Fitness with Friends: Lower Back Stretch

VOICE: For more information and a full transcript of this video, check out Fun4theDisabled.com. When joining us for this video, you need to take some precautions as your health and safety are the most important. To avoid any injury or harm, you need to check your health with your doctor before exercising. By performing any fitness exercises without supervision like with this video, you are performing them at your own risk. See a fitness professional to give you advice on your exercise form. Strategy for Access Foundation NFP and Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab will not be responsible or liable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of this video.

KEITH: How ya doin’? I’m Keith and I’m gonna be bringing you through a video for low back health. So the benefits of this exercise routine, we’re gonna help activate your deep core musculature, so a lot of that comes from the diaphragmatic breathing. We’re going to do some stretching for your lower back, for your hips. As well as target your hip and spine mobility. While we’re doing these exercises, you should feel some discomfort, just slight discomfort because the muscles are gonna be stretching, but you shouldn’t feel a sharp pain with anything. So if you do feel a sharp pain while we’re doing these exercises, stop that repetition, go back to that starting exercise posture, then go ahead and try to continue again. If you do continue to feel that sharp pain, just go ahead and stop that exercise completely and then just wait and move forward with the next exercise. So while we do some of these exercises and stretching, I’m gonna be doing it on this mat here. You can be doing it on the floor. If you’re able to and your couch is big enough, lay down on the couch or on a bed. Something that’s a little bit more of a firm platform is gonna be a little bit more beneficial. We’re gonna be in a few different positions. So we’re gonna be supine to start, so that’s gonna be laying down on your back. And from there we’re gonna go into a quadruped position, so you’ll be on your hands and your knees. And then the last position we’ll be in is a prone position, so that’s gonna be facedown with your belly on your mat or on the surface. So I hope you enjoy following along, and we’re gonna get into our first position, which is gonna be supine. So you’re gonna be on your back with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. 

KEITH: Okay so here we are in the supine position for our first exercise. What we’re gonna start with is diaphragmatic breathing, or breathing through our belly. So a lot of times when we get stressed, we start doing heavy breathing through our lungs. For this portion we’re just gonna start activating these musculature along our diaphragm, do some breathing through our belly. So we really wanna see our belly rise when we inhale, and then we wanna see our belly go down when we exhale. So what you can do is you can place your hands on top of your belly, and watch your hands move as you breathe in and breathe out. So we’re gonna do ten together. You ready? Let’s go. Breathe in…out…one. In, let the belly rise…out…two. Breathe in, belly rise… out…three. Breathe in…and out…four. Breathe in, remember inhales and our exhales, the exhale should be longer, out. Breathe in…and out, long exhale…five. Halfway there, breathe in…out…long exhale, six. Breathe in, let the belly rise…out…seven. Let’s be loud with the breathing, let’s hear you. In… out…eight. Here we go, last two. Breathe in, let the belly rise…out…nine. Here we go, last one, breathe in, nice and big belly…and long exhale…ten. Good.

KEITH: Alright the next exercise we’re gonna do is some pelvic tilting. So this is gonna help work on your hip mobility. What we’re gonna try to do is tilt your hips forwards and tilt your hips backwards. So we’re gonna tilt our hips forward, we wanna try to pick our lower back up off of the surface, and then when we tilt backwards, we wanna try to push our lower back down as hard as you can onto the surface. So what you’ll see is the hips moving forwards and backwards. If you want additional cues, you can try to put your hand underneath your lower back and what you’re gonna try to do, when we tilt back, try to press down onto your hand as hard as you can with your lower back. And then when you tilt forward, try to create as much space from your lower back and your hand as possible. So we’re gonna do ten repetitions of each. We’re gonna go forward first and then backward towards the mat. Ready… and go! So here we go, forwards, pick the lower back up…and back, push the low back down, one. Forwards, let those hips tilt forward, pick the low back up…and down, push your lower back down into the mat, two. Forwards, let those hips tilt, pick the low back up…and down, press the low back into the mat, three. Here we go again, tilt forwards, arch the low back…back down, press the low back into the mat, four. Forwards, pick those hips up…and down, press the low back down into the mat, five. Halfway, tilt forwards…good, press down…six. Good. Forwards, I got my hands on my hips just so I can feel my hips moving, you can do the same. Down…press the low back, seven. Here we go, few more. Tilt them forwards, pick the low back up…down, press that low back down into the mat, eight. Last two. Tilt forwards…good, and down…nine. Here we go, last one. Tilt forwards, low back rises…and down, press that low back into the mat, ten. Good. 

