Spinal Warm Up – The Roll Down

The roll down is a great little exercise to warm up the spine as well as relief tension build up in the muscles supporting the spine.

Set yourself up as shown below

• Stand tall with your head, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles aligned
• Start by nodding your chin to your chest to stretch the cervical spine
• Then gradually roll down the spine until your fingers touch the floor
• Your neck should be relaxed
• Your abdominals should be activated
• Arms should be outstretch down along your sides
• Imagine someone pulling your arms down and your head feeling heavy like lead

• Slowly roll up the same way
• Repeat this movement a few times( 4-8 times)
• After a few repetitions your spine should feel limbered; if not do a few more or move on to the cat stretch (see other blogs)

This exercise is great as a warm up or just as a stretch for the spine.
It can also be done standing against a wall.