Rib cage and spinal muscle stretches

Disclaimer : This information is not guaranteed to be accurate and I am not liable if you make any decisions or take any actions, in terms of medical treatment, health decisions, exercise, behavior or anything else based on the information presented.  I am not telling you any decisions to make even if I use terms like "you" but am using the word "you" as part of a writing style to simplify writing.  Any suggestions for what "you" should do are not for you personally to do but what someone might do as part of a exercise or nutrition program which might help some people's health and make other people's health worse.  You should not do any activity that will make your health worse even if "you" should do it according to the program described.  If the information is wrong and you believe it is true, act on it and it causes you problems, I am not responsible because I have warned you the information is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Purpose : The purpose of this article is to explain common stretches that already exist and are named which help stretch the muscles connected to the spine, sternum and or rib cage.  I will call these torso stretches.  

Spelling and terminology questions

Spinal disks or spinal discs?

Hip Flexor Muscles or Hip Flexion Muscles?  Hip Extensor Muscles or Hip Extension muscles?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asanas#Affixes

Anatomical planes and types of torso stretches

Directions for planes are based on someone standing in anatomical position

Frontal Plane or Coronal Plane - Straight directions of left, right, up and down - Rotations perpendicular to forward and backward

Transverse Plane - Straight direction of left, right, forward and backward - Rotations perpendicular to up and down

Sagittal Plane - Straight directions of forward, backward, up and down - Rotations perpendicular to left and right

Forward folds, forward bends, front folds or front bends, forward flexion - Involve a rotation in the sagittal plane

Back bends, back extensions, backward bends or backward extensions - Involve a rotation in the sagittal plane 

Side Bends or side stretches - Involve a rotation in the coronal plane

Twists or spinal twists - Involve a rotation in the transverse plane

Six rotational variations of any symmetric pose

Any symmetric pose can be rotated in six positions just as a cube can be rotated such that any of it's six faces touches the floor.  

Some of these rotational variations make more sense than others in certain situations.  But it is a good mental exercise to think of what these six variations are for any forward or backward bend.  And think about which variations are more helpful and which ones might not be reasonable ( nor safe ) to use.

Note : There are actually more than six ways to rotate it because there are many ways to rotate a cube and keep the same face on the floor but these types of rotations would not be considered different poses if the only object the cube was compared to was a floor.  If both a wall and a floor were used for poses this might result in more than six rotational variations of poses.

Regions where emphasis can be put on rotation, folding, or bending in forward bends, back bends, side bends and twists.

1 Upper Neck - Near the intersection of the neck and the head - The highest point where the neck can safely rotate, bend or fold in the manner required for the type of stretch

2 Mid Neck - Between the Lower and Upper Neck - Arbitrary

3 Lower Neck - Near the intersection of the neck and the top of the sternum  

4 Upper "Back" - Upper Torso - Near the bottom of the sternum.  

5 Mid "Back" - Mid Torso = Between the upper and lower back - Could arbitrarily be assigned to a location the belly button or near the lowest pair of ribs in the rib cage

6 Lower "Back" - Lower Torso - At or near the Lumbrosacral joint - Near the intersection of the pelvis and the spine - Near the top of the pelvis

7 Hip Joints - Acetabulum joints - The two intersections of the pelvis and the two femurs 

How the upper and lower regions of the "back" or torso are designated

These are not based on terminology in medical professions.  These are based on where the spinal column of the torso can physically bend, fold, or rotate when stretching

Upper "back" or upper torso

The highest point you can stretch, bend, fold or rotate your torso without rotating your neck is at or near the bottom of the sternum, therefor the upper back is considered to be the region near the bottom of the sternum for purposes of stretching

Lower "back" or lower torso

Little movement occurs at the sacroiliac joint.  Movement at the coccyx or tailbone will not create the appearance of tilting someone's torso  to an observer watching that person do a backbend, forward bend, side bend or twist.  The pubic synthesis and acetabulum connect to the pelvis but do not connect to the spinal column.

The lowest point you can bend, fold or rotate your spinal column in twists, forward bends, backward bends and side bends to a practically significant amount is at or near the lumbrosacral joint and near where the pelvis intersects with the spine.  

This is different than the hip joints or acetabulum joints where the pelvis intersects with the femurs.  It is possible to do a forward or backward bend without rotating the spinal column relative to the pelvis by rotating the position of the femur relative to the pelvis.  

Joints Sacroiliac, pubic symphysis, lumbosacral, sacrococcygeal, hip joint

https://web.archive.org/web/20221130063745/https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/the-pelvis

https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/lumbosacral-joint

https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/sacroiliac-joint

Anterior Pelvic Tilt - 

When someone starts out standing in anatomical position then does Anterior pelvic tilt the following occurs

Top of pelvis moves forward, bottom of pelvis moves backward, front of pelvis moves downward. back of pelvis moves upward.