KEITH: Next one we’re gonna do is we’re gonna do knees to your chest and deep breaths. So it’s just gonna help relieve some pressure on your lower back. So starting here, we’re gonna bring both knees up towards your chest. You can either interlace your fingers and squeeze the knees toward your chest, or you can just put one hand on each of your knees and bring them towards your chest. So we’re gonna hold this position and we’re gonna do five breaths. Every time you exhale, try to pull the knees a little bit closer to the chest. Remember the diaphragmatic breathing: on the inhale, the belly’s gonna go toward your thighs; exhale, your belly’s gonna go away from your thighs. Okay, here we go, five breaths. And inhale…exhale…try to bring those knees a little closer. Inhale, belly towards the chest…exhale…knees closer. Inhale…exhale…bring those knees in. Two more, inhale…exhale…squeeze those knees up. Last one, here we go, inhale…and exhale…there we go, and release. Feet back down, good. 

KEITH: Alright, next exercise is gonna be knees coming back up towards your chest, but this time we’re gonna be reaching between our legs and grabbing for our ankles or our feet. What that’s gonna do is gonna help open up your hips a little bit. So it’s gonna help you with some more hip stretching as well as a little bit more mobility as we’re doing, again, this low back release stretch. So you’re gonna bring your knees up toward your chest, like I said you’re gonna reach between your knees. You can either grab onto your ankles, or if you’re able to, reach for the bottom of your feet here, and try to pull your knees towards the outside of your chest. We’re gonna go five breaths again. Ready? And go! Inhale…exhale…good, pull them a little bit higher. Inhale, belly rises…exhale…good, try to pull those knees higher. Inhale…exhale. Here we go, couple more. Inhale…exhale…loud breathing, let’s hear it. Last one, inhale…and exhale. Good, and feet back down, and relax. 

KEITH: Alright, the next exercise we’re gonna do is a modified hip stretch. So for this position, we’re gonna bring one knee to our chest, and then we’re gonna try kicking the other leg away from you as far as possible. So we’re gonna start first with grabbing onto our right leg. So we’re gonna bring the right knee up towards your chest, and we’re gonna try to keep it here. And then we’re gonna try to kick our left leg far away from you. Now when you bring your left leg out, remember to try and keep your low back pressed into the mat. What that’s gonna do is help protect your spine. So for this one, you can start with a little range of motion, and then work to a larger range of motion, depending on your comfortability. Alright, we’re gonna go five repetitions on each side. Ready? Alright, here we go. Press the low back down into the mat. Now extend that left leg, big reach out with the heel. Slide it back up. And relax. And again, press the low back down into the mat, keep it there, slide that heel out, kick it as far away from you as possible. Bring it back, relax, two. And again, press the low back down, slide the heel out, big reach with the left leg. Bring it back, relax, three. Couple more, press the low back down, slide the heel out, good. Bring it back, four. Here we go, last one. And press the low back down, slide the heel out, reach as far as you can with the heel. Bring it back, five. Good. We’ll go ahead and release the leg. Now we’re gonna switch to the other side. Grabbing onto the left leg, pulling it towards your chest, press the low back into the mat, keep it pressed down. Slide that other leg out, big reach. Good, bring it up, relax, one. Here we go, knee towards the chest, press the low back down, slide the heel out. Good, bring it up, two. Relax. Here we go, knee to the chest, press the low back down, slide the heel out, big reach. Bring it up, three. Relax. Here we go, couple more. Knee to the chest, press the low back down, heel out, big reach. Slide it up, four. Here we go, last one. Press that low back down, keep it squeezed down against the mat, reach out with the heel. And bring it up, good, relax. Release the leg, good.

