HOW: Start in a quadruped position with your hands and knees on the ground. Slowly rotate to one side by bringing your arm under your body and through to the other side. To increase the stretch, you can “crawl your fingers” and exhale at the end of the stretch. Then reverse the rotation and rotate the other direction, exhaling at the top. You can use your eyes to increase the stretch

 

FEEL: You should feel a nice and gentle stretch in the middle region of your back when you perform this exercise.

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to keep your hips on top of your knees, or even sink your hips back more towards your ankles. Do not let your hips come forward like in a modified plank position

HOW: Start in a sitting position with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground and a foam roller lying on the ground behind you at about shoulder level. You can either interlock your hands behind your neck or cross your arms across your chest. Keep your hips on the ground as you lean gently back into the roller bringing your shoulders, head, and neck down over the roller. Carefully work up and down the length of your mid back by lifting your hips up, rolling back, and extending over the foam roll.

 

FEEL: You should feel some pressure and stretch in the middle portion of your spine. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t go too fast, go slow and controlled over the foam roller.

HOW: Start by lying on your side with your knees bent and raised to hip height. Clasp your hands on top of each other. Slowly reach your top hand forward as far as you can. Then, slowly pull your hands back, across your chest, and drop to the opposite side.

 

FEEL: You should feel a nice gentle stretch through your mid-back region. You may also feel a little pec stretch in the front of your shoulder.

 

COMPENSATION: Make sure to keep your knees high. If your knees are not high enough, you will not get the stretch in your mid-back region.

HOW: Standing with your arms at your side, bring one arm up in front of you as high as you can, palm facing in.  Once you have your arm as high as you can, rotate your arm around to where your palm is facing out. As you rotate your arm out, rotate your arm and shoulder back until you can’t.  At that point, rotate your hand back to the starting position and reverse the motion.  

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your shoulder working.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your chest facing forward. Don’t twist back towards the moving arm. Slow and controlled motion, this is not about how fast you move your shoulder.

HOW: Get set up first by placing a barbell around thigh height on a rack. You can also perform this exercise on a box, bench, or any other object around that height. Then get down on both knees and place the end of your triceps, just before your elbows, onto the barbell or box. Scoot your knees back so you are comfortable. Drive your chest down to the floor as far as you can. Many times you will have to lower your head as well to get your chest lower, which is normal.

 

FEEL: You should feel a huge stretch in your upper back, and even sometimes under your arm pits and your triceps region.

 

COMPENSATION: The key is to arch your back with this stretch. Do not just simply drive your chest to the floor.