Mary Nightingale started this discussion ·
Back stretching differs from leg stretching, you don't need to warm up muscles to avoid injury, or tire them to get a better stretch. I know cat-cow and body rolls can do the job, but how do I know that my back's warm enough for back bends? What's the most basic routine you do before back bending?
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Heat is the back's best friend, someone said, and I guess it's true. Body rolls and cow-cats are both good, but you should warm up more than so. When I do flexibility training I either do it at the gym, warming up with my weight-lifting routine, or at home warming up with pole dancing. Of course there are many other ways. I don't know if there is any patented way to know when you are warm enough, so I think you will have to try and feel. If you can buy a back support (see the blue thing I'm wearing here https://www.studioveena.com/photos/view_photo/525c81fd-bd78-4249-b90c-32110ac37250) it would be great since they help to keep the back warm.
Veena ·
You DO need to be warm before working on back mobility!!!!!!! I do my training after my upper body workout at the gym too or after taking a super hot bath then doing a few mobility exercises. I have a back mobility routine in the lessons that can help you understand the progression for back mobility.
My fav way of flexibility training is to take a super hot shower, layer up, and start off with some basic yoga movements. Things like sun salutations and cat/cow. Then I usually go through a series of cobra poses, camel, various back mobility exercises, and finish up with bridges. Veena's back mobility lesson is great!
Thanks for clarifying that. I didn't mean that no warm up is needed at all, just not the same sort of warm up that is done with muscles. Since I'm currently on the road with limited options and time and no weekly excersise routine, it seems like hot baths are my best freind. I like the idea of keeping the back warm and doing a yoga progression of poses, it seems feasible in my situation.
I have also noted in my quest for back stretching not to overlook the shoulders and psoas in the warm up. Both open shoulders and psoas play a big role in achieving a good back bend and really working to your full potential along the entire length of your spine. I know in a lot of warm ups, those areas get touched on by the nature of warm up, especially if a hot shower/bath are part of the warm up, but I try to focus on them in addition to the back, and when I do, I get better results.
Regarding the heat...don't forget the smart inventions we've got called candles. Now it's getting colder in the evenings for most people on the northern hemisphere. Yesterday I did backbending with the goal to do a few tricks on the pole. A bit before I started I lit about 20 tealights in my room. Then I warmed up with pole dancing and did my stretching. All that takes a while. Usually when it's time to go back to the pole (if it's not summer) I'm not warm enough anymore to stick to the pole which is really demotivating. But yesterday I managed to keep my body slightly sweating during the whole session thanks to the extra heat from the candles which made some difference! I think I'll go for candles anytime when poling this winter as the previous one was horrible.