KEITH: Alright, the next exercise we’re gonna do is a bridge. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with bridges. So the goal of this exercise is to work your hamstrings and your glutes. You don’t wanna be doing a lot of back extension with this exercise. So I’m gonna demonstrate it for you really quick first and then I’ll have you follow along with the repetitions. So with the bridges, your feet should be about hip width apart, and then your feet should be about 12 inches away or so from your hips. If you wanna make it more difficult, try to bring your feet closer to your hips. If you wanna make it a little bit easier, bring your feet a little bit further away, okay? So we’re gonna start about 12 inches away from the hips, and then what I want you to do is initially, first press the low back into the mat, and then push through your feet, shooting the hips up toward the ceiling. Right here, you should be squeezing with your hips and not arching with your low back, that’s what’s gonna cause pain. And then we’re gonna come back down. Alright, so now we’re gonna go through ten repetitions together. Are we ready? Let’s go, press the low back down, push through the feet, hips up as high as you can, pause…and back down. Release, one. Press the low back in, push through the feet, hips up, pause…come back down, two. Here we go, press that low back down, push through the feet, hips as high as you can, pause…back down. Release, three. Here we go, press the low back down, pushing through the feet, squeeze the hips…good, back down. Release, four. Here we go, press the low back down, push through the feet, hips as high as you can…pause, good, back down. Release, five. Here we go, halfway. Push the low back down, push through the feet, hips up as high as you can, pause…there we go, back down. Release, six. Push the low back down, press through the feet…pause…good, back down. Release, seven. Here we go, few more. Press that low back down, push through the feet, squeezing the hips, keep that abdomen tight…good, back down. Release, eight. Press the low back down, push through the feet, hips as high as you can…good, back down. Release, nine. Last one, here we go. Press that low back down, keep the abdomen squeezed, push through the feet, hips as high as you can go, pause…back down. And release, good.

KEITH: Alright, the next exercise we’re gonna do is a pendulum. So for this exercise, we’re gonna be starting in the same position, but you’re gonna try to keep your feet close together. Also for this exercise, if you’ve got a pillow or a towel, you could roll up the towel and place it between your knees while we do this exercise. What that’s gonna do is keep your legs in position when we rotate ‘cause we don’t want your legs moving too much. That’s gonna create torque on your lower back and your lumbar spine. So the more we can keep these legs in a fixed position, the better it will be for the exercise. So with the pendulums, we wanna make sure that your shoulders stay down the entire time, and then we’re just rotating left and right through our hips. So we’re gonna go as far as you can to the right, then we’re gonna bring them back over, and then as far as you can to the left. We’re gonna go ten times to each side. Ready? Alright, let’s go, to the right, come down, keep your opposite shoulder down. Good, back up. Left, keeping the shoulders down on the mat, and back up, there’s one. To the right, good. Back up, over to the left…two. Good, shoulders stay on the mat, and back up, to the left…three. There ya go, let’s keep going. Big range of motion, as far as you can to the right…there we go, to the left…four. Go over to the right…to the left…halfway there, five. If you need to reposition, go ahead, reposition the feet, the shoulders. Here we go, back over to the right…go up, as far as you can, to the left…six. There we go, keep those shoulders down. Right…back up…to the left…there we go, seven. Few more to go. As far as you can right…back up…left…eight. Here we go back to the right. You may feel it on one side more than the other. That’s gonna be an indication, knowing that you just have one side– one side tighter than the other side. Nine, here we go, last one. So maybe just pay a little bit more attention to that. And when we do stretching, make sure you stretch that tight side out just a little bit more. And ten, good. 

