Roll Downs

Added:Mon, 22nd June 09

You'll likely have seen stretches similar to this before and it's amazing how many ways you can do it wrong and injure yourself. Follow this simple steps and to stay injury free and become more supple.

1

Start standing tall with a neutral spine, your feet hip width apart and arms by your side, unlock your knees and make sure that your weight is not back onto your heels. Draw in the pelvic floor and hollow the navel to the spine.

2

Leading with the head, slowly roll the chin down towards the chest working through each vertebrae of the neck and the continuing all the way down through the spine vertebra by vertebrae. Go as far down as you can, all on one long out breath.

3

Breath in at the bottom, keep the abdominal’s engaged and roll back up in reverse, rebuilding the spine and stacking one vertebrae on top of the other as you come all the way back up to standing. Let the head be the last thing to arrive.

Quick Tip!

Keep your weight forward as you roll down, keep the knees unlocked and allow the weight of the upper body to be heavy and relaxed, stretching the spine as you roll down. Keep the arms relaxed and keep the head down.