Cat Stretch

Muscles worked

The muscles under tension are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.

A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.

Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the mid-back retracts the shoulder blades so the shoulder has something solid to work from; the traps anchor the shoulder blade against the load.

Every exercise for:Lower backMiddle backTraps

How this movement works

Nothing travels once you are in position. The muscle holds a length under tension instead of working through a range, so effort is measured in seconds rather than repetitions — and the honest progression is more time in a good position, not a deeper one forced early.

It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.

What you need

These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:

• Deadlift with Bandsbarbell
• Dumbbell Dead Liftsdumbbell
• Hug A Ballexercise ball
• Hyperextensionsbench
• Hyperextensions With No Hyperextension Benchbody only

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 11 are listed at beginner level.