Stretch exercise then looking at this third component, posture for the low back. So we talked before an entry level about these hip flexors that get short and tight in through the front here, and how indeed, what we need to do then, as we're getting more short through the front, is we need to lengthen that. So if you're looking to help with the neck, then we're going to stretch in through the front here if you're looking for the chance to get a look to strengthen the tissue in through the front. Now we're going to be looking at the hip flexors to do this, so we talked about the fact that if we're sitting and we're shorting English tissue through here, or really you need to think about is doing the opposite of that to anything that's going to stretch and lengthen. And you can't See my leg here, but you'll see in the in the video anything that's going to kind of open up and stretch there.

So as in the hip flexor component is going to be very important to help compensate. And what's going on here in the back. Now I go towards stretching the hip flexors first rather than any kind of back stretches because remember, in this series, what we're looking at is treating the cause of this issue, not the symptoms. So I'm not saying this is all the exercises that you could do to help with the low back but what I'm trying to do here was teach a concept for you to get a better understanding. And also I find people can get results just from freeing up the hip flexor concept complex in through here and just That in itself can help free up the back pain if you're getting back pain a little higher up in through the low back as a good chance and that's just the so as if you look at the imagery here are drawn it for you.

Notice how the so as is connected in the lumbar spine, so if it's Tight through there, then you're going to actually feel it in through this back area. Let's say that we've got the so as connecting in through this component here, and connecting in through here, and it's coming down in through the hip. This is hard to hold at the same time, bear with me. So we're coming in through here, this is the so as complex coming through here, so as major a minor. So now this is all getting short and tight like this iliacus on the inside here. So you see how it's, it's, it's pulling in on this lumbar spine.

Now get short and tight, you stand up, it pours. Well, guess what that's going to flag as back pain in through the back, even though in effect, it's this hip flexor. That's creating a lot of it. Now, there's a little bit more to that because we tend to round forward. So we've also got things like the qL that are connecting up into the bottom of the rib cage there. But as a premise, I think you get a good understanding of what's going on there with the hip flexor So we want to stretch that component in order to, to help that it's a little bit harder to massage.

There are some so self massage techniques. I'm not a big fan of teaching that because this is a big visceral area, I've spent 10 years fine tuning my skills and knowledge to work with the so as manually on other people. So I'm not gonna go out there and suggest that that's something that you should dive in to do, but there is a safer way of getting to it, which is by doing these stretches in through the hip flexors. So one word of warning for these stretches that progress. There's two different stretches there. And one is kind of a mini lunch.

We're just taking a step back. And the reason for that is you're going to be stretching the limits of restructurings, the sowers here, need more hands. So imagine that it's short. So now you're going to do this say this is the head of the femur here. You're going to do a lunge stretch and bring your leg back in going to stretch this tissue. But notice what that does to the pelvis.

When you stretch it pulls it even more football forward. So if you're someone who's getting a lot of low back pain because of compression in through here, and you go to do this Lumbar stretch, you could actually be increasing the tension in through this low and this low back. And that's why I cringe a little bit when people come and see me. And they started doing yoga for the first time to help their back pain. Because a lot of yoga instructors aren't thinking this way. It's starting to change a little bit.

But that's why people try yoga and they end up in more pain than what they're actually in. So when you're doing the lumbar, when you're doing the stretch, the lunch stretch, the first one is just kind of a mini one. So again, it might look simple, but I really want to encourage that you do that as a first step one because it's a nice little thing that you can do when you're when you're standing desk if you're standing or somebody can just stand up and do in the office. But the second thing is that we're easing in through this tension here. We don't want you to pour too much. So then the second An exercise that you want to do is to stretch is there more of a deep lunge or a high lunge.

So now you're really starting to get some mobility and stretching in through the hip flexor complex. And so So, for both of those exercises, what I'm suggesting you do is make sure that your core is engaged. And that's why we do the awareness component about learning what that actually means so that you can engage the court correctly, that helps stabilize the pelvis area. So when you go to stretch backwards through the hips there, that's going to hold the pelvis forward and stop you from overcorrecting or stop you from them compressing into the low back even more, so I'd much rather you do less of a depth in lunch. It's not about how much you can stretch this tissue, or how deep you can get into the lunch. It's about getting a nice easy stretch in through the tight hip flexor but having this complex stable in the right position and you'll see that in the in the video in the exercise.

So please do think about When you do that, again, if you're someone that's done that kind of long stretch 100 times before, follow it to the tee if you can with the video and see if you notice a bit of a difference because I find clients that completely changes now all of a sudden they engage the core, they took the sacrum underneath and then all of a sudden they are able to get much deeper into the hip flexors in a good stretch, but you're not trying to push beyond your end range. I say my end range is kind of you hit a point of stretch from okay Congo anymore. To sit there breathe into it, allow it we've we've got to start getting beyond this Olympic yoga idea of the more I can get into this stretch, the better I am, and the more results I'm going to get.

So enjoy the stretch exercise there. filmed it on the beaches in San Francisco. So nice, sunny day, so enjoy