Karena Wu, a physical therapist and Start TODAY trainer and orthopedic physical therapist, has shared her personal advice on how to reduce lower back pain, a leading cause of disability and set to affect 843 million people by 2050. One simple strategy to reduce this is to stop crossing your legs when you sit, which can result in a muscle imbalance that shortens one side and lengthens the other. This is a sign that an estimated 80% of the population will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. However, bad posture over time can lead to poor alignment of bones and joints, strain to muscles, tendons and ligaments, and lead to a breakdown of your body.