Lower back soreness after lifting, running, or high-intensity workouts is common — but it’s not something you have to accept.

Most of the time, the issue isn’t a “weak back” or a “wrong exercise.” It’s the way your body moves.

That’s where mobility comes in.

Mobility is different from stretching. It’s your ability to control movement through a joint’s full, usable range without compensating or overloading your lower back. When your hips, pelvis, or thoracic spine don’t move well, your lumbar spine takes over — especially in squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, running, and core work. Over time, that leads to tightness or post-workout discomfort.

The good news: the right mobility work can change this fast.

Why Mobility (Not Just Stretching) Prevents Back Pain

Mobility training is active. You’re strengthening the joint through motion, not just passively holding a stretch. This helps by:

• restoring natural hip and pelvic movement
• improving thoracic rotation and extension
• distributing work along the whole spine
• teaching your body to brace and move at the same time
• increasing joint lubrication to reduce stiffness

This is why CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations) are so effective. They’re slow, precise joint circles performed at your true end range, where you keep everything still except the joint you’re training. CARs show you where you’re limited and teach your nervous system how to control that new range — which is what actually reduces pain during workouts.

Why CARs Are a Game-Changer for Lower Back Pain

CARs combine mobility, awareness, and joint stability. They warm up the spine, reduce compensations, and strengthen the deep tissues that keep your lower back supported.
In our Back CARs class, our trainer guides you through:

• Cervical mobility
• Thoracic mobility
• Lumbar and pelvic mobility
• Full spinal articulation

This class is one of the most effective ways to prepare your body for training and reduce post-workout back pain.

Try These CARs Exercises 

Here are the most relevant CARs drills from the Back CARs class — the ones that directly address the causes of post-workout lower back pain.

1) Lumbar CARs (Standing Hip Circles for the Low Back)

A precise articulation of the lower spine that teaches your body how to move from the hips — not by collapsing or arching the low back.

How to do it:
• Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width, knees soft.
• Keep your hands on your hips.
• Start by pulling the tailbone forward (lumbar flexion).
• Shift your hips to one side without moving your ribcage.
• Gently extend the low back by tilting the tailbone backward — but do not push your chest forward.
• Shift to the other side, then return to the front.
• Move slowly through the whole circle, keeping the upper back and ribs quiet.

Great for:
• reducing lower back tightness after leg day
• improving hip-to-spine coordination
• teaching proper lumbar control during training
• easing stiffness after long periods of sitting

2) Full Spine Wave (Top-to-Bottom Articulation)

A controlled roll-down and roll-up that teaches you to articulate each section of the spine independently, improving global mobility and helping decompress the back after training.

How to do it:
• Stand with knees slightly bent and hands on your thighs.
• Begin by rounding only the neck, pulling chin toward chest.
• Let the upper back follow, then the mid back, and finally the lower back.
• Go only as low as you can while keeping the legs grounded and without pain.
• Reverse the motion: initiate from the lower back, then mid back, then upper back, finishing with the neck.
• Move slowly, imagining a wave traveling down and then back up the spine.

Great for:
• improving full-spine coordination
• gentle decompression after workouts
• reducing global back tension
• building awareness of each spinal segment

When to Do These CARs Drills

For best results:

Before your workout:
Use CARs as your mobility warm-up to prepare the joints, increase blood flow, and reduce compensations.

After your workout:
Repeat 1–2 drills to unwind tension, restore healthy movement, and prevent next-day tightness.

Even 3–5 minutes can make a huge difference.

The Takeaway

Most workout-related lower back pain isn’t a mystery, it’s a movement issue. When your hips, spine, and pelvis don’t move well, your lumbar spine ends up working too hard. 

 CARs restore that missing mobility and control. A stronger, healthier, pain-free back starts with learning how your spine moves, one segment at a time.

If you want to feel the difference for yourself, open Back CARs in the STRETCHIT app and give your spine the mobility it deserves.