Do the Windshield Wiper Stretch

When people talk about windshield wiper stretches, they might be talking about the static stretch, which borrows from a yoga pose. They also might be talking about the difficult and challenging exercise performed while hanging from a pull-up bar. Both of these movements stretch your hips and build the muscles in your lower abdomen to help ease lower back pain.

Steps

Learning the Basic Windshield Wiper Stretch

1. Lie on your back. The basic windshield wiper stretch is done from a supine position on the floor. Bend your knees so that your feet are resting flat on the floor, and extend your arms straight out to either side.
   • Check the position of your shoulder blades. Your shoulders should be rolled back, with your shoulder blades flat against the floor. Keep your shoulder blades pressed against the floor for the entire stretch.
2. Raise your legs. For the starting position of the windshield wiper stretch, your thighs will be perpendicular to the floor with your knees in the air. Make sure your lower back is pressed into the floor. Move your hips around to find a comfortable position.
3. Lower your knees. Keeping your shoulder blades pressed firmly to the floor, engage your core and twist your spine to drop your knees to the left side of your body. Keep your movement slow and controlled.
   • Try to maintain the same 90-degree angle between your torso and your thighs as you lower your legs.
   • You can lower all the way to the ground if you can do so comfortably and maintain correct body position. Otherwise you might want to get a yoga block or folded towel for your knees to rest on.
4. Return to start. After holding the stretch for 15 to 20 seconds, raise your legs back up until they are perpendicular with the floor. Try to keep your knees together, and maintain control over the movement.
5. Repeat on the other side. From the starting position, lower your knees to the opposite side. Hold the stretch for the same period of time, then return back to start. Pay attention to how the stretch feels on each side. Significant differences in range of motion may indicate you have a muscle imbalance on one side.
   • A complete windshield wiper stretch is done from one side to the other. You can repeat the stretch three to five times, holding the stretch for 15 to 20 seconds.
   • You also can do a more dynamic version of the windshield wiper stretch, in which you drop your legs from one side to the other in a continual movement, synchronizing your breath with the movement. Inhale as you lower your legs, and exhale as you raise them back to start.
6. Modify the movement as necessary. You can alter the positioning of your legs to make the stretch gentler if you have particularly tight hips, or are recovering from a more recent injury.
   • For a gentler stretch, simply let both knees fall together. Flex your feet to protect your knees, feeling the stretch in your hips. Use a yoga block to rest your knees on if you can't lower them all the way to the floor and maintain proper form.
   • To challenge your hips with a deeper stretch, cross the lower ankle over the top of the outer thigh as you drop your knees over to either side.

Progressing to Hanging Windshield Wipers

1. Extend your legs. You can do a transitional windshield wiper exercise from the floor that will help prepare you for hanging windshield wipers. Use this exercise to perfect your form before you add the challenge of gravity.
   • Laying on your back, extend your legs straight upward so that your legs are perpendicular to the floor at a 90-degree angle from your torso.
   • Slowly lower your legs to one side, back up to start, then to the other. Keep your legs straight. Focus on keeping your shoulder blades pinned to the floor and your hips stable.
2. Hang from a pull-up bar. Advancing to hanging windshield wipers requires significant core and upper body strength. Before you attempt the hanging windshield wiper exercise, be confident dead-hanging from a pull-up bar for several minutes.
   • You also may want to practice lifting your hips so that your body is parallel to the floor. This will help strengthen the abdominal muscles you'll use during the hanging windshield wiper exercise.
3. Raise your hips. Hanging windshield wipers are done with your torso parallel to the floor. When you first start, you may not be able to lift your torso this high. Just raise your hips as high as you can and still consistently maintain good form.
   • As you raise your hips, raise your feet also. Ideally, your torso will be parallel to the floor and your legs will be at a 90-degree angle from your torso, perpendicular to the floor.
   • Your arms and shoulders are most important in terms of working the correct muscles and not causing undue strain.
4. Make the windshield wiper movement. With slow, controlled movements, move your legs first to one side, back to your starting position, and then down to the other side. Try to maintain the same form as you did when you were doing the same exercise on the floor.
   • Bend your elbows as much as necessary to lessen the pressure on your shoulders. Focus on keeping your shoulders neutral, not crunched in toward your head.

