2) Child's Pose, click here.
This is a stretch "borrowed" from Yoga. Whether your arms are forward or backward, we consider this folded position Child's Pose with your chest resting on your knees and your knees resting on the floor with your feet tucked under you. As your quads relax and lengthen you should more easily be able to also rest your hips on your heels.
Video coming soon.
Passive StretchesEach one of the pictures on this page links to printable instructions and video downloads of passive stretches we recommend to get the most out of your SMR efforts. Some of them can be performed as active stretches and a few can also be exercised as functional movements. Start with learning how to perform them very slowly as passive stretches, and as you make progress add more activity to address the more nuanced areas in addition to the targets of each stretch.
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1) Cat Claw, click here.
This is essentially a particular modification of Child’s Pose from Yoga. The specific difference between Cat Claw and Child’s Pose is that with Cat Claw you reach across with both hands toward one side and drop your head underneath your armpit to allow a deeper stretch of the musculature attached to your shoulder. As you move your hands from one side to the other you should “walk” your fingers across, much like a cat’s paws clawing at the carpet. By walking your hands across instead of lifting and placing your arms on the other side you are less likely to stimulate the muscles attached to your shoulders which should allow a deeper stretch across the joint.
Video coming soon.
21) Supported Corpse, click here.
By far, this is the most highly recommended stretch to do for your lower back and hips every single day. This stretch will lengthen your hip flexors and relieve tension in your hips, lower back and mid-back. Regain full functional range of motion in the iliopsoas group and many other movement dysfunctions simply disappear.
Pair this stretch with the Psoas Press SMR technique to more quickly "unlock" the deepest of your hip flexors, the Psoas muscle.
Modify this stretch if you need to by slightly bending your knees or using a smaller support under the hips so the stretch isn't too aggressive for you. The primary concern is that you relax everything in your body while you lie supported at the hips. If your lower back is cramping or getting tighter as you lie with the support under your hips, then REMOVE the support!
Check our the Marching Corpse active stretch and combine it in a series of stretches to more quickly open up your hip flexors and maximize the effectiveness of the Supported Corpse.
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Passive Stretch: a passive position you hold for a long period of time (typically 2-5 minutes or more) to allow muscle tissue to lengthen beyond its functional capacity so as to encourage the growth of additional sarcomeres within each muscle involved to allow greater ROM and ease of movement. Active Stretch: an active position you hold for a short period of time (typically 1-10 seconds) to lengthen and retrain muscles to more effectively coordinate across a joint and allow for improved movement patterns, especially when each muscle is at its full-range functional length. Functional Movement: a constant motion movement you slowly practice to train muscles to more effectively coordinate across a joint and allow for improved movement patterns, especially when each muscle is at its full-range functional length. |
Passive Stretches
Active Stretches
Functional Movements
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