The four primary reasons you may feel minor discomfort or soreness in your back are due to four different and primary anatomical structures of your back's musculoskeletal system, namely: Spinal Vertebrae (bones), Spinal Discs, Muscles, and Fascia. The vertebral bones are stacked simply like blocks that a child may build up like a tower but are separated and cushioned by a jelly-like filled disc between each bone. Naturally, most of the 'cushion' is compressed at the bottom due to the weight from everything stacked above, 'pushing down' toward your tailbone due to gravity.
Only your muscles (the erector spinae) running from each bone literally keep you from collapsing forward! Sore muscles recover relatively quickly because they get lots of blood flow but a compressed disc takes longer to recover. Finally, fascia is a balloon-like wrapper that encases your muscles; if the fascia does not slide smoothly over the muscle then you have an 'adhesion' which is like attaching tape to the muscle, causing a type of soreness a skilled massage therapist can help solve. All these 'types of sorenesses' feel different from one another. The following stretches will help you alleviate discomfort in all the just described situations and should be done even if you feel fantastic!