autostretching0208

THE UPPER BACK 3.

Your difficulty is:

Tight Muscles: Equipment: Starting Position:

Stretching:

Stimulation:

Common Errors: Notę:

Normal Mobility:

Bending forward above the waist while turning and bending side-ways to the right.

Musclcs thal tum upper back and bend it backward and sideways.

Chair or stool; smali cushion or folded towel.

Sit on chair with trunk leaning slightly forward, cushion under left buttock and thigh to prevent lower back turning to the right, feet apart with soles firmly on tloor. Grip with both hands under chair seat, outside right thigh, or with right hand under chair seat and left hand under right thigh.

1.    Look down and backward to the right. Exhale and bend upper bod\ forward to the right while turning it right, so that stretch is felt around chest.

2.    Inhalc and look to the left. Try tostraighten back while resisting move-ment with arms; hołd for 5 seconds.

3.    Relax; look down and backward to the right; exhale. Let right shoulder down and lean trunk forward and to the right while turning it right. assisting by pulling with arms, to limit - maybe a little bit morę.

4.    Repeat until you feel you can stretch no further and muscles feel tighL Hołd this finał stretch from 15 seconds to a minutę or morę.

1.    Retain grip; look down and backward to the right.

2.    Exhale and bend upper body forward and to the right and tum it right to limit.

3.    Resist movement with arms, palms against chair seat or against right thigh.

4.    Hołd position a few seconds.

*    Lower back not bent forward.

*    Left buttock raised from chair so thal lower back turns to the right.

*    Too much force used.

Stretch should be felt only in upper back, not in lower back or elsewhere.

You should be able to turn your shoulders until they are almost at a right angle to your pelvis.

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