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Permalink Reply by Skully Hyperloop Hoops on June 1, 2011 at 5:31am

If you have a friend to help you, doing an assisted bridge can help with gaining flexibility to aid back bends.

You do this by laying on the ground in front of a partner with your head a few inches in front of their feet. Put your hands up and behind your head and hold onto the partners feet. Bring your knees up and plant your feet firmly about shoulder width apart on the ground. Now your partner bends down and puts their hands one under each side of you just under your armpits. Now push up into a bridge (some people refer to a bridge as the crab position). Only push as high as you can without feeling pain. The partner should help you take your body weight until you have built up the flexibility and strength to hold your own weight. Hold this shape for a couple of minutes and then gently lower back down. Now it is important for your partner to assist you in a back stretch so still laying on the floor pull your knees up to your chest and your partner should come around to your foot end and apply some gentle weight to your knees. This should stretch out the back muscles and feel nice. If it hurts they are using too much weight.

Repeated practice of this will increase your flexibility and back strength.

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Permalink Reply by Brittany Drinkwater on June 1, 2011 at 9:22am

Thank you so much! I will definitely be trying this.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Daniela VI on June 1, 2011 at 11:44am

Also remember that balance is something you need to built. When bending, keep your abs and bum tight.  This will help you to keep the pose for longer without looking clumsy. :)

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StudentPermalink Reply by kelly on June 1, 2011 at 5:31pm

belly dancer Rachel Brice has a great drill video that prepares your spine, back and stomach muscles for back bends, plus lots of other things. Its called Serpentine

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StudentPermalink Reply by Francine Noir on September 18, 2012 at 3:23pm

I am so glad you mentioned this one.  I had been meaning to get this and forgot about it!  I have heard awesome things about this dvd from alot of people! 

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Permalink Reply by FernGirly on June 2, 2011 at 9:42am

I teach gymnastics and to prepare my girls i have them do bridges in sessions of 15 seconds. I also have them when they are in a bridge rock back and forth to stretch out all the muscles and it also helps for flexibility to be able to kick over from your bridge. also stand next to a wall and walk your hands down it each time further and further.

hope that helps :)

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Permalink Reply by andshespins on June 2, 2011 at 11:39pm

do you have a video link to what your doing hoop wise? i cant find any videos with backbends with lasso, i wonder if i have my footing correct. i have my feet wide apart and my feet kind of angled out into a V shape.

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on June 3, 2011 at 1:17pm

I don't really see people doing true backbends while hooping. Instead, they drop the hand down to the side and do a bridge instead of over the head.

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on June 3, 2011 at 1:16pm

It also helps to drop from the bottom up, not from the head down. Lay back one vertebra at a time. 

 

You can do chest rolls or hoop behind the body to help you develop back bending flexibility. You can also do lasso (or halo or whatever you call hooping above your head) and stretch back as far as you can in a stall with both hands and in both directions. 

 

Finally, you can back up to the wall and practice walking down it. You can also push up into back bend from the floor and then practice straightening your legs. Cobra pose is a good yoga pose to practice also. 

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StudentPermalink Reply by Rika on September 24, 2012 at 10:37am

Hrmmm...doing downward facing dog could help you build up more arm strength, and it's a lot less scary to try out if you aren't sure of your strength than a bridge ^_^

You don't want to ever push yourself too much.  What I do is spend a little time breathing at whatever length (stretch) is comfortable, and then on my next breath in, when I am ready, try to lengthen (stretch) just a liiiittle bit more.  If my breathing is tight at that point, I know I'm not ready for it.  Just keep doing what you can do, and eventually you'll be able to do more.

Some people are naturally a bit more flexible than others, so it may take you some time...but you'll get there!  the last thing you want to do is push yourself and end up hurting.  It's not worth that!

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