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Lower back and hip pain are closely related. Untreated tightness in the hips usually leads to pain in the lower back. While pain in these areas can be caused by injury, today it is commonly caused by muscular imbalances as a result of frequent sitting or tightness from exercising.

The hip flexors attach to the spine, so when they are tight, lower back pain ensues. The outer hip muscles, like the piriformis or gluteus medius, can also become tight, causing tightness to shift into the lower back, causing pain. Luckily, pain caused by tight muscles can quickly be relieved in just a few short minutes.

Use this five-minute stretch routine to release lower back and hip pain from the comfort of your own home, office, or anywhere else.

If you are already experiencing tightness or pain, practice this routine one to two times daily, and make sure to check with your doctor before incorporating any new exercises or stretches. If you don’t have pain but frequently sit or exercise, add this routine in a few times a week to stay loose and limber.

Cat-Cow Hip Circles | 30 sec

This dynamic exercise will warm up and bring fresh, oxygenated blood into your hips and lower back.

1. Begin in a tabletop position on your hands and knees.
2. Take an inhale to come into a cow pose by lowering your belly and tilting your tailbone up towards the sky. Press your chest forward. Exhale to come into a cat pose by rounding your spine, tilting your tailbone down, and feeling a stretch through your back.
3. Keep the shape of your cat pose and take a big circle with your hips to the right, circling back and around to the left until you come back up to the center. Inhale for cow pose again.
4. Repeat for 15 seconds in the direction, then switch directions.

Child’s Pose | 30 sec

This yoga pose will give your hips and lower back a relaxing release to melt tension away.

1. Start in a tabletop position. Take your knees out wide to the edges of your mat and bring your toes to touch.
2. Sit your hips back on your heels, then walk your hands to the top of the mat, resting your forehead down.
3. Close your eyes and relax here for 30 seconds.

Runner’s Lunge | 30 sec per side

Tight hip flexors create tension and pain in the lower back. This exercise will help to open them back up.

1. Begin in a tabletop position on your hands and knees.
2. Step your right foot outside of your right hand, then heel-toe the foot forward and out a couple of inches. Turn the toes out at a 45-degree angle.
3. Press your hips down and forward and engage your abs to feel a stretch through the front of the left hip flexor.
4. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Supine Figure 4 | 30 sec per side

Release tightness in the outer hips and glutes to relieve pain in the lower back with this gentle stretch.

1. Lie down facing up with your knees bent and your feet on the ground.
2. Cross your right ankle over your left thigh. Pick up your left foot and thread your right arm between your legs. Interlace your hands behind your left thigh and hug the leg in towards your body to feel a stretch in the outer right hip.
3. Hold for 30 seconds. Then release and switch sides.

Gentle Supine Twists | 30 sec per side

This soothing exercise releases tension and pain along the lower spine and in the outer hips.

1. Lie down facing up and hug both knees into your chest.
2. Keep your feet lifted off the ground and parallel your shins to the mat. Bend your elbows and place the tops of your arms on the mat to feel a stretch in your chest.
3. Take an inhale, then exhale to lower both legs to the left. Keep your left shoulder on the ground.
4. You can place your right hand on your outer left thigh to deepen the twist. Look straight up or over your right shoulder.
5. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Get More Easy Hip Exercises: 10 Soothing Stretches to Release Tight Hips