4 Exercises to Relieve Lower Back Pain in Bed (Unlock Stiff Hips & Spine)
Waking up with a stiff, painful lower back can make even getting out of bed feel like a challenge.
Maybe your back feels tight after sleeping. Perhaps you've spent hours sitting at a desk, and now bending or twisting feels uncomfortable. Or maybe you've been trying lower back exercises without getting the relief you expected.
Before you start another complicated stretching routine, there's something worth considering: your lower back doesn't work in isolation.
The movement of your hips and the middle portion of your spine can influence how you move through your lower back. If these areas are stiff or you aren't moving them through a comfortable range, your back may have to compensate during certain activities.
The good news? You can begin working on mobility with a few simple exercises performed on your bed.
In this guide, we'll walk through four lower back pain exercises you can do in bed, without special equipment. These movements focus on gentle rotation of the lower back, hip mobility, and movement through the area where the middle and lower back meet.
They may help you move more comfortably, particularly if stiffness is contributing to your symptoms. However, not every case of back pain has the same cause, so your response to each movement matters.
Why Does Your Lower Back Feel Stiff or Painful?
Lower back pain doesn't always have one identifiable cause.
Muscles, joints, discs, nerves, activity levels, previous injuries, sleep, stress, and other factors may contribute to symptoms. In many cases, a single cause cannot be identified.
This is why I encourage looking beyond the lower back itself when considering movement and mobility.
Three areas worth exploring are the lower back, the hips, and the middle portion of the spine.
1. Your Lower Back May Need More Comfortable Movement
Your spine moves in several directions, including forward, backward, and rotational movements.
If you spend much of your day sitting in one position, you may get fewer opportunities to move through different ranges of motion.
Gentle, controlled rotation can help you explore movements that you don't perform very often.
However, stiffness doesn't automatically mean something is damaged or that a particular joint needs to be unlocked. The goal is to improve comfortable movement, not force your spine into a particular position.
2. Your Hips May Influence How You Move Your Lower Back
Your hips and lower back work together when you walk, squat, bend, and turn.
If your hips have difficulty moving comfortably, you may change how you perform these activities. Depending on the task, your lower back may contribute more movement than you intended.
Working on hip mobility can help you explore a greater variety of comfortable movement patterns.
That doesn't mean tight hips are necessarily the cause of your back pain. They are one possible factor to consider alongside your symptoms, activity level, and overall movement ability.
3. Your Middle and Lower Back Work Together
The thoracic spine, or middle portion of your back, also contributes to rotation.
If you're trying to turn your body while keeping certain areas rigid, you may distribute movement differently across your trunk and hips.
Controlled rotational exercises can help you practice coordinating these areas.
The key is to move gently and avoid forcing an exercise simply because you want a deeper stretch or a popping sound.
4 Lower Back Pain Exercises You Can Do in Bed
You don't need weights, resistance bands, or gym equipment to begin this routine. A comfortable, supportive bed may work for gentle movement, although a very soft mattress can make some positions harder to control.
Start with a small, comfortable range of motion. Perform a few slow repetitions on each side and adjust according to your symptoms.
There is no need to force a deep stretch or push through pain to get results.
Exercise 1: Prone Lower Back Rotation
Target area: Lower-back rotation and gentle spinal mobility
This first exercise uses a simple windshield-wiper motion with your feet while you lie on your stomach.
The movement encourages gentle rotation through the lower back and can be a comfortable way to begin a mobility routine.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
This movement allows you to explore rotational mobility through your lower back in a supported position.
It can be useful as a starting point if you feel stiff after spending long periods sitting or want to introduce comfortable rotational movement into your day.
You may notice a popping sound during the movement. Popping is not necessary for the exercise to work, and it doesn't prove that a joint has been corrected or that the underlying cause of pain has been resolved.
My tip: Move only as far as you can comfortably control. If twisting reproduces sharp pain or symptoms traveling down your leg, stop rather than forcing the rotation.
Exercise 2: Supine Hip Rotations
Target area: Hip internal and external rotation
The second exercise focuses on your hips while you lie on your back.
Unlike the first movement, which keeps your knees together, this variation uses a wider foot position and allows both knees to rotate from side to side.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
As your knees move from side to side, each hip moves through a combination of internal and external rotation.