Posterior Pelvic Tilt - 

When someone starts out standing in anatomical position then does Posterior pelvic tilt the following occurs

Top of pelvis moves backward, bottom of pelvis moves forward, front of pelvis moves upward. back of pelvis moves downward.

Anterior and posterior pelvic tilt, back bending, spinal muscle stretching and hip flexion muscle group stretching

When the angle of the lower torso relative to the femurs is held constant in a symmetric back bend

When the back is flat and the angle of the torso relative to the femur is held constant is a symmetric back bend

Increasing anterior pelvic tilt in a back bending exercise results in decreased hip flexor stretching and increased spinal flexor muscle stretching

Increasing posterior pelvic tilt in a back bending exercise results in increased hip flexor muscle stretching and decreased spinal flexor muscle stretching

Anterior and posterior pelvic tilt, forward bending, spinal muscle stretching and hip extension muscle group stretching

When the angle of the lower torso relative to the femurs is held constant in a symmetric forward bend

When the back is flat and the angle of the torso relative to the femur is held constant is a symmetric forward bend

Increasing anterior pelvic tilt in a forward bending exercise results in increased hip extensor stretching and decreased spinal extensor muscle stretching

Increasing posterior pelvic tilt in a back bending exercise results in decreased hip extension muscle stretching and increased spinal extensor muscle stretching.

Titling the top of the pelvis to the right, the bottom of the pelvis to the left, the right side of the pelvis down and the left side of the pelvis up has the following effects when the angle of each femur relative to the lower torso is held constant and the angle of each femur relative to the other femur is held constant has the following effects

Increased stretching of the coronal plane right hip adductor muscles

Decreased strteching of the coronal plane right hip abductor muscles

Decreased stretching of the coronal plane left hip adductor muscles

Increased stretching of the coronal plane left hip abductor muscles

Decreased stretching of the muscles that would adduct the torso back toward neutral in the coronal plane if someone 

Increased stretching of the muscles that laterally extend ( "straighten" ) the spine toward neutral when it is laterally flexed to the right

Decreased stretching of the muscles that laterally extend ( "straighten" ) the spine toward neutral when it is laterally flexed to the left 

Increased stretching of the muscles that laterally flex the spine toward the left

Decreased stretching of the muscles that laterally flex the spine toward the right

Note : If someone was standing in anatomical position prior to tilting in this way then this would result in the left foot being higher than the right foot.  This might be similar to a position called the hip hike exercise or pelvic drop exercise.  However I am explaining the effects of pelvic tilt to help better understand side bend exercises which would not start out in anatomical position

Note : If you want to do the hip hike exercise you do not need a object to stand on one foot with above floor height.  You can instead simply bend one knee so that the other foot is not touching the floor.  You also should theoritically be able to do the leg swing exercise to deal with unequal leg lengths in a similar method by bending the knee on the leg that is swinging but in such a case this only allows you to swing it in the sagital plane and not in the coronal plane.  It might still be necessary to have a object to stand on above floor height for leg swings in the coronal plane to deal with unequal leg length.  Unequal leg length does not always mean literal bone length difference between the two legs but sometimes is a figure of speech that has to do with how muscle imbalances can create the appearance of unequal leg length.

Note : It is tempting to think of lateral extension as coronal plane adduction and lateral flexion as coronal plane abduction.  Abduction and adduction are relative to the midline of the body and someone might think of the spine as the midline of the body which might cause problems.  However one could think of abducting or adducting the spinal column relative to where it would be if one was standing in anatomical position.  I easily found websites describing lateral flexion and lateral extension of the spine with a search engine but not one's describing abduction and adduction of the spine.

https://www.healthline.com/health/lateral-flexion

Two different ways to stretch the torso, rib cage or spine.

In Yoga classes method 1 is traditionally considered better than method 2.  Method 1 might not literally be possible in a absolute sense but it may be possible in a relative sense as I will explain with the reconciliation between the two methods.  Specifically, it is impossible except by the assistance of an external force to move the body in certain ways without shortening certain muscles.  It also might be impossible to change the distance of rib pairs relative to other rib pairs in certain ways that are mentioned below if both of the rib pairs whose positions are compared with one another are attached to a rigid sternum.

I will explain in greater detail under forward bends and twists what it means to shorten or lengthen parts of the body.  Shortening and lengthening will be explained in less detail for backbends and sidebends on the basis that I assume people will understand what this means from reading about what it means from forward bends.  

Forward bends : Method 1

Try to increase the length of both the front and back of your torso

But try to increase the length of the back of your torso more than the front of your torso

This means

Try to increase the length of the muscles in both the front and back of your torso.  

