new back tips – 10 to 12 minute head-to-toe stretching routine

Your body was designed to move. People who move better feel better and enjoy life better. Manage movement, and by God’s grace, your body will work for you in your life… Not the opposite.

Make a commitment to taking yourself through a good head to toe stretching routine before you jump in the shower in the morning, and your days will be much more flexible and better.

With that in mind let’s see if we can handle it in just 10 minutes. You just need a mat, some wisdom, and restraint. Goodness… You can do this in your jammies.

From the standing position… Bring your feet together, and interlace your fingers in front of you, squeeze your abs to stabilize your lower back, and bring your hands up over your head as you invert them. Now with your hands straight up over your head, get as long and tall as your body will allow. Keep squeezing your abs as you lean your body to the right… slow and easy, keeping your lower arm even or a little in front of your upper arm to feel a bigger stretch along the left side of your lower back. Now move back to center and get long again… Taller as you pull more traction on your lower back. Squeeze your abs. Now, lean your body to the left… Slow and easy, keeping that lower arm level or a little in front of the upper arm, feeling the right side of your lower back stretching longer. Now repeat back to the top. Get longer. Lean, slow and deeper into the right. Repeat this move, returning to center, stretching your body out taller to pull traction on your lower back, and leaning into the opposite side. Back and forth, pausing in the middle to get a good traction stretch on your lower back, and going a little deeper with each repetition. 5–8 times to each side.

Next, bring your arms out to 90° lateral to your body. Palms face down and roll your shoulders forward… 6 inch circles only. As an option, you can add knee raises as high or low as you want to go. As an additional option, you can rotate your hips laterally while doing your knee raises to warm up the entire lower extremity and your core. Keep squeezing your abs through every movement. Roll from the shoulders… it’s not about waving the hands. After 20 to 30 shoulder rolls forward, turn your palms up and roll your shoulders backward. You can continue lifting the knees… or not. Never let off squeezing the abs. In either direction, forward or backward, you can bring your arms lower if this movement produces shoulder pain. 20 to 30 times each direction and you are done with this one.

Next, to work out all of the shoulder kinks, you are going to rotate the shoulders forward, increasing the size of the circular movement until you have maximized shoulder range of motion. Turn your palms down and in as you are rolling forward in front of your body, and up and back as you cross behind the body line. Again, 20 to 30 repetitions gets it done. Then, begin rolling your shoulders backward, increasing the size of the circular movement until you have maximized shoulder range of motion again. This time, palms are down in front of your body as you open them up and out near the top of your circles going backward. 20 to 30 repetitions and this one is done.

With all of the shoulder movement, the muscles connected to the neck are getting warm and ready for you to take your neck through full range of motion. There are only 6 directions through which the neck moves.. we start with flexion and extension. Slow and easy bringing your chin as close to the chest as possible, then squeezing your shoulders back with your palms face up, slowly extend your head back as far as it will go. Keep a good squeeze on both your abs and the muscles between your shoulder blades as you go backward. 5 repetitions forward and back is usually enough. Next, we are taking it side to side. First time through, drop your head straight down to unwind the muscle groups behind the neck, then roll your ear toward your right shoulder until you are even with it. Slow and easy, roll your ear toward the left shoulder until you are even with it. After the first time through, you can go straight from the right side bend to the left, feeling the stretch on the opposite side you are bending the head. 5 repetitions, both directions. Finally, you are going to rotate your neck in both directions. Start by bringing your head back to center… perform a single flexion then extension move to unwind the muscles behind your neck… then bring your hands behind your hips and turn your head to the right… chin moving toward the direction your elbow is pointed. Now to the left. Slow and easy, increasing the range of motion just a little on each rotation stretch. 5 times each direction, and you are done with this one.

We are heading for the floor… This one challenges the knees in a good way, but you may need to modify if you are unable to completely flex your knees. From the down on all fours position… Squeeze your abs and move your hips toward your heels. This works to stretch your lower back better if your knees are together. Keep squeezing your abs to stabilize your back. Now walk your hands forward with your head relaxed down. Keep your hips as far back toward your heels as possible, as you enjoy a nice traction stretch of your lower back. Hang out here as long as you need to in order to make your lower back more elastic and comfortable. You may even want to stop the video to lengthen your stay. When you are ready, come back up to the kneeling position with your hips as close to your heels as possible. Support yourself from behind your your feet as you lean back to squeeze those knees into a healthy compression. Your timing on both of these is up to you… Stop when you are reasonably comfortable.

