Wall Walk SE23… sooooo stiff in my back

My spine has been stiff in bending backwards what I can remember (at least 40 years, lol… I am 51 now). I have now done 7 TBS sessions, and I can feel like my shoulder flexibility is definitely improving. Not sure about my back… I am showing a video how it looks and how deep I can get at this point, wondering if there is something additional I can do during the other 6 days to help my back flexibility even further?  (Besides TBS I do FSS, MSS, and F7 2–3 times per week and H1/H2 2–3 times per week. I know they all will help as well). Any other "older" athletes out there, how is your spine going backwards doing?  @Mats Trane?

Thank you!

Haha bridge is definetly one my weak links! 25 years of desk work has done my spine more like a peace of steal! I do the TBS but have also taken my weaker links out of the course and try to do the a couple of times a week. 

Thanks @Mats Trane… I guess the spine bending backwards could be one of the few things that we can blame the "age"... too much sitting just compounded on us over the years, huh? 

I'm not the best one to talk about stiff spines, but if I were you, when doing the series, I would just drop the wall walks and do more elevated bridge (you can also do that for bridge pushups or hip taps if they are too hard). Other than that, yeah daily limber, anything that moves your spine. Cat-cow is probably is the easiest to do very often and without needing too much warmup.

I usually walk my feet away from the wall slightly as I walk down the wall to get more depth.  Then walk the feet back in on my way up.  I'm 6'3", but I assume this approach will work for any size athlete.

3 hours ago, Seth Richmond said:

I usually walk my feet away from the wall slightly as I walk down the wall to get more depth.  Then walk the feet back in on my way up.  I'm 6'3", but I assume this approach will work for any size athlete.

That sound like a great idea, Seth… I am 6 feet, pretty tall for a girl. I will try that next time….

@Briac Roquet I have problems with the elevated bridge—I can't push myself into it yet. And in a HS course, I am still in tummy-on-the-wall phase (PE8) so I can't get into it from the handstand either. I can push myself into a bridge from the floor, but not elevated…. however, my floor bridge is not very pretty. I've been doing that one instead of the elevated, and the rest—the bridge push-ups and taps—by the wall, and that's ok…. Cat-Cows are a good idea, easy to do, anytime, anywhere. You should see the Cow-part… hardly any arch. 

14 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

Thanks @Mats Trane… I guess the spine bending backwards could be one of the few things that we can blame the "age"... too much sitting just compounded on us over the years, huh? 

But I'm not givin up! Slow progress is better than no progress! It does good thing to my shoulders.

9 hours ago, Mats Trane said:

But I'm not givin up! Slow progress is better than no progress! It does good thing to my shoulders.

Definitely @Mats Trane, there is no giving up. Just an obsession to get the spine backwards-bendy as easily as forward  I can already feel my shoulders being in my better shape, so I am pleased. 

Hi Suzanna,

Don't know if this helps, but I'm 47 and have just started F1 and SS (about a month in) after doing Fundamentals. I've done plenty of exercise over the years martial arts, running, cycling, climbing, weights etc. However, lots of physical work doing house renovation during the last five years really locked up a lot of my movement and bound up muscle groups. Certainly compared to how limber I used to be.

Initially I had the same response when doing bridge wall walks (and thought there was a plank of wood attached to my spine!), but last session I really noticed increased flexibility to the point where I could eyeball the floor behind me. Like the other poster mentioned, and Wesleys' tutorial video shows stepping the feet out a little as you lower, really helped. Doing all exercises and completing every session really is having substantial day-on-day, week-on-week improvements for my mobility.

Richard

Thank you, @Richard Thomas, for your input on your experience. I definitely feel it's getting better, but waiting for the major breakthrough… Maybe it's going to happen this next session (my number 8). Since I wrote this post, I have been laying on the big ball after each training session and just hanging there, in a sort of "assisted bridge" position. There was one day I felt like the tissue in the front, abs and hip-flexors, just let go and got longer. It felt like that :-)  so I am curious how my next Thoracic Bridge on Sunday will be. I will, of course, keep going. I am not the one who would give up. I want to master my spine