Tight Hips and Low Back?

The Scorpion

Overview

Are your hips tight? Does your low backache? Does your lower body always feel stiff? It’s possible you have been sitting too much. The majority of jobs involve lots of it. Then when you finish work, even if you work out, it is common to sit down and watch a movie or read a book. Taking a drive to the mountains? Well, you have to sit in your car for that too.

Regardless of whether you're active or not, sitting has a major impact on our lives. That is why mobility, stretching, and soft tissue work is so important. The scorpion is one of those moves that really help to relieve those muscles and joints affected from over sitting.

What Does It Do

The scorpion does a little something for the tight muscles all the way from top to bottom. However, it primarily helps stretch and mobilize the lower body. Here is a list of what the scorpion stretches.

• The hip flexors (psoas)

• The quads

• The abs (rectus abdominis and obliques)

• The chest (pecs)

The glutes and erectors don't quite get stretched but they do get some good activation.

Key Coaching Cues

As with most mobility and stretching exercises make sure you listen to your body. Don’t over-stretch. Grey Cook, the founder of the Functional Movement Screen once said, “If there is pain it is no longer a stretch. Rather, it is just an insult to an underlying injury that you may not be aware of.” If you have pain and a stretch is supposed to help it but it doesn’t, that's usually a good clue that you should seek a medical professional for a better observation. I say this because as helpful as this stretch is I have had a few clients that it actually caused a fair amount of pain in. Sometimes we need more help than just a stretch and sometimes stretching is a good indicator of that.

Here is how to do the scorpion.

1. Lay flat on your stomach with your arms out to the sides and legs straight.

2. Bend one knee to about 90 degrees and lift your knee off the floor, engaging your glutes as you lift your leg upward.

3. Keep your arms flat in the position and apply pressure down to ensure your chest and shoulder stay flat and stable.

4. Now begin to rotate your left leg to the other side of your body over your right leg.

5. While you are doing this your left side abs and hips will lift off the ground and that is where the stretch should really be active.

6. The goal would be to touch the floor with your foot but you may not be able to get that far until you get some practice.

7. From there return to the starting position

When doing the scorpion you should always be focusing on deep diaphragmatic breaths. This will allow you to further the stretch and help build core activation.