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#1 Seated Spine Stretch (Spine Stretch Forward)

Props: None

Start Position: Seated facing a wall, soles of the feet pressed up flat against the wall,  arms outstretched in front of you, knees slightly bent to find length throughout the spine

Main Movement:  Inhale to sit up tall, exhale nod chin to chest and articulate into flexion through the spine, reaching your arms straight forward in the same plane until palms touch the wall or the back prevents from further stretch forward. Inhale holding the reach forward, take the full exhalation to slowly re-stack the spine up to the start position. The whole time, try to keep heels of the feel attached to the wall and specifically discover a sensation of reach or press through the heels so the backs of the legs stay active in this stretch

Repetitions: 5-10 Reps

Goal/Benefits: By mobilizing the spine in this way, you can use your surroundings to keep the posterior (or back) chain of the leg, i.e. hamstrings and muscles of the calf and heel activated as they lengthen promoting not only a release for the legs and hips, but an opening sensation for the low back which can grip after hours of travel and long days of being on your feet

Contraindications: 2nd-3rd Trimester of Pregnancy, Spinal Injury (Disc Herniation or Spinal Fusion)

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#2 Psoas Stretch or Kneeling Lunge

Props: Hand Towel

Start Position: Kneeling facing the wall, fold up the towel and find a comfortable thickness to place underneath your Left Knee Cap, Right Foot steps forward, both legs bent at 90 degree angles to start, hands on the wall for balance Main Movement: Inhale to draw belly button to spine (activating your deepest abdominals), Exhale slide the left knee away from the wall, bringing the left hip into extension and potentially feeling a stretch sensation through the front of the Quadriceps and Left Hip. Tips to take it deeper, try to work on squaring off the halves of your pelvis to the wall in front of you and keep breathing deeply with that abdominal activation to protect your joints and again keep the muscles active as they lengthen. If you’re unable to feel the sensation of stretch, you can try sending the left knee back further deepening the extension of the left hip. Repeat on the second side.

Repetitions: 30 Seconds per side, Optional to repeat stretch on both sides to take the stretch deeper

Goal/Benefits: In this position we are actively stretching through a deep muscle that acts as a hip flexor (think the muscles that contract to help you sit down or squat down to pick something up). This specific muscle runs through the pelvic girdle and attached towards the lower part of the spine, so it is not uncommon to feel release through the low back after this stretch as well.

Contraindications: Osteoporosis (may require additional padding under the knee)

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#3 Abdominal Flexion/Extension 

Props: Pilates Ball (75% Inflated)

Start Position: Place the ball between the tips of your shoulder blades and lay back with your hands interlaced behind your head, feet flat on the floor at hip width apart.
Main Movement: Starting with your head extended back over the ball and your chest in an open position, inhale in, exhale to curl the chest forward as the belly button draws back towards the spine. Try to keep the head heavy in the hands and think about leading with the chest, not the chin. Inhale to extend back, exhale to repeat.

Repetitions: 15-20 Reps

Goal/Benefits: By exercising the abdominals in this way, we warm up the Rectus Abdominals (the most superficial layer of our abdominals) the ones that help us curl out of bed in the morning and tune into the Transverse Abdominals (our deepest later of the abdominals) the ones that support our body throughout most of its big movements. By activating these muscles, we can help to support our whole body but specifically our spine as we go throughout our travel, typically including long days of walking and potentially extended periods of standing which can compress the spine throughout the day.

Contraindications: 2nd-3rd Trimester of Pregnancy, Diastasis Recti in the Postnatal Body, Spinal Injury (Disc Herniation or Spinal Fusion)

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#4 Lateral Flexion (Side Sit Ups)

Props: Pilates Ball (75% Inflated), Hand Towel (thinly folded)

Start Position: Lying on your side with the ball nestled under the side ribs, arm closes to floor outstretched by ear, hand closest to the floor on the hand towel, hand closest to the sky behind the head, both knees bent at a 90 degree angle, soles of the feet facing back.

Main Movement: Inhale to prepare, exhale belly pulls back to spine as you press down through the bottom arm simultaneously sliding the hand towel towards you, lifting up into a side bend, inhale to lengthen arm away from you sliding back down into start position. If this is going well, it is optional to tent the fingers on the floor to lessen the base of support for abdominals. Repeat on Second Side

Repetitions: 5-10 Reps Per Side

Goals/Benefits: Lateral Flexion (the action of bending the spine to the side), is amazing for not only your Oblique Abdominals, but also for your deep intercostal space (the space between your individual ribs). By working in this plane of motion we are strengthening our side abdominals which help to keep the spine erect and supported as carry bags and reach bags up into overhead bins, but we are also promoting more space into our side waist helping our lungs to breath deeper and our respiratory system to function more healthily.

Contraindications: Spinal Injury (Disc Herniation or Spinal Fusion)

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#5 Quadruped Glute Activation

Props: Pilates Ball (100% Inflated)

Start Position: On all Fours (Hands stacked under the shoulders, Knees stacked under the hips), Pilates Ball behind one Thigh and Knee
Main Movement: Inhale, Exhale to draw belly button to spine as your Press Ball leg up towards the sky (keeping ball secure and taught behind the knee), Inhale to lower leg back down toward the floor, exhale to repeat. Repeat for the necessary reps and then hold the bent knee up toward the sky, find small squeezes of your calf into the ball, activating the hamstring even deeper, holding the final squeeze in, finish with 1-Inch pulses of the leg up toward the sky. Lowering the leg down, repeat on the second side.

Repetitions: 15-20 of each action

Goals/Benefits: While working on your hands and knees we are simultaneously strengthening our connection to the shoulders and deep core while also activating the hamstrings and glutes. Doing these small exercises before a busy day traveling or walking around your destination will help to fire up your legs faster so that our spine stays more supported and our lower half of the body can work to sustain the increased activity and support the weight of your body and gravity.

Contraindications: Osteoporosis (may require additional padding under the knee)