HOW: Begin on your hands and knees. Push back into a child’s pose, round your back within your tolerance. Focus on bringing your butt as far back as possible, ideally, your butt will touch your heels while dropping your chest towards the floor. Keep your hands overhead for the entirety of this stretch.

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in the low back and the back of your hips.

HOW: Begin on your hands and knees. Push back into a child’s pose, round your back within your tolerance. Focus on bringing your butt as far back as possible, ideally, your butt will touch your heels. From this position reach your arms over to one side without shifting your body weight to that side.

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in the low back and the back of your hips. While stretching towards one side, you will feel the stretch on the opposite side that you are reaching to, from the shoulder down to your hip.

 

COMPENSATION: Avoid leaning your weight to the side you are reaching towards.

HOW: Get set up on your stomach with your hands just outside your shoulders. Begin the exercise by pushing your hands into the ground then lifting your upper body and chest off the ground by extending your arms. Pull your body through and lift your chest towards the ceiling, hold for the time prescribed and repeat.

 

FEEL: This should feel like a stretch in front of your hips and your abs. You may feel a stretch or good motion in your back as well.

 

COMPENSATION: You shouldn’t feel sharp pain or any issue in your low back, if you do decrease the height of your chest lift and keep your low back more flat versus arched. Also watch the video for the cue to pull your body through to get extra traction on your lower body letting your hips lift a little bit.

HOW: Begin in a quadruped position hands and knees on the ground. Sit back onto your heels while keeping your arms straight and hands on the ground creating the child’s pose position. From here, bring your chest up and put your hips down while pushing into the ground with straight arms raising your head up as high as you can go. The next step is returning to the quadruped position. Reach one arm through to the other side while rotating your back and keeping the other arm straight pushing into the ground. Perform 5 reps for each of these exercises. 

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in your mid back and shoulder while performing these stretches. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t rotate your body on the child’s pose. Keep your chest up on the press up stretch. Keep the one arm straight while the other arm reaches through.

HOW: Start by lying on your side with your knees bent and raised to hip height. Clasp your hands on top of each other. Slowly reach your top hand forward as far as you can. Then, slowly pull your hands back, across your chest, and drop to the opposite side.

 

FEEL: You should feel a nice gentle stretch through your mid-back region. You may also feel a little pec stretch in the front of your shoulder.

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to keep your knees high. If your knees are not high enough, you will not get the stretch in your mid-back region.

HOW: Start in a quadruped position with your hands and knees on the ground. Slowly rotate to one side by bringing your arm under your body and through to the other side. To increase the stretch, you can “crawl your fingers” and exhale at the end of the stretch.

 

FEEL: You should feel a nice and gentle stretch in the middle region of your back when you perform this exercise.

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to keep your hips on top of your knees, or even sink your hips back more towards your ankles. Do not let your hips come forward like in a modified plank position. 

HOW: Bring your feet all the way together in a standing position. Begin by touching your head chest, rounding your shoulder forward, placing your hands on your thighs, and slowly arching each part of your back while keeping your legs straight. Reach down down and hold that stretch for as long as prescribed. Reverse the motion and return to the starting position. 

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in your back and hamstrings. 

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to curve your body forward one segment at a time. Don’t let your toes come off of the ground.

HOW: Bring your feet all the way together in a standing position. Bring your arms straight up overhead. Reach back as far as you can, safely, while following your fingers with your eyes creating an arch in your back. Your hips should move forward as you continue to reach back. Hold that stretch for as long as prescribed. 

 

FEEL:  You should feel a stretch in your core and back. 

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to continue to look at your hands to get the best extension.

HOW: Bring your feet all the way together in a standing position. Rotate your upper body to one side while keeping your feet flat and your hips facing forward. Try to look behind you while rotating your shoulders with you. Breathe normally as you alternate rotating to each side. 

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in your back.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your feet flat on the ground. Don’t side bend as you rotate, stay straight up.

HOW: Begin standing with one foot flat in front of you and the other behind you with your toes pushing into the ground. Maintain that position as you put both arms straight out in front of you at chest height. From here, rotate your upper half to one side and return to the starting position. Alternate to each side for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in your mid back. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your hips and feet facing forward as you bend to each side. Keep your arms up in front of you the whole time.