Don’t mind the ridiculous photo, but I have lower back problems pretty often and this stretch has been most beneficial. It’s been the only stretch that alleviates my pain. The idea is that it naturally twists your spine and allows any slightly misaligned vertebrae to reclaim their proper place.
Extra instructions for the most effectiveness:
– keep the leg along the ground fully straight
– lock the foot of the top leg as high up behind the lower one as is comfortably sustainable
– let your head and neck turn naturally to look in the direction that your “stability arm” reaches.
– if a flat surface does not allow enough rotation, try using the edge of a raised hard/flat surface, or a bed.
Tylenol (which is better than ibuprofen, although you can take both because they don’t interact) also helps because the pain is generally due to the inflamation and irritation of surrounding fatigued muscles that refuse to relax.
Also, AVOID exercises and motions that ask you to bend over from a standing position. Those can make everything so much worse. Don’t pick things up that way either!
Practice Safe Lifting. That uses your leg muscles, which are stronger anyway, instead of relying on odd extensions of weak lower back muscles.