Mobility Exercises
Low Back Stretches
Single knee to shoulder
- Lay on your back with the back of your head resting on the floor and your knees bent.
- Bring one knee up into your chest pulling with your hands in the direction of the shoulder on the same side. Allow lower back to stretch comfortably, hold for 20 seconds.
- If pain is felt then decrease the stretch to a more comfortable position.
- Repeat with opposite leg.
Double knee to shoulder
- Now pull both knees to shoulders and hold for 20 seconds
Quadratus Lumborum (QL) Muscle Stretch
- Using a medium size towel, hold one corner in one hand, with the foot on the same side step on the opposite corner of the towel.
- Pull up on the towel so that the muscles all down one side of your body are engaged.
- Now with your free hand reach over your head so that you lean across and feel a stretch down the lower side of your back.
- Hold 20 seconds and repeat on opposite side.
Note: This exercise is perfect for being performed just after having a shower as your muscles are warm so will stretch better and you have a towel handy. Perform it in the standing position using a large towel (just be careful not to fall over!)
Scalene Muscle Stretch
Stretching the right scalene first:
- Use the palm region just beneath your thumb of your left hand to slide the skin up and clamp down on the inside aspect of the collar bone on your right side. Your lower thumb should be slightly hooked round the collar bone and the skin on the neck should become looser as a result.
- Remember the three head positions? Start by turning your head to your right.
- Now tilt your head over to the left (away from the right shoulder) and then tilt your head back (“back and away”) while keeping your head turned to the right.
- Feel the stretch on the right side of your neck (as you tilt “back and away”) and hold for 20 seconds.
- Repeat the stretch 3 times, each time change your head’s starting position. 3 positions:
- Look right
- Look straight ahead
- Look left
- Repeat on the opposite side with your right hand on your left collar bone. This time start with your head turned left.
Let me know if you have any questions as this is quite a hard stretch to get right first time!
Sub-Occipital Muscle Stretch
The best way I find to help this stretch is to visualise how your head sits upon your spine, it can tilt forwards, backwards and side to side upon the neck, as if on a pivot.
Stretching the muscles on the Left side:
- With your left hand, hold your chin as if you are thinking about something, this hand will guide the chin back, up and toward the left side when the stretch is performed.
- With your right hand, hold the back top left side of your head so that it can pull your head over, down and forwards.
- Pull your head over, down and forwards with the right hand, whilst using the left hand to pull the chin back up in and to the left (almost using it like a pivot to perform the stretch)
- Feel the stretch at the base of the left side of the skull and hold for 20 seconds
Stretching the muscles on the Right side
- With your right hand, hold your chin as if you are thinking about something, this hand will guide the chin back, up and toward the right side when the stretch is performed.
- With your left hand, hold the back top right side of your head so that it can pull your head down and forwards.
- Pull your head down and forwards with the left hand, whilst using the right hand to pull the chin back up in and to the right (almost using it like a pivot to perform the stretch)
- Feel the stretch at the base of the right side of the skull and hold for 20 seconds. Feel free to play with the angles to hit the right spot.
- Switch your hands around and repeat for the opposite side.
‘Tennis Elbow’ Stretches
Muscle Release
Extend your wrist to shorten the muscles on the back of the forearm, use your other hand to compress the muscles down and toward the elbow. Flex the wrist to stretch out the muscles which you have contacted. Now release the contact on the forearm and again extend your wrist to shorten the muscles on the forearm, re-apply a contact to the muscle but in a different place this time and then flex the wrist again.
Keep repeating till you feel you have worked through all the muscles in that region.
Ischemic Compression
Feel around the muscles in the forearm to find tightness, gently hold spots which feel sore until you feel referred pain in to your hand. Hold this referred pain for a minute until it ceases. Then search for another spot which also refers in to the hand region and hold again for around a minute, repeat until you cannot find any more muscles referring to the hand on the back of the forearm.
