Hello. You recently reblogged one of my pictures and I'm glad you did because it helped me find your blog (which I really like) and I am also in the early stages of my flexibility. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on stretching my back?
Hi, and thank you! : D
I'm not all that flexible in my back either tbh. I don't really focus on stretching my back cause it's not as useful in the sport of diving in which I compete. But!!!!! I'll probably focus on it more now that I'm out of the diving season and have more time to stretch. :)
It's really important to warm up before you stretch, especialllllly with your back cause those muscles will take a very long time to heal, and they are very important muscles so if you injure them, it can throw a lot of stuff off! So do a physical warm up. Before I stretch, I usually do jumping jacks, and then I do kicks and other leg exercises cause I usually stretch out my legs. To focus more on warming up your back, try doing sit ups, and crunches, and other exercises that involve engaging your back.
I don't really know how flexible your back is right now, but the staple back stretch is the bridge. Whenever you do your bridge, be sure to push through your shoulders so you can give them, and your upper back, a stretch! I usually will only hold a bridge for maybe 15 seconds cause I get dizzy :////// But because of that, I'll do multiple bridges.
You can also do the cobra, which is where you lay on your tummy, and then push up with your arms so that your hips are still on the ground, but your chest is in the air. I always find that my back, hamstrings, and butt muscles get really tense in this stretch, so I always focus on releasing this tension by relaxing and focusing on breathing.
Whenever you do back stretches that require you to arch your back in this way (this type of back stretching is called back bending), you want to counteract it with the opposite stretch: front bending! Front bending is where you bend your back the opposite way of arching it, so you're rounding it out.
One front bend stretch is to sit on the ground with your legs out in front of you. Then lean forward and try to touch your toes. If I'm focusing on rounding my back out, I'll usually let my back round out so I can counteract back bending stretches. If you're trying to stretch your legs with this stretch though, keep your back flat!
Another way to counter back bend stretching is to lay on your back, and then bring your knees up to your chest and roll back and forth. If this is too easy for you, you can try to put your knees behind your head. This is a really great way to round your back out after back bending!
I hope this helps. :) If anyone has any other suggestions, send me an ask, and I'll publish it!!!
