To prepare your spine for your work day or if you are suffering with acute lower back pain one of the exercises that I recommend is the cat-cow exercise. This is not an exercise that is intended to be a stretch or to seek greater range of motion. It is more of a mobility exercise.
The cat cow exercise has been found, in as little as 5 to 8 cycles, to reduce spine viscosity (improving motion) as well as “floss the nerve roots as they exit out of the lumbar spine.
Focus of the cat cow:
The focus of this exercise is to work on flexion and extension of the entire spine.
Cat how to
- Begin in the quadruped position and sit back towards your heels.
- Had your hands planted on the ground, finger tips wide, elbows straight, and the “elbow pits” pointing towards the thumbs.
- Flex your head down towards the floor
- Push your mid back up towards the ceiling; think “black scary halloween cat”
- Tuck your buttocks underneath you; think of a scared down that takes their tail underneath them
Cow How to:
- Begin in the quadruped position and sit back towards your heels.
- Had your hands planted on the ground, finger tips wide, elbows straight, and the “elbow pits” pointing towards the thumbs.
- Lift your head up towards the ceiling as you push your chest down towards the floor as your tilt your buttocks up towards the ceiling.
Now that you know how to perform these two movements you can combine the movements. Since the quadruped position is the common position all you need to do is move from one movement through the quadruped and into the next movement
Dr Notley
Chiropractor and/or Athletic Therapist in Winnipeg since 2000
Originally posted on May 17, 2022 @ 4:36 pm
