Have you ever been told your quadratus lumborum (QL) is “tight”, or felt that dull ache deep in your low back and assumed it must be coming from your QL?
It’s one of the most commonly blamed muscles in manual therapy and voice/movement work. But here’s the thing: that discomfort might not be coming from your QL at all.
Let’s back up for a moment.
The QL: Back Muscle or Abdominal Wall?
Anatomically, the quadratus lumborum lives in the posterior abdominal wall, nestled between the deep back muscles and the psoas major, forming part of the lateral support system of the trunk. It lies deep to the obliques and the latissimus dorsi, and because of its location, it's often grouped with the “back muscles.”
But functionally and developmentally, it has more in common with the abdominal wall than the back.
The QL receives its nerve supply from the ventral rami of spinal nerves T12 through L4. That’s the same nerve network that serves the deep abdominal core muscles, not the deep spinal stabilizers like multifidus or erector spinae, which are supplied by the dorsal rami.
Here’s why that matters: in embryology (how our body forms), the muscles that receive innervation from the ventral rami are considered “ventral” muscles, even if they migrate toward the back of the trunk as we develop. So while the QL sits deeper and more laterally within the torso, it’s functionally part of the body’s front-line system, tasked with stability, not spinal extension.
So Why Does It Feel Like the QL Hurts?
Here’s what I often see, especially in singers, movers, and performers:
They describe a tight, gripping sensation in the low back, especially after performances, long travel days, or breath-heavy work. It gets labeled as QL strain. But when we assess more closely, it’s not always the QL that’s holding.
More often, the tension stems from the obliques, specifically their fascial connections into the thoracolumbar fascia (the TLF), a thick connective tissue sheath in the low back.
When the obliques are overworking, whether due to breath holding, bracing, postural imbalance, or even emotional stress, the TLF can become loaded and reactive. And because fascia is highly innervated (even more than muscle), that tension can feel intense.
The result? A deep ache that’s easy to misidentify as “QL tightness,” but actually reflects a load imbalance across the fascial and muscular web.
And that changes how we approach it.
A New Way to Support the System
Instead of going straight for QL release or deep tissue work, I find that people experience more lasting relief with approaches like:
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Coordinating ribcage over pelvis (stacked alignment)
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Using spiraling movements and gentle positional breathing to release oblique tension
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Rebuilding pressure regulation with appropriate breath strategies
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Restoring reciprocal movement across the trunk and pelvis
These methods don’t just alleviate the symptoms, they address the system.
Why This Matters for Voice Users
For singers and vocal pros, pressure regulation is the foundation of everything. When the breath, diaphragm, and obliques aren’t coordinating well, we often compensate by bracing somewhere else, usually in the low back, ribcage, neck, tongue and jaw.
That bracing might show up as back fatigue, vocal heaviness, difficulty accessing range, or feeling “stuck” between breath and sound.
But when we begin with organization, stacking, breath, and balance, we allow the entire system to move and voice with ease. Often, the tension lets go without ever needing to “fix” the QL.
This is the kind of whole-body nuance we explore deeply in the Vocal Resilience Academy. But even one shift, like how you breathe into your stack, can change how your voice feels.
If your back feels tight, start by finding a stacked position. Start with breath. Address your lateralizations (where your body is getting stuck), and let your voice respond.
Warmly, Christine
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