Practicing these movements can help you explore hip mobility in a position that supports your body.
This may be useful if your hips feel stiff during everyday activities such as turning, getting out of bed, or changing positions.
However, hip rotation exercises don't automatically reduce pressure on the lower back or eliminate the cause of back pain. Their usefulness depends on your individual symptoms and movement needs.
My tip: Keep your feet stable and avoid forcing a twisting movement through your lower back. If your hips pinch or your back pain increases, reduce the range or stop.
Exercise 3: Cross-Body Rotation for the Middle and Lower Back
Target area: Trunk rotation around the thoracic and lumbar regions
This exercise combines cross-body rotation with controlled movement through your trunk.
The aim is to explore movement where the middle and lower back meet while keeping your body supported.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
Your middle back, lower back, and hips all contribute to trunk rotation. This movement gives you an opportunity to practice coordinating these areas.
You may also feel a gentle stretch around your glutes or the back of your hip, depending on your flexibility and position.
The aim isn't to stretch as deeply as possible. It's to explore a comfortable range of movement without aggravating your symptoms.
My tip: Avoid pulling your knee forcefully toward the bed. Keep your shoulders relaxed, move slowly, and stop if the movement causes sharp pain or increases leg symptoms.
Exercise 4: Prone Hip Rotations
Target area: Hip internal and external rotation in a prone position
The fourth exercise returns you to a stomach-lying position, but this time your knees stay apart while your feet move from side to side.
This changes the position of your hips compared with the second exercise.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
Your hip joints move differently depending on your body position.
The second exercise explores hip rotation with your hips bent while you lie on your back.
This exercise explores hip rotation while lying face down, with your hips in a more extended or neutral position.
Practicing rotation in different positions may help you identify which ranges feel restricted or uncomfortable.
My tip: Start with a small movement. Don't force your feet farther apart or together to chase a stretch or popping sensation.
Why Immediate Relief Is Only Phase 1
Many people will feel noticeable relief immediately after finishing these four movements.
That is great news.
It proves that your back pain is a movement-based problem, which means it requires a movement-based solution.
However, mobility alone will not keep your pain gone permanently.
Think of your recovery in two distinct stages:
Phase 1: Pain Reduction & Mobility
This is where you identify your specific restrictions, calm irritated nerve pathways, and restore normal joint movement to your spine and hips. The four in-bed exercises above start this phase.
Phase 2: Bulletproofing
Once your baseline mobility returns and pain settles down, you must build capacity. That means bulletproofing your:
Core stability
Posterior chain strength
Hip and glute endurance
Spine under load
Without Phase 2, the next heavy box you lift, long run you take, or heavy deadlift you attempt will simply re-trigger the same old cycle.
What Should You Do Next?
If these exercises reduce your pain, that's a strong indication that movement is part of your solution.
However, lasting recovery requires a structured progression- not just doing random exercises whenever your back hurts.
Many of our clients come to us after trying stretching routines, YouTube videos, massage therapy, injections, or rest without lasting results.
What changed their recovery wasn't simply finding another exercise.
It was following the Centralization Process, which helps identify the right movements for their specific condition and progresses those movements over time.
On average, many of our clients experience significant symptom reduction early in the program because they stop guessing and begin following a plan tailored to their spine.
If you're tired of recurring flare-ups, constant stiffness, or living in fear of bending over, consider taking the next step.
✅ See on average a 37% reduction in symptoms in the very first session!
✅ Get a free demo with us following the link below!
Thanks for reading! -Dr. Grant Elliott
Exercises to Unlock Low Back Restrictions
You can perform this entire routine directly on your mattress first thing in the morning or right before falling asleep.
Exercise 1: Prone Lumbar Windshield Wipers
Most people do not rotate their lower back at all throughout a normal day.
Prone Lumbar Windshield Wipers introduce gentle, unloaded rotation to the lumbar joints, acting like a gentle wringing out of a tight towel.
How to Do It
Lie flat on your stomach with your arms out wide to brace and support your upper body.
Bend your knees so your feet point straight up toward the ceiling, keeping your knees and ankles pressed together.
Slowly rotate your feet and knees side to side in a controlled windshield-wiper motion.
