We have a great question that someone submitted in the Facebook Fan Page. The question came in from Kathleen saying,
“I sit all day in my job and by the end of the day my hips, lower back, and thighs are in pain. Any suggestions for exercises to do?”
And the answer is yes. There are 4 exercises that I recommend if you sit a lot. These exercises can easily be done anywhere. If you sit all day, you can stand up and move away from your desk or chair and go through these exercises.
#1 – Back Arches with Hips Forward
Stand upright maintaining a good alignment with your head, shoulders, and hips. Feet are shoulder-width apart. Place your hands around your pelvis area. Bring your hips forward and arch through your lower back. Hold for a couple of seconds and then repeat the movement.
Back Arches with Hips Forward
Start off with 1 set of 5 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement with a good stop at the end position. Intensity is light. The purpose of the exercise is to work on improving the mobility or movement of the lumbar spine and to dynamically stretch out the front of the hips.
#2 – Reaching for the Sky
Stand upright maintaining a good alignment with your head, shoulders, and hips. Bring both arms overhead. Elongate the spine and decompress the spine. Hold the position for 5 seconds. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement.
Reaching for the Sky
Start off with 1 set of 2-3 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement with a good stop at the end position, ideally elongating for 5 seconds. Intensity is light. The purpose of the exercise is to elongate the spine or decompress the spine.
#3 – Raising the Roof
Begin in an upright standing position. Bring both arms overhead. Reach backward and arch through the back. Hold the position for a couple of seconds. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement.
Raising the Roof
Start off with 1 set of 3 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement with a good stop at the end position, ideally holding for 5 seconds. Intensity is light. The purpose of the exercise is to work on the movement canal on your back and also to stretch out the hips and decompress the spine.
#4 – 90-90 Hip Flexors Stretch
Begin in an upright standing position. Take a big step back with one foot then bring the back knee to the ground. Tighten the abdominal area and glutes. Bring your hips forward feeling the stretch in front of the hip. Hold the position for a couple of seconds. Rise back up and repeat the movement.
90-90 Hip Flexors Stretch
Start off with 1 set of 2 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement with a good stop at the end position, ideally holding for 20 seconds. Intensity is light. The purpose of the exercise is to stretch the hip flexors or the front of the hip and also to stretch out the quadriceps.
You can now give these 4 exercises a GO! If you go through these exercises and you feel benefit from them, then you might benefit from one of my most popular programs called Fix My Back Pain. It’s literally helped thousands of people around the world overcome pain, tightness, back pain, back surgery, all types of different conditions.
Take care,
Rick Kaselj
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