Now in this exercise I’m going to show you a forward bending motion that is fabulous for helping to release the low back and the upper spine as well. It’s great for strengthening your base of support for the core musculature of the body, and by that I mean legs. So, will strengthen and well as lengthen the legs, the muscles of the legs; strengthening the quadriceps while lengthening the hamstrings. Short hamstrings are a huge component of lower back pain in many, many cases. And in my practice, I have seen that over, and over again. Short hamstrings are linked to lower back pain. So, this is a great way to lengthen the hamstrings, strengthen the muscles on the other side, the quadriceps and allow the spine to release, and basically lengthen the front of the lower spine. So, this exercise is a basic forward bend. So, we’re going to start out with your feet parallel. I’ll be using a sticky yoga mat by the way. You can also use a solid, or a hard surface, something’s that’s not squishy. You could buy one from my website, or from other places such as Walmart. It should be sticky and not slippery. Get one that does not tend to slip when your hands or other parts of your body perspire. You’ll really need the traction of this mat for this exercise. They’re not expensive, about twenty to twenty-five bucks. So, again, I highly suggest that you get a sticky mat. Again, in this exercise, I start out with my two feet parallel. My weight is evenly distributed across my two feet. My knees, my ankles, and my head are all lined up. So make sure you’re feet are not on the side, they should be facing forward. I need to support the core structures of my body, and in order to do that I should have a solid foundation. So I put my legs into a position that provides a strong and a solid foundation, and I can right now with the body that I have. So I do that. The next thing I’m going to do is when I work my quadriceps hard. Look at just above my knees, and you’ll see that my quadriceps is working, and as I work these muscles my knee caps raise a little bit. My muscles are hard now; I work them pretty hard. Now in this exercise you’ll going to find as you bend forward, the quadriceps are going to be want to let go and they start to get soft, and keep reminding yourself to tighten them up. What I do is I rap my knuckles to test the muscles if they’re soft, or if they’re working. The next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to balance my weight just in front of the heel. So that’s between the rear part of the feet and the arc of my feet. That’s where I want my weight to go. And yet I want my feet to be easily spread across the floor, with weight evenly distributed. But if I want to drop a plumb line down from my head, I would want the plumb line just in front of the area between my two heels. Next I’m going to take my hands to my waist. I’m going to lift my knee caps, and lift my chest, and begin to bend forward at the waist. Notice, that I’m not arching, but bending forward with a concave back. I bend forward at the waist and at some point, my hamstrings starts to pull and my back starts to round a little bit. So I will just work to where I can. But I don’t really want to force my back to round. I’m allowing gravity to help me in this exercise. I just cross my arms and I work my legs, and what you’ll find is, your weight will move forward on your feet, or perhaps on your one foot or the other. And what you’ll do is you just keep balancing up your weight, pushing the weight into your heels, and it doesn’t matter if you touch the floor or not. You’ll find that your muscles and your thigh want to release, you strengthen them up again. Eventually you’ll spine will release. Before you come up, place your hands on your hips and then come up using your strong legs to support your body. This is a great exercise. It’s a little bit counter-intuitive for lower back pain but it can help. If you do this and your back pain increases, stop. If you do this and your back pain decreases, then continue to do it. Those are the two things that you really need to use to gauge whether this exercise is going to work for you or not. But it’s a great option and it works fabulously for certain people.

It’s so easy to do this exercise. Its hassle free, it doesn’t require much space, and you can do this in the privacy of your home. What’s more this exercise relieves lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, all sorts of back pains fast. Try it, and see for yourself. To get the free video of today’s featured exercise visit http://www.backpainreliefworkshop.com. Register, and grab the video and all the other videos absolutely free, no hidden charges whatsoever. What are you waiting for? Grab one now, and take your first step to a newer, healthier you.