Cat Cow help?

When I perform FL/PE1>iM, aka Cat Cows, I notice that my spine is quite good during the up part of the movement, but my arch is virtually nonexistent in the down portion of the movement. My back is essentially flat with a tiny dip in the middle; nothing like the video. What can I do to help with this?

Salivanth said:

What can I do to help with this?

What you're already doing. Foundation is great for mobility stuff and the early PE's and IM's are great for getting people mobile again.

That said, you might want to try and identify any dysfunction, I had very tight hip flexors and weak glute/hamstrings that gave me an anterior pelvic tilt which made FL PE2/4 more difficult.

It's possible that a lack of use has just made you stiff and as you continue in your practice mobility will return. Without more information (video of the element, more bio; age/previous experience/etc) it's hard to suggest more. A trip to the doctors/physio could help identify any dysfunction.

Salivanth said:

When I perform FL/PE1>iM, aka Cat Cows, I notice that my spine is quite good during the up part of the movement, but my arch is virtually nonexistent in the down portion of the movement. My back is essentially flat with a tiny dip in the middle; nothing like the video. What can I do to help with this?

First, how long have you been doing them? Mobility takes time.

But whithout seeing a video, how are your hands pointing? When I started these  I was not paying attention to how the hands on the athelite in the video was pointing his hands.

Make sure your fingers point out to the side, as you come down make sure to relax between your shoulderblades (still with lockes elbows) and breath high up in your chest.

Hope it helps:)

I've only been doing the element for about a month. I'm 22, male, and have been strength training for a while, but haven't been doing much mobility stuff aimed at the spine. I'll look into the stuff you mentioned Mats, thanks.

And thanks to you as well, Murray, you seem to be EVERYWHERE in this forum! I really appreciate how much help you offer.

Salivanth said:

I've only been doing the element for about a month. I'm 22, male, and have been strength training for a while, but haven't been doing much mobility stuff aimed at the spine. I'll look into the stuff you mentioned Mats, thanks.

And thanks to you as well, Murray, you seem to be EVERYWHERE in this forum! I really appreciate how much help you offer.

I like to hang out on the forum, there's a lot of really knowledgeable people on here and I tend to find whenever I have a problem I've already read the solution from someone else's post.

I try to only post when the knowledge has come to me from someone much more experienced than myself.

There's a FAQ and a search function but it can sometimes be a bit much for beginners to read through pages and pages looking for answers. When I first came to this site a lot of people were very patient and helpful so I try to be the same.

A couple of things I can suggest:

1) check your alignment between wrists, elbows and shoulders. You hand should be placed exactly in line with the shoulders

2) you may try to 'pull you hands backwards' (notice you won't move, against the resistance of the floor) while arching. This will intensify the arch in the lower back.

What about people who can't seem to arch on the upper back? =(

Iguanus said:

What about people who can't seem to arch on the upper back? =(

Could be thoracic mobility, foam rolling can really help.

 

This is a great way to open up your thoracic spine at the beginning of a workout.

Murray, how does one foam roll for thoracic mobility?

You can look up Mike Reinhold on youtube, I believe he has a good video for it.