Overhead reverse lunge

Most of us are stuck sitting for the majority of the day which causes us to be in prolonged hip and lumbar flexion. Then, when we start moving we tend to do everything in the sagittal plane moving forward. This recruits the same muscles and shortens them even more. This can lead to poor posture, pressure on the lower back and disks, tightness in the hip flexors and hamstrings and weakness in the glutes.

A good exercise to stretch the anterior muscles and recruit the posterior muscles is a reverse lunge with overhead reach.

Stand up tall and step backwards and drop into a lunge. At the same time reach both arms straight up in the air. You should feel a stretch in the hip of the knee closest to the ground. You should make a straight line from the knee through the hip and shoulder and into your arms overhead. Hold for a second then return to the start position and do it again on the other side. Perform 3-5 per leg as part of your warm up.