How to Protect Your Back on Road Trips

Jonathon Strefling, DPT, PT • Mar 11, 2022

Don't ruin your vacation with a sore back

Who doesn't love a good road trip? It's a great excuse to pack a bunch of snacks that you don't normally indulge in. Of course, you also must take into account how many times you will have to answer the dreaded "How much longer until we're there?" question to a child who has no concept of time.


One thing that is not so fun about road trips is when your back gets messed up from the long spells of sitting. Don't worry. We're here to help.


I will go over WHY the back doesn't like long periods of sitting & HOW you can prevent a sore back on your next road trip. At the end I will even include a free link to the EXERCISES I suggest that you can print off or have on your phone.



Why does our spine not like sitting for long periods?

The reason lies primarily in the discs of our back. When we sit, a few things happen:


  1. All of our body weight goes right into our pelvis & spine. When we are standing, the large quadriceps and glutes (butt muscles) relieve our back from a good amount of the compressive forces of gravity. When we are sitting, those muscles are on a break and no longer helping the spine (poor spine).
  2. When we are in the sitting position, our disc material, which lies in between each of our vertebrae, is slowly and constantly being pressed backwards, which happens to be where much of the important stuff like nerve roots hang out.


Therefore, the longer we sit, the more compression downward and backward is happening. Translation: this is no bueno for your back. What you feel will be stiffness and perhaps pain.


How to prevent the stiff and sore back


  There are steps to take to significantly reduce or prevent such stiffness and pain. Let's do this:


  1. Use a Lumbar roll.  This might be the first and best thing you can do. BUT ... your back should be used to using one before the long road trip. Give it a few weeks to accommodate to the roll, first. Read my previous blog on the proven advantages to Lumbar rolls HERE.
  2. Intermittently recline your seat.  That is, of course, if you are not driving. This will decrease gravity's downward or compressive forces on your spine. But don't put your feet on the dashboard like the picture shows. Ok, maybe just for a minute or two but that's it.
  3. Make frequent stops (ideally every 2 hours).  Standing up brings back those quadriceps and glutes we mentioned above. Your back will thank you.
  4. Do these exercises at your pit stops:  Walk. Calf stretch. Extend the back. Stretch the quads. Walk.


Free exercise link


  If you follow the steps below, you can access pictures/video of the above exercises to either watch on your phone (download the app) or

  to print off and take with you. Happy travels!


  To print:

  1. Go to www.medbridgego.com or click HERE.
  2. Enter this code when prompted:  KPNM6PJJ

  To use on your phone through the free app:

  1. Go to your phone's app store, search & download the app "MedBridge Go"
  2. Enter this code when prompted:  KPNM6PJJ



We pray you find this helpful in stewarding your body to the glory of God.


SSMPT travels to all of Kalamazoo County and parts of Van Buren and St Joseph counties.

By City: Galesburg - Kalamazoo - Marcellus - Mattawan - Paw Paw - Plainwell - Portage - Richland - Schoolcraft - Scotts - Three Rivers - Vicksburg


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