Here’s a simplified sketch from Physiopedia
These are deep muscles, with other structures covering them, but as you can see from above they are part of the oblique muscles, which is part of the Core.
What Does It Do and Why Do We Care?
For our purposes, a main function of the muscle is that it stabilizes the lumbar area. By stabilizing the lumbar area, these muscles can help protect the lower back from overuse or injury.
The QL muscles are a common source of lower back pain. And none of us want that.
Miami Physiotherapy has this on their web site.
“The QL is a common source of pain. It overworks if you’re sitting a lot, especially if you have weak spinal muscles and weak core muscles. It also gets overworked if you have weak glutes, compensating for hip abduction.”
How Do We Take Care of Them?
Strengthening Exercises (you can look these up on google or YouTube if you aren’t familiar with them)
- Oblique/side crunches
- Supine hip bridges
- Planks, especially side planks
- Bird dogs
How do we strengthen glutes? Mostly with squats and lunges.
Stretching Exercises
- Seated, with an arm overhead, lean to the opposite side
- Standing, with an arm overhead, lean to the opposite side