Quadratus Lumborum (QL) Soft Tissue Release (SUF STM)

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That deep “right there” ache in your low back can make you feel stuck, especially when stretching and foam rolling do nothing. We walk you through a practical way to determine when the quadratus lumborum (QL) might be involved and how to stop guessing with your hands. If you work with clients or you’re trying to manage your own low back tightness, this is a clear, anatomy-based approach you can use immediately.

We demo a QL release in a prone position, including the detail most people miss: you have to get under the erectors and direct pressure toward the spine, not just press straight down on the surface. Then we layer in the simplest performance upgrade we know for soft tissue work, 360-degree breathing. When someone can breathe into the back and sides instead of only the chest, the tissue response changes fast, and the release becomes more comfortable and more effective.

We also compare positioning options, because bodies are different. Side-lying can give better leverage for bigger bodies or anyone who’s hard to access prone, and we share a third variation using a supported deep squat with a reach. Finally, we connect the dots for runners and high-intensity training: the QL is a frontal plane stabilizer, so repetitive impact and stabilization demands can keep it irritated unless you address it directly and safely with the right landmarks.

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Transcript

When Low Back Pain Is Not QL

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So the next thing that we're going to do, QL discomfort doesn't always mean it's from the low back, meaning if you have low back pain, it's not always the QL, but sometimes it will be. So the drills that we did or any of the stuff that we incorporated, did anyone still have some tightness on one side?

Who Still Feels One Sided Tightness

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Yeah. So I'll show you the I'll show you the QL release. This is specific to someone for the three ladies that were up here. I wouldn't, you'd be interested to look at, which we will, but for the other two, probably not so much because it wasn't isolated just to one side. When your clients say, like, it's like right there, it's like deep in there.

What The QL Does To Pelvis

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Quadratus lumbarum, it's a quadrilateral that comes off the lumbar region. And so you can do a release technique on that side, and it can kind of reset the equilibrium on that pelvis because it's going to come off the ribcage in that lumbar region. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna line your side. There's three different techniques you can do on this one. I've I feel like it's like 3333, meaning some clients one will work better on, some clients the other one will work better on. If you have clients that are a little bigger, then I usually will do the side position, not saying you're big, don't worry. But yeah, you just get more leverage

Prone QL Release With Breathing

SPEAKER_00 1:11

here. And so when you're on your stomach, you it's a little more challenging to find, and you have to have pretty good grip strength to get in there. So we're gonna get into which side hurts more? Uh that's fine? No. So you're gonna go and we're gonna so the two ways I'll show you. So if you get on your stomach first, so we're gonna go to this left side, and the QL, on top of the QL, what muscle group is that? Erectors. So we got to go below it and into the spine. So if you just press right here, you're not getting into the QL. So there's the spine, that's the lumbar region. And so we're gonna go down, but then you're gonna come into that area. How's that feel? Uh yeah, I feel it. You feel that? Is it right the spot you had that discomfort? So I'm using my thumb and I'm just using my other thumb to press towards the spine. Just be careful your your nails. Same protocol as before. You breathe until you feel a little bit of uh loosening up, loosening up. Breathe, breathe. She has some great breaths because you can see she's breathing through her back. A lot of people they don't get that 360-degree breathing, and it's all just chest breathing, typically more sympathetic. So we want to encourage your clients to breathe into your hand in this position. I haven't changed the pressure on there. I've kept it the same. Is it getting better? Yeah, okay.

Side Lying Release For Better Leverage

SPEAKER_00 2:29

And then let's just see for fun's sake to see the other side. If you even though this is the one that's irritated, I want to do this one. So face me. So just rotate that way, other way. There you go. And just to see which one you feel gets to that muscle more. So this is the side position that you can do, and you can just kind of leverage yourself and just go straight down. So it's again, it's gonna be case by case dependent. Some people you're gonna get into it more in a prone position, some people you may get more into it here.

Squat Variation And Picking What Works

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Like I said, it's it's pretty much 33 across the board because the other one I'll have my clients do is get into a deep squat on a bar or something, and then they're just gonna reach in front of them, and then I'll do it from that position. You just have to play around with uh your clients to see which one they get the most reprieve from.

Why Running Often Irritates The QL

SPEAKER_00 3:12

So again, she didn't have that discomfort, but it's very, very common. My clients who run a lot. I got a client who she does orange theory and she loves it. So every time she goes in there, she comes back all jacked up. And so it's because the QL is a frontal plane stabilizer. And if we're running and she has you know about 30, 40 extra pounds of fat, so we're trying to get that down, but every time she runs, it really irritates her. So when I do the soft tissue on the QL helps significantly, but then a lot of times she likes that other one to be released

Safety Landmarks And Practice Plan

SPEAKER_00 3:39

as well. So just be aware that there's no ribs here. So we're not getting into anything like vital organs or anything, you're just getting into that muscle group. You can't go too high because that's your rib cage and your vital organs are being protected. If you go down too low, that's your pelvis. So you have this feel goal, and you're just gonna go to the side and then come in. If you don't want this to be done, you don't have to, but we'll break off in a couple groups and we'll go around and show you where that is and the pressure that you need to apply. Okay.