Incorporating Similar Stretches

1. Follow up windshield wipers with figure fours. The supine figure four is a yoga pose that also stretches your hips. It can be a good pose to incorporate into your routine right after you do the windshield wiper stretch.
   • After the windshield wiper stretch, drop your feet to the floor so that you're laying on your back with your knees up. Make sure your lower back is pressed into the floor.
   • Raise one leg and turn it so that your ankle is resting on the opposite thigh, just above the knee. Thread your inner arm through your thighs to grasp the lower thigh, and grasp the outside of that thigh with your other hand.
   • Hold the position for 15 to 20 seconds, then lower your leg to the floor and repeat with the opposite leg. You can do both legs three to five times if you want.
2. Put your legs up the wall. Don't let the simplicity of this yoga pose fool you. This stretch is good to release muscle tension in your legs and stretch our your hamstrings. Like the windshield wiper stretch, "legs up the wall" can help ease lower back pain.
   • For this pose, lie on your back with your legs towards a wall. Scoot up towards the wall so that your hips are as close as possible to the wall itself without resting on it. Your legs should be extended straight up the wall, although your knees can be bent a little. Flex your feet.
   • Make sure your lower back is flat against the floor. You can put a rolled towel or blanket under your hips if necessary.
   • Your shoulders should be rolled back so that your shoulder blades are tucked in against your spine, pressing into the floor.
   • You can stay in this pose as long as you want, breathing deeply. Spread your feet further apart on the wall to stretch your inner thighs.
3. Do hip flexor stretches. When you open up your hip flexors, you aren't stretching your back like you are with the windshield wiper stretch. However, stretching your hip flexors is another way to ease lower back pain by moving your hips to a better alignment.
   • To do these stretched, get down on the floor on one knee, other foot flat in front of you. Your knee should be at a 90-degree angle, while your other leg is in front of you with the knee also bent at a 90-degree angle and your thigh parallel to the floor.
   • Press your pelvis forward until your gluteal muscles engage. Be careful to keep your back neutral – do not arch your spine and lean forward.
   • When the glutes engage, they gently open your hip flexors and help press your hips into correct alignment.
   • Hold this stretch for 15 to 20 seconds, breathing deeply, then switch and do the other side.
4. Try pigeon pose. Pigeon pose is perhaps the ultimate hip-opening stretch, and also can relive stress and tension. However, if your hips are particularly tight, you may have difficulty with this yoga pose. Take your time and don't push into the stretch any further than you can without discomfort or pain.
   • You can get into pigeon pose from all fours. Raise up and walk one leg forward so that your foot is between your hands as you extend your other leg behind you. You are now in a lunge position.
   • Slide your foot over until your lower leg is roughly parallel with your shoulders and hips in front of you, resting on its side on the floor. Lower your hips until they are resting on the floor – or as low as you can go without any pain or discomfort.
   • You can keep your torso straight, or fold forward to deepen the stretch. Hold the position for 15 to 20 seconds, then raise back up to all fours and repeat on the other side.

Warnings

• You should always consult your health care provider before you add any new exercises to your regimen. If you are recovering from a recent hip or lower-back injury, these exercises may provide some relief, but should only be done under the guidance of a qualified professional who has a knowledge of the history of your medical issues.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Supplement Your Stretching Routine With Dynamic Stretching
• Stretch Before a Bicycle Ride
• Flex
• Get Rid of Sore Muscles
• Stretch Your Inner Thighs
• Stretch the Upper Back
• Do the Splits in a Week or Less
• Do a Handstand
• Get a More Flexible Back
• Stretch

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