Here is a simple drill to get your spine moving through extension and flexion. Give it a try and see how it feels.

Test

Range of motion (ROM) baseline:
* Forward fold with straight legs (touch your toes or the floor)
* Hip rotation to each side with feet under hips and palms together in front of you

Drills

Seated spine wave
* Sit in a chair with hands on your knees
* Push against your knees to rock your pelvis back
* Slowly extend your spine one bit at a time from bottom to top
* Once fully extended, pull your knees to rock your pelvis back
* Slowly flex your spine one bit at a time until fully flexed

Wall spine wave
* Stand about one foot length away from the wall
* Reach your head back to touch the wall
* Slowly drop your hips until your shoulders touch the wall
* Keep dropping your hips to touch your spine to wall one bit at a time
* When your pelvis touches the wall, peel your spine off one bit at a time

Retest

Determine whether your ROM changed:
* Forward fold with straight legs (touch your toes or the floor)
* Hip rotation to each side with feet under hips and palms together in front of you

Improved ROM = drill works well for you. Do it every day.
Decreased ROM = drill was too challenging at this time. Try an easier version.

How to use it

Try the spine wave in a chair or against a wall. Do the one that feels best for you every day. Occasionally test the other version to see if doing one version improves the other as well.

Can you move your spine smoothly or does it go in chunks?