Stretching - Most Overlooked Exercise - Part 2

Previously I have mentioned about stretching... Today let's talk about stretching and back health... To kick-start this topic, I shall focus on the few muscles that are quite important for good back health; Hip Flexors, Hamstrings, Piriformis...

You must be surprised .... These mentioned muscles here are from the legs and hip... What relationship do they have with the back.... Well, they are definitely important and connected. Let's say for example the hip flexors (see pic)

Anatomically, the hip flexor made primarily of the Psoas and illacus does the function of bringing the hip up front (Eg. Knee up, or front kicking). Because of its linkage with the spine, when this muscle area gets tight, it will also result in pulling on to the spine. This is why many times the cause of back pain is due to the tightness mainly in the hip and leg areas.

So you can see the importance to prevent back pain. I strongly recommend stretching as an important exercise for everyone. In addition to that, stretching can be done everyday (as compared to strength training exercises which recommend 48 - 72 hours rest before).

Since I have touched on the hip flexor, let's see some of my recommended stretching exercises here (youtube vid) for the hip flexor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41A7Mr-txro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwToKziL5A4