Stretching Guides

There Were 11 Stretches Found.

You can sort these stretches by using the pulldown menu below.

Helpful Links: Anatomy Of The Lower Back - Back Articles


Child's Pose

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Get on your hands and knees, walk your hands in front of you. Lower your buttocks down to sit on your heels. Let your arms drag along the floor as you sit back to stretch your entire spine. Once you settle onto your heels, bring your hands next to your feet and relax. "breathe" into your back. Rest your forehead on the floor. Avoid this position if you have knee problems.


Erector Spinae Stretch

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: In this stretch lengthens the lower-back and the middle-back muscles (the erectors run through the entire spine). Lying on your back , hug your knees to your chest, lift the soles of your feet toward the ceiling, grab your feet, and press your knees toward the floor. if you cant reach your feet, put your elbows inside your thighs and apply gentle pressure down. If you open your legs wide and place your elbows inside your knees, you'll also get an inner-thigh stretch.


Hug A Ball

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: Calves, Glutes
Equipment: Exercise Ball

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Straddle the ball between both legs and lower your hips down toward the floor. Hug your arms around the ball to support your body. Adjust your legs so that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees line up over your ankles. Keep a good grip on the ball so it doesn't roll away from you and send you back onto your buttocks.


Hug Knees To Chest

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: Glutes
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Lie down on your back and pull both knees up to your chest. Hold your arms under the knees, not over (that would put to much pressure on your knee joints). Slowly pull the knees toward your shoulders. This also stretches your buttocks muscles.


Low Back Stretch

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Slowly pull your knees up to the chest until you feel a gentle stretch in your lower back.


More Advanced Standing Pelvic Tilt

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Get in a wide stance, feet parallel and slightly wider than hips, with knees bent, the torso inclined forward 45 degrees and hands on knees (a squat position). Bring the tailbone forward to round the lower back. Round and arch the lower back a few times before holding the the stretch.


Pelvic Tilt Into Bridge

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Lie down with your feet on the floor, heels directly under your knees, arms overhead to relax your upper back. Lift only your tailbone to the ceiling to stretch your lower back. (Don’t lift the entire spine yet.) Pull in your stomach. To go into a bridge, lift the entire spine except the neck. The bridge isn't a lower-back stretch (it actually stretches the abdominals and hip flexors), but it is a mobility exercise for the lower back that relieves lower-back pain. This posture lets the fluid in the vertebrae trickle down to the back of the vertebrae (usually, in a slumped seated posture, that fluid falls forward into the discs). When you move into and out of the bridge, move slowly, one vertebrae at a time.


Pyramid

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: Shoulders
Equipment: Exercise Ball

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Start off by rolling your torso forward onto the ball so your hips rest on top of the ball and become the highest point of your body. Rest your hands and feet on the floor. Your arms and legs can be slightly bent or straight, depending on the size of the ball, your flexibility, and the length of your limbs. This also helps develop stabilizing strength in your torso and shoulders.


Seated Lower-Back Stretch

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: None

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: You can either sit in a chair or on a bench for this stretch. Have your feet flat on the floor, legs about hip-distance apart. Place your hands on your knees and slowly incline your body forward until your head and upper back hang forward between your legs.


Seated Or Standing Twist

Stretch Data
Main Muscle Worked: Lower Back
Other Muscles Worked: None
Equipment: Other

Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG

Tips: Sit in a chair or on a bench with both feet flat on the floor. Start by rotating your head and chest to one side, so that at least one hand touches the back of your chair. Keep your feet planted. After you place yourself in this position, take a big breathe and, on the exhalation, twist just a bit further. You can also do this standing about one foot in front of a wall (keep your back facing the wall). Place one or both hands on the wall behind you to stabilize your torso and brace against your hands to twist your spine further. Switch sides.


BACK TO THE SEARCH PAGE

Back to the main stretching guide page...


Love This Database? Check THIS Out!
We learned how to do all this fun database stuff and starting going ccrraazzyy! Check out our awesome protein powder and protein bar databases. Search by carbs, protein, fat, price and more!
 
Member Login

Sign in for more FREE features and tools!

Username or
Email Address:
Password:
Remember Me


New to Bodybuilding.com?
Sign Up Now It's FREE!



Better Bodies Men