1 Lie on your back. Lift your knees directly over your hips. Bend your knees and relax your legs. Extend arms directly out to the sides with palms facing the ceiling.
Twisting is an essential movement for maintaining a strong and mobile spine. This posture is one of the most basic twists you can do. Use at the end of a workout to speed up recovery, or the beginning of a workout to help open your spine for improved performance and reduced risk of injury.
TARGET AREAS
• back • spine
BENEFITS
• Relieves lower-back soreness • Prevents spinal injury • Improves spinal range of motion • Promotes recovery of muscles surrounding the spine
1 Lie on your back. Lift your knees directly over your hips. Bend your knees and relax your legs. Extend arms directly out to the sides with palms facing the ceiling.
2 Lower your legs to the left, keeping the legs stacked. Place left hand on the right knee. Use your core to twist, and pull your ribcage toward your core to deepen the stretch in your back. Press the crown of your head away from your shoulders, and turn to face the right. Hold the posture, inhaling as you maintain your position, and exhaling as you squeeze your core and deepen the twist. Repeat on the other side.
YOU SHOULD FEEL
• Stretch in lower back and outer hip
• Light engagement of core
YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL
• Shoulder lifting off floor; if so, press knees down with hand
• Pinching or tension in lower back; if so, increase core engagement
PRO TIP
If your spine is tight, it will take time for your body to adjust and your shoulder to comfortably rest on the floor, so don’t worry too much if your shoulder doesn’t rest on the ground.