Cat and Camel Back Extension Exercise: Benefits, How to do?

Introduction of Cat and Camel exercise:

• The Cat Camel exercise is a very good stretching and mobilization exercise for the trunk and also works on stretching and strengthening core muscles.
• It will help to reduce pain of the lower and mid-back.
• The cat-camel exercise is a spinal mobilization exercise that helps a person to loosen their spine.
• It gets your lower back moving better.
• To do the cat-camel, the person is on their arms and knees and bends the spine up (like a cat) and then curves it downward (so your abdomen hangs to the floor, look like a camel).
• This exercise is also called as cat and cow pose exercise.

Health Benefits of Cat Pose:

• Improve mobility of the spine.
• Stretches the back and neck.
• A great warm-up exercise before yoga practice paired with camel pose.
• Improve circulation of spinal fluid.
• Strengthens the muscles of the hands and wrists.

Health Benefits of Camel Pose:

• Help to decrease fat on thighs.
• Opens up the hips, and helps to stretch deep hip flexors.
• Help to Stretches and strengthens the shoulders and back muscle.
• Expands the abdominal region, helps to improve digestion.
• Improves posture.
• Help to improve respiration.
• Loosens up the vertebrae.
• Relieve lower back pain.
• Help to reduce back pain in pregnancy.

How to do cat and camel exercise?

• Start on your hands and knees(quadruped position), place your wrists just below your shoulders, and place your knees just below your hips.
• Try to straighten your shoulder, spine, and, hip in one line.
• Maintain the spine in a neutral position.

Breath in for Cat Pose

• Take a breath in and try to take your back down towards the floor.
• Then you lift your neck towards the ceiling.
• Now sticking your tailbone out to make a curve with your spine.
• Take a big breath out at the same time.

Breath out for Camel Pose

• Now you breath out Tuck in your chin and tailbone in
• Try to upward your spine towards ceiling you have to look over floor.
• Try to make hump over your spine.

• Repeat the Cat-Cow Stretch on each breath in and breath out, coordinate the movement to your own breath.

• Do this exercise ten times with both cat and camel pose. repeat three times a day.

Cat Camel Pose Video

This exercise is also done in a sitting position

• We all know that poor posture and sitting for long hours is unhealthy for health.
• Thus take 5 minutes daily for your posture and do these exercises at your workplace to improve your posture.

cat pose:

• Sit on the chair.
• Place your hands over each thigh.
• Now you have to breath out and move your spine up and try to close your chin towards chest.

Camel pose:

• Sit on the chair.
• Place your hands over each thigh.
• Take a deep breath in and try to move your spine in and try to see over floor.
• Repeat this ten times along with camel pose.

• Continue for 8 to 10 breaths, moving the whole spine.
• After your final deep breath out, come back to a neutral spine.

when you not to do this exercise:

• Injury to the shoulders
• Injury to the wrists
• Injury of the neck
• Injury of the hip
• Injury to the knee
• Injury of back
• Blood Pressure
• If exercise is Painful avoid exercise or try to do it with low intensity
• If exercise will increase your pain or other symptoms avoid this exercise
• Migraine
• Disc Prolapse
• Spinal cord Injury
• Osteoarthritis of the knee

FAQ

Author: Nitesh Patel - Physiotherapist

Physiotherapist in Samarpan Physiotherapy Clinic Ahmedabad Bapunagar Amaraiwadi Vastral Mobile Physiotherapy Clinic Dr. Nitesh Patel ( Physiotherapist ) : Mo No : 09898607803