In a video published on his Instagram account, Grégoire Gibault, aka @majormouvement, suggests starting by moving slowly when your back is blocked. The idea is consistent with the recommendations: in the event of lumbago without warning signs, it is better to seek comfortable movement than to remain immobile for several days.
The right reflex: regain movement, without forcing
A “locked back” often makes any movement seem dangerous. However, in common low back pain, i.e. without warning signthe recommendations go in the other direction: stay active, gradually resume daily activities and avoid prolonged bed rest.
The High Authority of Health recalls that physical exercise is the main treatment allowing a favorable evolution of common low back pain. Health Insurance broadcasts the same message with a simple formula: the right treatment for back pain is movement. A Cochrane review also showed that advising to stay active provides small benefits on pain and function compared to bed rest in acute low back pain.
This does not mean that you have to “force your way through”. In the video, the “physiotherapist with braces” formulates his first reflex as follows:
“I will start to regain movement without pain.”
This point is essential: moving is not about testing your resistance, but about looking for what remains possible. The goal is to signal to the body that movement can become tolerable again, to
regain confidence and to limit the onset of fear of moving. Talking about “unblocking” the back therefore remains a shortcut: these actions can help get the back moving again, but they do not promise an immediate disappearance of the pain.
In the text accompanying its video, the account compares lumbago to indigestion: very painful, distressing, but most often benign. The nuance is important: this applies to common lower back pain. If unusual symptoms are present, self-management exercises should not replace medical advice.
Gentle movements, within the available range
The video gives two concrete examples. The first consists of placing your back to the wall, both hands on the wall, then making small swinging movements with your legs, from one side then the other, gradually crossing. The number of 15 to 30 repetitions is cited in the video, but it should not be understood as a validated protocol for everyone: these are
examplesto adapt to your feelings.
The second example concerns bending. The physiotherapist suggests choosing “the minimum amount of flexion that is comfortable”for example by placing the hands on the knees, then possibly the elbows on the knees, depending on what the back allows that day.
“Whatever the movement, once again, it must remain comfortable. »
In practice, the logic to remember is simple:
- Start with the available amplitudeeven minimal;
- Repeat slowly, without trying to cause pain;
- Increase only if the movement becomes easier;
- Stick to tolerable daily actions, rather than lying down all day;
- Stop and seek advice if the pain significantly worsens or if a warning sign appears.
To go further, True Medical details why it is useful to move in cases of lumbago and also offers gentle exercises to relieve lower back pain, always without forcing.
It is necessary to consult quicklyrather than limiting yourself to exercises, in the event of pain that worsens at rest or at night, weakness in a leg, urinary or anal problems, anesthesia or tingling in the perineum, significant trauma, fever, deterioration in general condition, unexplained weight loss or history of cancer. And as the text of the Instagram publication reminds us, this content does not replace a consultation.