Lower back problems and limited range of motion around your hips can create some challenging surf sessions. Sooner or later, Father Time is coming for us all, so it’s smart to implement stretching exercises into our day-to-day life so we don’t end up feeling the pain.
Many of us get tight through the hip (glutes) muscles because we sit a lot during our working hours. As a result, we end up with back pain, posture problems, and muscle imbalances. many of my new clients complain about a consistent lower back pain when we start working together. After a couple of weeks of profound tissue work and stretching, the pain usually disappears. This article deals with how can you improve further and maintain ideal conditioning.
How can you maintain ideal conditioning and stay limber and fresh between surf sessions?
You can maintain and improve your that loose feeling with a simple 5-minute routine. This is not magic, it is about taking care of your own body (muscles and tendons) on a consistent basis (You can also download the routine as a 1 page cheat sheet that will help you to stretch the key areas for surfing in 5 minutes at home).
How to do the 90/90 hip stretch drill properly:
The movement should originate from your hips. If you lean forward keeping your chest up high, you’ll get a deep stretch in your lead leg. The goal is to get your belly button towards and over your knee.
– Sit into the 90/90 position.
– When you’re in the position, extend your back.
– Keep your lower back straight.
– Lean forward with your upper body.
– Stomach / chest pointing towards your front knee.
– What you’re stretching here is the gluteus minimus muscle.
– Take a deep breath in the starting position and exhale during the movement.
Common mistakes include:
– Arching your lower back. A common mistake is overloading your lower back. Simply leaning forward with your torso from your lower back won’t loosen up your hip muscles.
– Strange pins and needles feelings in your toes. Putting too much pressure on the piriformis muscle will indicate this feeling in your toe area. One of the most common mistake is overdoing and rushing the exercise that can lead to this.
How long should you hold the static stretch?
You should hold this for about 15-30 seconds in each position or 3-to-5 breaths. During stretching, try to take a deep breath through your nose for 2-4 sec and then exhale through the mouth for 5-7 sec.
Yours,
