Lower Back Exercises: Cat Roll

Video Transcript

"We're going to work on cat and cat rolling for strengthening the low back, and giving it a stretch. It'll also work on the midsection of the core. So you're assuming a quadrupedic position, on all fours with hands right underneath the shoulders, knees right underneath the hips. We always exhale on extension, so we're going to begin by taking a big inhale and rounding navel to spine, and you're just scooping out, hollowing out slight space between the chin and the chest. Round in and out. You want to maintain a neutral spine when you extend, and let all the vertebrae...so you want to try to articulate all 17 vertebrae on extension. And exhale, round in navel to spine, you want to pull up through the mid-thoracic. It's a great release for the mid-back, and take a big inhale and come out over the top of the hands. It's like you've got a string pulling your head in one direction and your hips are going the opposite direction, and you're just releasing all the vertebrae. And exhale, round in and breathe, inhale and release. Start off with about 5 repetitions of slow rounding in to flex the spine and extend to stretch it out. Find out what active range of motion you have at that time, and as you keep building up on that you'll increase. It's a great way to hit the floor after you get out of bed in the morning, to stretch and give the vertebrae a chance to release all that fluid and get the cushion started for the day. "