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Originally Posted by piano1
1. Sit upright, hands on chest with elbows flared out. Twist as far as possible to the right (including head) and hold for 10 seconds. Rest, then do it again. Rest, then repeat for other side. 3 sets. My upper spine was very inflexible and this help loosen me up. Working on that part of my spine more directly by lying on a foam roller sent me into flare ups that would last for days. This twisting stretch was more indirect but very effective. I could not lift my arms very straight vertically, but after performing this stretch my vertical arm reach dramatically improved.
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This sounds great. I'll add it to my routine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by piano1
2. Sit upright. Hands clasped behind head, elbows flared out. Perform side bend to right (really feel left obliques and lats stretch), hold for 10 seconds. Rest, then do it again. Rest, then repeat for other side. 3 sets. My vertical arm reach again improved dramatically with this stretch.
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For anyone who has problems with putting their arms overhead, there is a variation of this called the "crescent stretch". You lie down on your back and then put your arms overhead (but they are parallel to your body and the floor, not up in the air) and then curve your body by bringing your feet and hands to the same side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by piano1
3. Low cobra stretch on the floor. Include twisting cobra stretches where you try to lift one shoulder up as high as possible off the ground. Then the other.
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What do you mean by "low"? Do you mean the variation where you are on your elbows instead of your hands? Or something else?
Quote:
Originally Posted by piano1
Here's the weirdest part of the routine: My body had a lot of imbalances, one side could usually stretch further than the other. After checking both sides, we would always work the good side, stretching the most flexible side first. When we would get to the bad side, for some reason the stretching on the good side greatly improved the bad side immediately. It astonishes me every single time that the bad side would improve before actually stretching it directly.
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That's very interesting. I'll share with my chiro whose very knowledgeable and see if he has anything to add about how this works.
Thanks for your detailed response!