KEITH: Okay, the next exercise we’re gonna do is a supine twist. So with the pendulums like we just did, that works a little bit of the lumbar spine mobility. This exercise is gonna work a little bit higher on the spine, work your thoracic spine mobility. So we’re gonna start with your knees bent, feet in the same position, hands are gonna be out to the side with your palms facing up. Now, you can either start the exercise this way, or you can do them with the legs straight. If you do them with the legs bent, what I want you to do is try to keep the knees from moving as much as possible because we want again, the lower part of the spine to stay still, and the upper part of the spine to move. So with the twist, the legs stay still, we’re gonna rotate as best as you can, reach for your hand, and open back up. Or like I said, if you wanna do it a bit more difficult, you can put the legs straight and this is gonna prevent the hips from moving a lot. So same thing is gonna happen, we’re gonna rotate as much as you can. It’s gonna be a little bit more strenuous, reach for the hands, and then come back down. So we’re gonna go ten to each side. I’m gonna demonstrate five repetitions with the legs straight, and then I’ll finish up the last five repetitions with the knees bent. So we’re gonna start rotating to the left, so you’re gonna reach your right hand over to the left, and then we’re gonna switch sides. Ready? And go! Twist, reach for your hand, good, open back up. And now left hand over to the right, twist, reach for the hand, open up. There’s one. Twist to the left, reach, open up, good, to the other side, twist, reach, two. There you go, big rotation, you’re gonna feel that abdomen engage to get that twisting going, abdomen and obliques. Here we go, over to the left, reach for the hand, there we go, three. Twist, try to keep that left arm still when you’re reaching for it, back down, twist over to the right, open up, four. Twist, reach for the hand, open up, you’re gonna go over to the right, twist, keep the right arm down. Open up, halfway. Now I’m gonna finish up with my knees bent. Twist over to the right, good, bring it down, and twist, reach, good. Open up, six. Twist to the right, good, open up, twist, reach, seven. Here we go, big rotation. If your knees are bent, try to keep the legs still. Open up, twist, reach for the hand, eight. Here we go, last two. Twist, reach for the hand, open up, twist, other side, open, nine. Last one each side, here we go. Twist, big reach, open up. Last one, twist, reach, open. Good!

KEITH: Good, and then for this next exercise, we’re gonna be moving into the quadruped position. Okay for this next exercise, it’s the cat/camel. So it’s gonna be similar to the pelvic tilting exercise we were doing when we were supine, but this one’s gonna be done in the quadruped position, so we’re gonna be on our hands and our knees. So we’re gonna come forward, place our hands down on the mat. And when you’re in the quadruped position, try to keep your knees in line with your hip, and then your hands in line with your shoulder. You don’t want your hands too far in front or too far behind you, you wanna keep them directly underneath the joint. So with this exercise, we’re trying to tilt from the pelvis again, and then we’re also gonna be arching and flexing our back. So when we bring our hips towards us, we’re gonna round the back as much as we can. And then we’re gonna push the hips away, and then we’re gonna arch the low back as much as you can, alright? So we’re gonna go ten of each for a total of twenty repetitions. Ready? We’re gonna start tucking the pelvis in. And go! Bring the pelvis in, round the back, good, and out, push the pelvis away, arch. Back in, round the low back, and arch, push the pelvis away, two. Here we go, round it in, good, and out, three. Good, remember your positioning, try to keep the shoulders above the hands. Out, four. Good, tuck it in, round the low back…arch, five. Here we go, halfway. Tuck the pelvis in, round, out, six. Here we go, tuck the pelvis in… arch, seven. Good, try to maintain that good quadruped position. Out, eight. Good, keep the shoulders down. Tuck the pelvis in, arch, push it out, nine. Last one. Tuck those hips in, round, and push it out, ten. Good.

KEITH: Alright, so for our next exercise we’re gonna do the bird dog. So bird dog, we’re gonna be moving opposite arm and opposite leg. If that’s too difficult to pick up both limbs at the same time, just try to do one limb at a time. So to demonstrate, we’re gonna pick up opposite arm and opposite leg. I want you to try to reach out as if someone’s pulling your hand away from you, and then someone was pulling that leg away from you. So you’re gonna have long limbs, and then you’re gonna return back to the start position. So when you’re doing this, try not to tilt the hips or the spine when you reach out. You wanna try to keep your spine as still as possible and only have your arm and your leg move, the rest of your torso tries to stay as still as you can. Okay, so we’re gonna go ten repetitions each side. Again, if it’s too difficult to go opposite arm and opposite leg, just do one limb at a time. Alright, ready? And go! Reach out as far as you can, good, and down. Same arm, same leg, ten times. Reach out, good, and down, two. Out, big reach, down, three. Out, reach, four. Good, try to keep the spine as still as you can when you’re reaching. Five. Reach…six. Good, try to keep your head still as well. Big reach, seven. Straight out, as far as you can, eight. Reach, as far as you can, nine. Last one. Here we go, big reach, and arm and leg, ten. Here we go, let’s reposition ourselves, make sure we’re in that good quadruped position. We’re gonna go ten repetitions on the other side, opposite arm, opposite leg. Ready? And go! Big reach, keep the spine still, and down, one. Reach, stretch out as far as you can with the hand and the foot, down, two. Reach out, try to keep the spine still, down, three. Big reach as far as you can, keep that torso still, down, four. Big reach, extend like someone’s pulling the hand and foot away from you, down, five. Here we go, halfway, five more to go. Big reach, down, six. Re-establish that quadruped position. Reach, good, down, seven. Here we go, few more. Keep the spine as still as you can, big reach, down, eight. Last two. Reach, big extension, down, nine. Last one. And reach out as far as you can, back down, ten. 

