Stretches for Low Back Pain Relief & Tight Hips is a deep, slow stretching session from Michelle Briehler. Each stretch is held for one minute, which is actually a long time to hold a stretch. The kneeling lunge with your arm reaching overhead (#2 & 3) and the yogi squat (#10) actually became a little uncomfortable. There is a timer in the upper right hand corner of the screen, counting down each minute. You get 15 seconds between each stretch to transition into the next position. There is also a little bar in the upper right hand corner of the screen, just below the interval timer that counts down the entire workout time as a percentage. This was a wonderful, feel good, deep flexibility session to add onto the end of any workout. Though the focus is the low back and hips, your upper body also gets some stretching.
Stretches for Low Back Pain Relief & Tight Hips is 15:41; 35 second intro. It is actually just under 15 minutes. The last 40 seconds or so is Michelle talking. Equipment: fitness mat.
- Forward fold
- Kneeling lunge, lean forward to stretch hip flexor; add reaching one arm overhead to stretch side
- Repeat #2 on other side of body
- Figure four glute stretch
- With legs still in figure 4, drop legs to side so you are in lying spinal twist; at the 30 second arm, stack legs (bent at 90 degrees) while still in spinal twist
- Repeat #4 & 5 on other side of body
- Sphinx pose (lay on stomach and forearms, raising chest)
- Child’s pose; reach arms to one side of mat; reach arms to other side of mat
- Downward facing dog
- Yogi squat (deep, wide leg squat, toes turned out, elbows against inner thighs)
- (no timer/not done for a minute) Stand and do neck stretches, leaning ear to shoulder
For more info on Michelle Brieher’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
