So many people are told that the cause of their back pain is structural due to a positive finding on an MRI like a herniated disc, stenosis or pinched nerve. This leads to treatment such as epidural nerve blocks, pain medication and ultimately surgery. The worst part of this situation is that there is a simple test you can do to confirm or refute the diagnosis.
I have found that in the vast majority of cases of lower back pain, the cause is muscular, not structural. The typical reason for lower back pain is a muscle imbalance between the quads and the hamstrings. The quads are the front thigh muscles and work much more than the hamstrings, posterior thigh muscles, because most activity such as walking, climbing stairs or sitting up and down is performed in front of us. This means the quads are the primary muscle group to perform the activities. As a result of this situation, a muscle imbalance may ensue creating severe shortening of the quads.