Whether you suffer from lower back pain on the gym floor or after a full day of sitting, you could probably benefit from sprinkling a few dynamic stretches into your daily routine.
Often confused with static stretching—where you hold a stretch in a stationary position to lengthen the muscles—dynamic stretching involves active movements that take your joints through a full range of motion, enhancing overall mobility.
“As your body moves through this complete range of motion, you develop the strength and flexibility needed for proper movement mechanics and injury prevention, creating an ideal foundation for athletics, workouts, or daily activities,” says Rachele Gilman, stretchologist and co-founder of the luxury wellness retreat Eat Move Sleep.
If you’re new to dynamic stretching and don’t know where to start, Rachele’s got your covered. Whether you’re looking to prime your body for better movement in the gym or want to relieve tension after a long day of desk sitting, these five stretches from Rachele are designed to target your lower back and boost overall mobility.
Cat cow
Benefits: “The cat-cow works the muscles in our upper and lower back, core, neck, hip flexors and glutes,” says Rachele. “It can help improve mobility and flexibility in the spine, reduce lower back tension, boost your posture and prepare the spine for more complex movements.” If you’re doing a workout with big compounds, like squats and deadlifts, this is an excellent one to prime the spine.
How to:
- Start on your hands and knees, with your hands placed directly underneath your shoulders and knees underneath the hips
- Exhale and round your spine toward the ceiling, pulling your tailbone down and drawing your chin to your chest
- Hold here for 2-3 seconds
- Next, inhale while arching your back and lift your chest and tailbone toward the ceiling
- Hold here for 2-3 seconds
Repeat for 10-12 reps
Walk out planks to overhead stretch
Benefits: This combination exercise is an excellent full-body exercise that engages multiple muscles simultaneously. “It’s great for developing full-body coordination, increasing flexibility in the hamstrings, shoulder mobility and enhances posterior chain activation,” says Rachele. Probably not the best one to throw yourself into if your back is particularly sore, but it’s golden for including in a warm-up.
How to:
- Begin standing tall and your feet hip-width apart
- Hinge forward at the hips, keeping your legs straight (a soft bend in the knees is ok here) and walk your hands forward into a plank position
- Hold here for three seconds, then walk your hands back toward your feet
- Roll up into your standing position while reaching your arms overhead and pushing the hips forward for a slight arch in the spine
Repeat for 8-10 reps with controlled movement
Windmills
Benefits: This exercise encourages dynamic spine rotation and improves rotational mobility, just what your body needs after a whole day of sitting. “It engages the obliques and core muscles, the hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders, your upper and lower back muscles, as well as the glutes—the whole shebang!” says Rachele.
How to:
- Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width and extend your arms out to sides at shoulder height
- Keeping the arms straight, rotate your torso and bend down to touch your right hand across to your left foot
- Return to the centre position
- Repeat the same movement on the opposite side, touching your left hand to your right foot, before returning back to centre
Repeat this 10 times on each side
Toe touch overhead reach
Benefits: This stretch is great for engaging your posterior chain muscles (the muscles on the back of your body), as well as the core and shoulder muscles. “Another great one for improving your spinal mobility, increasing hamstring flexibility and improving body awareness,” adds Rachele.
How to:
- Stand your with feet shoulder-width apart and reach your arms straight up overhead
- Begin hinging at hips, folding your body forward to touch toes and bend your knees to rest your chest on your thighs (you can bend as much as needed to reach your palms to the floor)
- Slowly and controlled, rise back to standing, reaching your arms up overhead and push your hips forward slightly to lean back for a slight arch in the spine
- Return to start position
Repeat this 10 times, focusing on initiating the forward bend from the hips with a straight back rather than curving the spine
Knee twists
Benefit: “This movement improves thoracic spine mobility by enhancing spinal rotation, reducing lower back tension,” says Rachele. “It increases flexibility in the core and stretches the chest and shoulders.”
How to:
- Start on the floor led on your back and bring both knees in towards the chest
- Extend your arms out to the sides, with your palms facing down or in a cactus position
- Keeping your knees bent at 90 degrees, lower both knees down to the right side until it touches the floor
- Return to centre, then repeat this on the other side lowering both knees to the left side
Repeat this for 10 reps on both sides
