Mobility exercise for hips and thoracic spine

If you are sitting down most of the time for a day, you need to move.  Not only strength training helps your general health but also some mobility exercises will restore your body to “normal”.  Let me teach you during a personal training session if you aren’t sure.



Cat and Cow 

Cat and Cow exercise is NOT a stretch.  What you want to achieve with exercise is to improve extensibility within the lumbar extensor muscles.  In fact, you don’t want  to push at the end ranges of flexion and extension.



How to start

Starting with a quadruped position with the hands positioned directly under the shoulders and knees positioned directly under the hips.

quadruped position

Making sure to engage the core mussels to create a neutral spine in starting position, and elbows extended throughout the movement.



Execution 

cat_cow_personal_training

Gently pushing and rounding the entire back upward. Drop the head, bringing the chin toward the chest as exhaling slowly.

Relax and return to the starting position, allow shoulders to collapse toward the spine and tilt the head upward as inhaling.



Some t-spine mobility exercises here