re often the source of discussion when trying to identify lower back issues. However, they’re sometimes unfairly blamed as the sole culprit for pain and we can easily forget that the QL is just one part of a whole system of muscles that work together to support, stabilise and mobilise the spine.
They are very difficult to identify on your own body as they lay deep in the lower back and it’s nearly impossible to feel them yourself. If you place your hands on your hips (thumbs behind) your thumbs will be hitting the edge (or close to it) of the point where the muscle attaches to the hip bone.
In order to look after our QL we need to understand its relationship with the muscles around it, its anatomy, and what we can do to strengthen it and release it. Let’s start with some anatomy!
Anatomy of the Quadratus Lumborum
The QL muscles are found on either side of the lumbar spine. They attach to the iliac crest (top of the hip bone), the transverse processes of the L1- L4 (lumbar vertebrae) and the twelfth rib (your last rib). Essentially they connect the hip to the lumbar spine and the lowest part of the rib cage.
Actions of the QL
Lateral flexion: When working unilaterally (only one side contracting), they laterally flex your spine, meaning you bend over to one side.
Extension: They also extend the lumbar spine (back bend).
Stabilisation: They play a major role in stabilising the lower back, especially when seated. The QL is very active, for example, when you are sitting and even more so when bending sideways whilst sitting to pick something up off the floor.
Respiration: The QL also plays a role in inhalation, fixing the 12th rib when taking deep breaths or coughing, and helps the diaphragm to contract.
Elevation: It also acts as a hip ‘hiker’ i.e. lifts the hip towards the rib cage e.g. sashaying of hips in cow or cat pose.
Slow and fast twitch muscles
The QLs are considered to be ‘postural’ muscles. This means that their main job is to support and stabilise us during smaller, less active movements like sitting, side bending etc. Muscles involved in more explosive actions (such as running, jumping etc) are sometimes called ‘phasic’ muscles.
- Phasic muscles (e.g. glutes) contain more ‘fast twitch’ muscle fibre. This means that they can perform powerful muscle contractions to propel you in motion, but they are short lived! They have a tendency towards weakness.
- Postural muscles have more ‘slow twitch’ muscle fibres which contract slowly and for longer periods of time. They do not tire easily and have a tendency to get tight and hypertonic (high levels of tension).
This helps us to understand why when we have QL issues, it’s usually related to this area being tight and dysfunctional.
What can cause QL dysfunction?
As with anything to do with pain and dysfunction in our body, this can often arise from overuse, repetitive strain, general weakness or incorrect or unstable movement, such as:
- bending and twisting
- lifting heavy objects
- lateral pelvic tilts (like when one leg is shorter than the other, or even an unsupportive mattress
Signs of QL dysfunction
Pain pattern of the QL
You’ll often feel referral pain along your iliac crest over the top of your thigh (greater trochanter) This can often be quite superficial pain. Deeper aches can be felt over the sacroiliac joint area and deep in the centre of the buttock.
Daily actions that could point to a problematic QL
- needing to stabilise your torso on a table with both hands when sitting or standing
- coughing or sneezing causes pain in the lower rib cage
- unable to comfortably roll to one side when supine
- general lower back pain
- pain in the gluteus muscles
- can go hand in hand with groin and sciatic pain because of associated dysfunctions.
Understanding QL dysfunction
If we get a tight and unhappy QL, we have to look at the bigger picture. This muscle never works alone, and if is is overworked and under-appreciated it’s because it’s ‘co-workers’ are not doing their job properly either.
Connection to the core (Navasana – Boat Pose)
The QL is often overworked when we are sitting. A strong core is very important to stabilise your lower back when sitting for long periods of time. If your core is not that strong, your QL (the marathon runner of muscles) works overtime in supporting you. This means it gets tight and tired. So work on your core to protect your QL.
Weak glutes (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana – Bridge Pose)
Your deeper gluteal muscles (medius and minimus), among many other things, help to stabilise your pelvis during walking. So the QL and the glutes work together to stabilise our posture when moving. If your gluteal muscles are weak, again your QL will overcompensate.
Dysfunction in the erector spinae (Salabhasana – Locust)
The erector spinae are a group of muscles that run along either side of your whole spine. They extend the spine and when only one side is contracting, bend your spine to the side. Immediately you’ll recognise they are identical actions as the QL. They are very close co-workers. If your erector spinae are weak, again your QL has to take up the slack.
An important thing to note is that the QLs work together, so if one is in trouble, the other one will be too!
Caring for your QL
In another article I’ll share with you numerous ways of stretching the QL (Light, Moderate, and Strong)