Let me know if you have any questions at all and I will recap these stretches in clinic and progress them to strengthening very soon.
Spine Rotation Exercise
- While on all fours, sit back on to your heels.
- Place one hand on the back of your head, so elbow is out to the side,
- Look at the elbow and rotate to this side x10 and repeat on opposite side.
- Repeat once daily
Let me know if you have any questions at all and I will recap these stretches in clinic and progress them to strengthening very soon.
The Brügger Break
To be performed every 20 minutes (exercise only lasts 10 seconds), a little tip is to set an alarm reminder or place a note on the corner of the screen that you are using!
- From the seated position, edge forwards to the front edge of your seat, legs should be out at 45 degrees either side and body weight distributed through them nicely.
- Sit up straight and straighten both arms, bring both arms back and down behind your body so that your chest pushes out forwards.
- Take a deep breath in, then breathe out and push your chest even further forwards tucking your chin in at this point. (tuck chin in, straight back, do not flex the neck)
- Hold this position for 10 seconds and then return to previous activity.
- Repeat again in 20 minutes time.
The reason behind this exercise is that it is an extreme stretch that reverses the position we find ourselves in at the desk. What occurs gradually to our body over 20 minutes is theoretically being reversed in 10 seconds of extreme stretching!
Let me know if you have any questions at all and I will recap these stretches in clinic and progress them to strengthening very soon.
Scalene Stretch (for left side of neck)
- Use the palm region just beneath your thumb of your right hand to clamp down in the inside aspect of the collar bone on your left side so that your lower thumb is hooked round the collar bone.
- Shorten the scalene muscles by looking to the left and flexing your neck slightly, now reapply the pressure applied by your thumb on the collar bone.
- Tilt your head to the right (ear to shoulder) and then tilt your head back while looking to the right.
- Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck and hold for 20 seconds.
- Repeat a few times varying the amount of rotation to stretch all of the Scalenes. (3 positions).
If needed reverse the above for the right scalenes.
Hip Flexor Stretch
To be performed at least once a day.
- Adopt a lunge position with your right leg forward and your front leg slightly bent with your feet straight in line pointing forwards. Raise your arms above your head and lean back.
- Push your hips forwards whilst leaning back so that a stretch is felt on the front of the pelvis at the left groin region. Hold 10 seconds.
- In this position, Lean across to the right (away from the back leg), hold stretch for a further 10 seconds.
- In this position, bring your left shoulder back so that the stretch increases again, hold for further 10 seconds.
- Repeat with opposite leg
‘Cat-Camel’ Stretch & Spine Rotation Stretch
‘Cat/Camel’ Stretch
- With this exercise it may help to have someone assist in placing their finger on each segment of the spine as you work through each level. Start with the finger halfway up the spine.
- Start on all fours, arch your back down as you bring your head up, trying to make the segment with the finger on as low as possible.
- Now arch your back up and tuck your chin under your chest, try to make the segment with the finger on as high as possible.
- Work your way along each segment of the spine through the lower middle to upper region of your back. Repeat each arch twice at each segment.
- Repeat twice daily
Spine Rotation Stretch
- While on all fours, sit back on to your heels.
- Place one hand on the back of your head, so elbow is out to the side.
- Look at the elbow and rotate to this side x20 and repeat on opposite side.
- Repeat twice daily.
Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) Muscle Stretch
Stretch the right Sternocleidomastoid muscle:
- Feel along your right collar bone with your left hand, till you find the point where there is a hollow in the middle of your chest (this is called the ‘sternal notch’)
- At this end of the collar bone use the palm region just beneath your thumb to clamp down generally the top of this part of the collar bone (no need to be too specific)
- Remember to take ‘skin slack’ by dragging up on to this point
- Rotate your head to the left and tilt your head back.
- Feel the stretch on the right side of your neck (the muscle should stretch, not your skin) and hold for 20 seconds. Play with the rotation till you find the spots which work best.
- Repeat on opposite side