Move gently back and forth through a comfortable, pain-free range of motion.
Why It Helps
Restores essential rotational mobility to the lumbar segments
Breaks up morning stiffness without vertical spinal loading
Offsets hours spent in a flexed, seated posture
May provide gentle joint cavitation (natural pops) that eases tension
Relaxes tight paraspinal musculature
Exercise 2: Supine 90/90 Hip Rotations
Now we look below the lower back at the hips.
This movement mobilizes your hips in a flexed position, taking pressure off the lumbar spine by restoring internal and external rotation.
How to Do It
Turn over and lie flat on your back with your arms spread wide for stability.
Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the bed, set wider than shoulder-width apart.
Keeping your feet in place, rotate both knees together toward the left side of the bed.
Reverse the movement and rotate both knees together toward the right side.
Why It Helps
Alternates internal rotation on one hip and external rotation on the other
Mobilizes the hip capsules in a safe, supported position
Keeps your spine completely flat and protected while your hips move
Takes mechanical compensation off the lumbar joints
Improves pelvic dissociation
Movement Note: As your knees drop to the left, your left hip moves into external rotation while your right hip enters internal rotation. Switching sides balances both joints evenly.
Exercise 3: Thoracolumbar Crossover Stretch
Next, we address the area directly above the lower back: the thoracolumbar junction, where your mid-back meets your lower spine.
Stiffness here locks up your ability to twist and reach, forcing your lower vertebrae to overcompensate.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
Frees up rotation where the thoracic spine transitions into the lumbar spine
Delivers a gentle stretch through the lateral glute and hamstring complex
Improves rotational thoracic extension
Releases deep posterior tension without spinal compression
Restores breathing mechanics into the lateral ribcage
Exercise 4: Prone Hip Rotations (Neutral Hip Position)
To complete the routine, we return below the lower back to target hip mobility from a different angle.
While Exercise 2 trained hip rotation in flexion (knees up), this prone variation trains rotation in hip extension (neutral hip angle). Different hip angles target different capsular fibers.
How to Do It
Why It Helps
Mobilizes hip internal and external rotation in hip extension/neutral
Creates a completely different stimulus across the hip capsule than supine exercises
Balances tension across the anterior and posterior hip musculature
Unlocks restricted femoral rotation that causes lumbar shear
Helps reduce deep gluteal and piriformis tension
Why Immediate Relief Is Only Phase 1
Many people will feel noticeable relief immediately after finishing these four movements.
That is great news.
It proves that your back pain is a movement-based problem—which means it requires a movement-based solution.
However, mobility alone will not keep your pain gone permanently.
Think of your recovery in two distinct stages:
Phase 1: Pain Reduction & Mobility
This is where you identify your specific restrictions, calm irritated nerve pathways, and restore normal joint movement to your spine and hips. The four in-bed exercises above start this phase.
Phase 2: Bulletproofing
Once your baseline mobility returns and pain settles down, you must build capacity. That means bulletproofing your:
Core stability
Posterior chain strength
Hip and glute endurance
Spine under load
Without Phase 2, the next heavy box you lift, long run you take, or heavy deadlift you attempt will simply re-trigger the same old cycle.
What Should You Do Next?
If this simple in-bed routine helps you move with less pain, you have found an important piece of the puzzle.
However, if you are tired of waking up stiff every morning, avoiding workouts, and wondering which random stretch will finally work:
You do not need more random exercises.
You need a systematic plan tailored to your specific spine.
That is why we created the Centralization Process.
We help you pinpoint the exact restrictions driving your symptoms, calm your pain fast, and walk you step by step through a complete bulletproofing program so you can return to heavy lifts, running, and daily life without fear.
Our clients see an average 37% reduction in symptoms in their very first session, with many completely eliminating their pain in as little as 15 days. (Reported client outcomes; individual results vary).
If you are ready to permanently resolve your lower back pain or sciatica:
✅ Experience an average 37% symptom reduction in your first session
✅ Claim your free demo consultation below
✅ Apply for our 1:1 Low Back Coaching Program
Stop guessing with your spine. Follow a proven plan designed to fix your back for life.
Thanks for reading!
– Dr. Grant Elliott
Founder, Rehab Fix
Comments