So “back bending” could really be thought of as “front lengthening.” Although at the end of the day, it’s rarely muscle tightness on the front body that limits back flexibility, but rather active core strength (being able to use our muscles to safely support a deeper backbend) that limits how much our body will allow us to arch. When we arch our back, we shorten/contract most of the muscles in our back. While we could certainly say those poses require back flexibility, they don’t actually stretch our back muscles. Oftentimes when people talk about “back stretches” they think of poses like cobra, upward dog, or a bridge (aka full wheel). Stretches to Help with Spinal Extension (Backbending) Those aren’t sensations to push through, those are signs from your body you are pushing too hard! Try to see if you can comfortably do the drill in a smaller range of motion, or skip it if the discomfort persists. If any of the exercises below hurt (especially in your lower back), cause any tingling sensations in your extremities, or make you feel nauseous - stop. Important reminder: stretching should never hurt. So if you’re looking to “stretch” your back in the most well-rounded sense, it can be helpful to do some exercises for each of those different ranges of motion! Including stretches that support all the actions of our spine (rounding, arching, side bending, and twisting) not only help each of those individual ROMs stay healthy, but there is some crossover in how working in one range can help your spine open up in another range, like how including spinal twists can help with your upper back backbending. “I’ll do a cobra pose for my ‘back stretch’”) and forget to consider the other ranges of motion our spine likes to move in. Often when students look to find back stretches for their routine, they focus on just one range of motion (ex.
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