After an exhausting six months, I am making some serious progress with my back, shoulder, and hip issues. We have recently been experimenting hanging and it has made all the difference in the world. Mind you, we tried having me work on hanging a few months ago, but my body was not ready for it yet. I was too tight. It's not until after much more mobility and soft tissue work that I was able to get to this point.


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If you have back pain check this out. I have herniated lumbar discs, thoracic arthritis, spinal stenosis, and just very bound up and tight soft tissue throughout my hips, back, and shoulders. I have worked diligently with my pt since March and have come a long way in untangling my issues. I do a ton of stretching daily as well as soft tissue work. This movement seems to be bringing me into the final frontier of my recovery. I use straps and hang from my pullup bar. The trick for me is not hanging fully and using my feet for assistance. It's easy to overstretch and make your pain worse. You can trick yourself that you are pushing through pain, don't fall for it! I go with a shoulder width grip, then I try to let my head sink into my shoulders, allow my arms and upper back to relax, and breathe deep into my belly, which increases the stretch. If you are doing it correctly, you will feel gentle releases all over. After hanging straight down, I use my feet to gently twist my body. This is where I am really tight. I have very little thoracic mobility. The key is to only stretch a little bit at a time. As I feel my body let go, I can increase the stretch. I even feel this down into my hips. Very important, come out of this slowly. It can really bite if you don't. I shoot for 45 seconds in each position and have been doing it three times a day. When stretching first thing in the morning I go VERY gently. This may not look like much especially if you are flexible and without pain. However, for those of us who are tight on top of having back issues, this stretch can be overwhelming. I cannot emphasize enough, go easy. The things I tell myself with all of my stretching and tissue work are, less is more, focus on mid range, melt into positions, do the reps, don't push it, if it hurts-stop, etc. Improving mobility is like gaining strength, it does not happen overnight. I hope this helps some of you as much as it has helped me. #supplerhino #elitefts #operationbelessfat #SFW #fitness #mobility #training #powerlifting #strongman

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