KEITH: Okay, for this next exercise, we’re gonna be pushing ourselves back into the child’s pose. This is again gonna help with some hip mobility and then a little bit of low back stretch. It’s gonna help take some pressure off of your vertebrae. So I’m just gonna demonstrate again, and I’ll have you follow along with five repetitions. So from the quadruped position, you’re gonna push with your hands, try to relax the low back, let your hips fold underneath you so your hips are back towards your heels, and then we’re gonna come back, pulling with the hands, come back forward into that quadruped position. So we’re gonna go five repetitions. When we push back, we’re gonna do our big exhale, and when we pull forward we’re gonna inhale. Alright, we ready? And go! Exhale…inhale, one. Exhale…inhale, two. Should have long exhales. Inhale…three. Exhale…good, inhale, four. Last one, loud breathing. Exhale…inhale, and five. Good.

KEITH: Okay so for our next exercise, it’s gonna be another modification of the child’s pose. So we’re gonna have the same finishing position, but we’re gonna do some lateral walks with it. So when we do the lateral walk, we’re gonna walk with our hands, but I want you to try to keep your hips as still as you can. So what a lot of people tend to do when you walk with the hands, the hips start moving with it, and we don’t wanna do that. We wanna keep your hips as still as you can because we wanna work on your spine’s ability to laterally bend. So you wanna keep your hips as still as possible. So you’re gonna walk out to the side as much as you can, and then from here we’re gonna sit back with our hips, and you should be feeling a little bit more of a stretch along the side in your lats and then along the lateral aspect of your spine. And then we’ll come back up, and then we’re gonna walk to the other side. So we’re gonna go three repetitions to each side. We ready? And go! We’re gonna walk out to the side, good. Once you’re as far as you can, sit back with the hips, hips should go straight back between the feet. Good, come back up. Here we go, we’re gonna walk to the other side now, laterally bending the spine, keeping the hips still, and push back, hips towards the feet. Good, back up. Walk with the hands, other side, good, keeping the hips as still as you can, sit back, feel that stretch along the lateral part of your spine. Good, back up. Here we go, walking to the other side, as far as you can, good, and sit back with the hips. Good, there’s two. One more to each side. Come back up, walk with your hands over to the side, keeping the hips still, sit back. Good. Back up, one more time, other side. Walking with the hands, legs and hips as still as you can, and sit back. Good, and back up, back to the middle. Good. And for the next couple of exercises, we’re gonna be going into the prone position. 

KEITH: Okay, for the last couple of exercises here, we’re gonna be in the prone position, so we’re gonna be laying down on our belly with our arms underneath us. We can do these press ups in a couple of ways. You can either do them from your elbows which are a little bit less intense, a little bit easier to do especially if you have more back stiffness than usual. So you’re gonna keep your elbows at your sides, hands down, and I want you to push up through your elbows and I want you to try to extend the low back as much as you can. Try to keep the hips on the mat, I don’t want your hips to rise up at all. Keep your hips down and relaxed, okay? And what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna have my hands to the side which is gonna be a little bit more difficult to do, and I’m gonna press up through my hands, again keeping my hips relaxed and really kind of arching at the low back. And I’m gonna be finishing by looking up at the ceiling and that’s gonna get a little of the thoracic extension, okay? So we’re gonna go five repetitions. We’re gonna exhale on the way up, and then we’re gonna inhale on the way down. Ready? And go! Exhale…inhale…loud breaths. Exhale…inhale, there’s two. Exhale…inhale. Exhale…inhale. Last one. Exhale, press up…and inhale. Good. 