Next, we are going to stretch those calf muscles… Both the outside ones and the inside ones… the gastrocnemius, and the soleus, respectively. If you are relatively flexible, you can go into a downward dog position like this with your heels down. If not so flexible, you can do this at the counter, with one foot forward, and the foot of the leg you are stretching back, heel down. Start with your right knee locked, and your left knee bent… Left foot forward if you are at the counter. Lean into this stretch of the right gastrocnemius until you feel a reasonable discomfort, and stop when the muscle becomes a little more comfortable — typically in less than 20 seconds. Then, bend that right knee, still keeping the right heel down. Push that right knee forward, heel down, until you feel a nice stretch of the soleus, lower in the calf, specifically at the Achilles tendon. You may have to play with this one until you feel the Achilles tendon stretch… the key is heel down, knee bent and moving forward. Same formula, typically less than a 20 second stretch. Now, do it all again on the left. Lock knee, heel down, less than a 20 second stretch. Bent knee, heel down, less than a 20 second stretch. Done with this one.

Now, in preparation for your hamstring stretch, we are going to do a cannonball stretch. Balance yourself on your feet with knees bent, hips to heels, and if you are confident, you can reach across and grab your elbows. You must squeeze your abs to protect your lower back. Tuck your chin to feel a great stretch from the base of your skull down to the bottom of your spine. Just to mix it up while you’re down there, you can switch your up arm to your down arm. Just a few seconds enjoying this stretch and you are done with this one.

Now, for the hammies… This one is worth the price of admission. Maintaining the squat position from the cannonball stretch, squeezing your abs like you never have before, put your hands or fingertips on the floor or a stack of something that will challenge you in your quest to lengthen the hamstrings. Start with your fingers pointing forward, and slowly straighten your knees as if to stand, but keeping your hands on the ground or whatever you have stacked up that will allow you to extend your knees completely. Keep those abs tight. Go down to a squat, but do not bring your hips below your knees this time. Back up to fully extended knees… then down to a 90º bend of your knees, working to keep your upper body weight somewhat supported in your hands. Perform this 5 times… Then turn your hands outward and back with your fingers pointing backward, and do 5 more. Never let go of squeezing your abs. When you get to 5, you are done with this one.

Now to get your back moving in the opposite direction, or extension, we are going to warm up in transition using our cat/ cow exercise. From the all fours position… Take a deep breath in, and as you raise your head up and extend your middle back down. This requires squeezing your abs to stabilize your lower back. Now breathe out as you drop your head down and bring your back up into a big parachute, cat back. Repeat 5–10 times, until you feel more comfortable extending your middle back… and you are done with this one.

With your middle back warmed up now to light extension, it’s time for the cobra position to increase that back extension. The key to your success in performing cobra is to extend from the middle back and not from the very low back. The way this happens… you guessed it, squeeze your abs to stabilize your lumbar spine. You can start from the bottom and go up into cobra position, or you can start from the top and go down into cobra position. Beginners start from the bottom and if necessary just go up to your elbows. If you have wrist issues, you can make a fist to protect your wrist or stay down on your elbows. As you get more comfortable in the extended position, you will slide into the child’s pose position of flexion, slow and easy. Transition back-and-forth with increasing depth of stretch and speed of transition, as your body allows. Take your time with this one… Even if it means stopping the video to get comfortable with the transition between cobra and child’s pose to really loosen up that back of yours. It is fun to be done.

One more before we land… let’s get those hip flexors stretched out, and you are going to perform this stretch in the hurdlers stride, or lunge position. Start on both knees, upper body upright, and straighten out your left knee in front of you with your heel down. Flatten your left foot to the floor, or mat, as you bend that left knee and you lean your body forward… squeeze your abs. Place your hands on your left knee as you bring your upper body straight upright and ease into a slow, careful stretch of that right groin area. 20–30 seconds and it will be more comfortable. Time to switch. Back to the kneeling position… then this time, straighten out your right knee in front of you with your heel down. Flatten your right foot to the floor or mat, as you bend that right knee and lean your body forward… do I need to mention squeeze your abs? Probably not. Place your hands on your right knee as you bring your upper body straight upright, and ease into a slow, careful stretch of that left groin region. 20-30 seconds and you should be feeling better. A nice variation of this one is to bring your hands off your knees, interlace your fingers, invert your hands, lock your elbows, and raise your arms overhead… extending your middle back further. With or without this variation, you have completed your morning stretch.

Even getting off the floor can be fun… Go back to your cannonball stretch and use your reverse squat, hamstring stretch while squeezing your abs to bring yourself to your feet, to start your flexible day.

Remember, when your alignment is less than perfect and/or you have suffered recent injury, joints get stuck, soft tissues have memory for what doesn’t work, and we can help. 

Contact us at New Back Chiropractic today. We can help you move better to feel better for life.