This cobra won’t bite. Try it.
The “Prone Cobra” is one of those magical exercises that sticks in your memory. Not just because it hurt, or because it was tough enough to make you shake uncontrollably the first time you try (even though it definitely ticks those boxes), but because of something much cooler.
During one of my professional courses, I was dumbfounded at just how many health professionals couldn’t do this exercise. In fact, the bigger and more muscular they were, the quicker they dropped.
I did some investigation as to why. I started measuring clients before and after each attempt, and I found something shocking.
After a two-minute hold of this posture, I was able to correct their forward head posture by at least 1 centimeter and improve their upper spinal (thoracic curve) by as much as 4-10 degrees.
That might not sound like much, but it is, so think of it this way. For every inch your head sits forward of its normal/happy place, the apparent weight of your head increases by 10% through the load bearing structures of the neck, shoulders and back.
This meant that for all my clients with a stiff middle back, and a forward head posture (which by the way is pretty much all of them, and most likely you), I could do something awesome about it.
And then this happened…
Several years ago, I was working closely with a client who wasn’t able to hyperextend. Technically, it was called a spondylolisthesis, which meant that the bottom sections of her spine had fractured and had pushed forward. This was pressing against her spinal cord.
Any extension of her back meant pain. It also put her at risk of potentially not being able to use her legs. Bad shit could happen.
There were other examples where clients with too much lordosis (too curvy in their low back) would get uncomfortable in extended postures. As the facet joints of the spine approximate (get closer together), this can cause an extraordinary contraction of the muscles surrounding them in order to avoid aggravating your spine. If you have this issue, then you want to be careful in any extended postures – like lying on your surfboard.
You will want to do something about it because being on a surfboard is too much fun.
Anyway, that was the problem, but I still had this awesome exercise that I wanted to use to fix her forward head posture.
Enter Janet Alexander.
If you haven’t heard of Janet, it’s probably because she is busy somewhere being awesome. She showed me how to modify this amazing exercise so anyone can get it nailed.
Sometimes, the simple things are the most effective. I tried using a swiss ball, and I found that it still made her back upset.
Simply placing a rolled-up towel under her stomach and getting her to only extend to neutral meant taking all the strain out of the back.
You still want to be careful in how you perform this exercise, and there should be no feelings of discomfort in the lower back.
If you try this, and it doesn’t feel right, please STOP. Find a CHEK Practitioner in your area to show you how.
If you have questions that you would like to see answered in this forum, send me an email here.
Till next time, hooroo!
-Ash Boddy
