Cat-cow
Muscles worked : Spine, back mobility
How to do it
- Get on all fours, hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips.
- Inhaling, drop the back downwards and lift the head (the "cow" position).
- Exhaling, round the back upwards and look towards your navel (the "cat" position).
- Flow between the two positions slowly, in time with your breathing.
Common mistakes
- Moving too fast, disconnected from the breath.
- Forcing range beyond comfort, especially in the lower back.
- Letting the shoulders collapse instead of staying active in the hands.
Where you should feel it
A progressive unrolling along the spine, vertebra by vertebra, rather than a muscular effort. What you are after is a sense of mobility opening up, not a contraction.
Range of motion
Go to the end of comfort in both directions, never forcing. The range opens naturally over the repetitions: this is the one exercise here where the day’s range is meant to grow during the set itself.
Tempo and breathing
The breath sets the tempo, not the other way round: inhale as you drop, exhale as you round. Count three to four seconds per position, with no dead time.
What works, precisely
This is not a strengthening exercise. The erector spinae and the abdominals alternate between contraction and stretch to mobilise each vertebral segment. The deep intersegmental muscles work across the whole range.
Movement mechanics
Successive flexion then extension of the spine in the sagittal plane, unloaded — bodyweight rests on hands and knees, not on the spine. That is what allows free mobilisation, with no axial compression.
Benefits
- Restores the segmental spinal mobility that prolonged sitting stiffens.
- Makes an excellent warm-up before any back work, and a gentle transition at the end of a session.
- Explicitly pairs movement with breathing, which helps stop you holding your breath in other exercises.
Precautions
No pain should appear: this is mobility, not a forced stretch. If a segment stays stuck, reduce the range rather than pressing into it.