Happy Monday! Hopefully, your weekend was fantastic and you were able to do something wonderful! This was the first weekend the hubs and I were both home together, so we had an easy weekend at home.
This weekend I was also able to do some reading on back strength that led me down the rabbit hole of interesting reads. It all started when I went to the chiropractor and got a massage and adjustment for the first time in 2+ months. It was not the comfiest of visits and I am quite certain that my masseuse, who usually likes me, was trying to kill me. The chiropractor was also quite disappointed with my massive back tightness and asked if I had been having back spasms or cut back on yoga. Guilty on both counts, for shame.
I later read a couple of articles on back strength (including this one) and it led me down the bunny hole of internet reading. Turns out that yoga can help us in more ways than body weight training alone. This Huff Post article talks about the significance of back pain and whether or not yoga is a viable remedy while this article talks about the reasons yoga is good for us to do.
For these reasons, I wanted to create a simple interval workout based on a few core yoga poses that help with back strength and flexibility. As far as I know, we have never touched on back workouts here on P+K, this one is a great way to go into that new territory- it will work your lats, trapezius, teres, rhomboids, and even the bum!
I recommend doing at least one set of this, holding each pose for as long as possible. Then, if you want to try it all again, see if you can hold each for a few seconds longer! If you are doing two sequences of this, no need to do the first set of sun salutations the second time around. Also, links or explanations of every exercise are listed below :)
Down Dog Plank Rolls: Go from downward facing dog to plank, hold in plank, then return to downward facing dog. The movement should cause a roll in the back, much like a wave.
Cobra Push-Ups: Start in cobra pose and push-up so you are almost in upward facing dog. Be sure you are using the arms and upper back. Hold at the top before coming back down to cobra.