KEITH: Okay so the last exercise we’re gonna do before we get into a couple of stretches is just gonna be a sustained hold in the back extension. So again, you can do it one of two ways. You can put your hands at the side of your chest and press up, and we’re gonna do a sustained hold for five breaths. Or I’m gonna demonstrate for this one, keeping your elbows at your side, pressing up through the elbows and looking up. So remember, try to relax the hips and the low back, you wanna extend the low back as much as you can. We’re gonna do this for five breaths. Ready? And go! Extend up, take a breath in…and out, one. Breath in…out…two. Always keep pushing up. Breath in…out…relax those hips, three. In…out…four. Here we go, last breath, in…out…five. Good.

KEITH: Okay the final two stretches that we’re gonna be doing is gonna be from a side lying position on your hip. Okay, so we’re gonna get into a modified side lying position for our next stretch. So to get into this position, let’s start over on our right hip. So your right hip’s gonna be down with your right knee bent and your left leg bent. And then what I want you to do is put your right foot on top of your left thigh. This is gonna be our side sitting position. From here, you’re gonna place both of your hands on either side of your knee, and then I want you to try to line up the center of your chest to the center of your knee. So for me, I’m gonna have to rotate a little bit, so now my knee and my chest are in line. So this is gonna be your start position. When we do the stretch, I’m gonna demonstrate really quick, try to keep your back flat, try to touch the center of your chest to your knee, and then come back up. Alright, and we’re gonna do this one five times, and again we’re gonna incorporate our breathing with the stretch. We’re gonna exhale on the way down, inhale when we come back up. Alright here we go, five times. Ready? Breath in first, and exhale…good. Up, inhale…exhale. Inhale…there’s two, exhale. Keep that back flat, try to touch the center of your chest to the knee. Inhale…three, loud breaths, exhale. Good, inhale, four, last one. Exhale. And inhale, five.

KEITH: Alright so from here, we’re gonna go over to our other side. So I’m all ready to maneuver, we’re gonna go onto our other hip. So now I’m on my left hip. My left foot is gonna be on my right thigh. So with my left knee in front, I want both of my hands on either side of my knee and then I wanna line up the center of my chest to the knee. So I’m gonna have to rotate a little bit, so now my knee and chest are in line. Same thing, five breaths, trying to touch the center of your chest to your knee. Exhale on the way down. Here we go, breath in first…exhale. Good, inhale…one. Exhale…inhale…two. Exhale…keeping the back flat…inhale…three. Exhale…inhale…four. Last one, exhale…inhale…five. Good. And then with these stretches, you may feel it again on one side more than the other. For the side that you feel like you had a little bit more of a stretch on, you can go ahead and do a few more repetitions to that side.

KEITH: For our last stretch, we’re gonna do a hamstring stretch, and it’s gonna be in a seated position. So you can either be seated on a chair with your feet down or you can just be seated on the mat where you are. Okay for this last stretch, we’re gonna do a hamstring stretch. So this stretch can be done seated on the mat where you’re currently at, or for a stretch that’s a little bit less intense but requires less mobility, you can switch to a chair or if you’re on a platform like I am, you can scoot off so you’re seated on the platform with your feet off. And then you can extend your feet out with your heels on the floor and then do the stretch this way. But for this exercise routine, I’m gonna be doing it seated on the mat. So your feet are gonna be out in front of you, toes pointed up towards the ceiling. Try to keep the back of your knees pushed down the whole time. Alright, we’re gonna go five repetitions, and I want you to try to reach as far as you can for your toes and then sit back up to a tall position. And we’re gonna incorporate again, the breathing with the stretching. So we’re gonna exhale when we stretch and reach, and we’re gonna inhale when we come back up to the tall posture position. Alright ready? Five breaths, here we go. Take a breath in first…exhale…big reach. Good, inhale…exhale…try to reach past the toes. Inhale…exhale, reach as far as you can. Inhale, tall position, couple more. Exhale, loud breathing, big reach. Inhale… Last one, exhale, big reach, long exhale, as far as you can, keeping the knees down. And back up, inhale. Great!