But try to increase the length of the muscles in the back of your torso by more than the muscles in the front of your torso

Try to increase the length of both the spine flexion and spine extension muscles

But try to increase the length of the spine extension muscles by more than the spine flexion muscles

Try to increase the length of both the hip flexion and hip extension muscles 

But try to increase the length of the hip extension muscles by more than the hip flexion muscles

Try to increase the distance both the front and back part of your spinal disks are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the back of your spinal disks are apart from each other more than the distance the front of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Try to increase the distance both the front and back part of your ribs are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the back of your ribs are apart from each other more than the distance the front of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the distance between both the front and back of your rib cage and your pelvis

But try to increase the distance between the back of your rib cage and your pelvis by more than the increase in distance between the front of the rib cage and the pelvis

Forward Bends : Method 2

Decrease the length of the the front of your torso

Increase the length of the the back of your torso

This means

Decrease the length of the muscles in the front of your torso

Increase the length of the muscles in the back of your torso

Decrease the length of the spine flexion muscles

Increase the length of the spine extension muscles

Decrease the length of the hip flexion muscles

Increase the length of the hip extension muscles

Decrease the distance the front of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Increase the distance the back of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Decrease the distance the front of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the distance the back of your ribs are apart from each other

Decrease the length between your the front of your ribcage and your pelvis

Increase the length between the back of your rib cage and your pelvis

Forward Bends : Reconciliation between method 2 and method 1

If you must decrease the length of the front of your torso then do so by as little as possible in order to achieve the goal of increasing the length of the back of your torso by a certain amount

Backward Bends : Method 1

Try to increase the length of both the front and back of your torso

But try to increase the length of the front of your torso more than the back of your torso

This means

Try to increase the length of the muscles in both the front and back of your torso.  

But try to increase the length of the muscles in the front of your torso by more than the muscles in the back of your torso

Try to increase the length of both the spine flexion and spine extension muscles

But try to increase the length of the spine flexion muscles by more than the spine flexion muscles

Try to increase the length of both the hip flexion and hip extension muscles 

But try to increase the length of the hip flexion muscles by more than the hip extension muscles

Try to increase the distance both the front and back part of your spinal disks are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the front of your spinal disks are apart from each other more than the distance the back of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Try to increase the distance both the front and back part of your ribs are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the front of your ribs are apart from each other more than the distance the back of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the distance between both the front and back of your rib cage and your pelvis

But try to increase the distance between the front of your rib cage and your pelvis by more than the increase in distance between the back of the rib cage and the pelvis

Backward Bends : Method 2

Decrease the length of the the back of your torso

Increase the length of the front of your torso

This means

Increase the length of the muscles in the front of your torso

Decrease the length of the muscles in the back of your torso

Increase the length of the spine flexion muscles

Decrease the length of the spine extension muscles

Increase the length of the hip flexion muscles

Decrease the length of the hip extension muscles

Increase the distance the front of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Decrease the distance the back of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Increase the distance the front of your ribs are apart from each other

Decrease the distance the back of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the length between your the front of your ribcage and your pelvis

Decrease the length between the back of your rib cage and your pelvis

Backward Bends : Reconciliation between method 2 and method 1

If you must decrease the length of the back of your torso then do so by as little as possible in order to achieve the goal of increasing the length of the front of your torso by a certain amount

Side Bends : Moving the torso to the right ( relative to standing in anatomical position ) : Method 1

Try to increase the length of both the left side and right side of your torso

But try to increase the length of the left side of your torso more than the right side of your torso

This means

Try to increase the distance both the left side and side of your spinal disks are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the left side of your spinal disks are apart from each other more than the distance the right side of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Try to increase the distance both the left side and right side of your ribs are apart from one another

But try to increase the distance the left side of your ribs are apart from each other more than the distance the right side of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the distance between both the left side and right side of your rib cage and your pelvis

But try to increase the distance between the left side of your rib cage and your pelvis by more than the increase in distance between the right side of the rib cage and the pelvis

Side Bends : Moving the torso to the right ( relative to standing in anatomical position ) : Method 2

Decrease the length of the right side of your torso

Increase the length of the left side of your torso

This means

Increase the distance the left side of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Decrease the distance the right side of your spinal disks are apart from each other

Increase the distance the left side of your ribs are apart from each other

Decrease the distance the right side of your ribs are apart from each other

Increase the length between your the left side of your rib cage and your pelvis

Decrease the length between the right side of your rib cage and your pelvis

Side Bends : Moving the torso to the right : Reconciliation between method 2 and method 1

If you must decrease the length of the right side of your torso then do so by as little as possible in order to achieve the goal of increasing the length of the left side of your torso by a certain amount

Twists : Method 1

Try to increase the length of your torso while twisting

This means

Try to increase the distance your spinal disks are apart from each other while twisting

Try to increase the distance your ribs are apart from each other while twisting

Try to increase the length of all muscles while twisting

Try to make your torso taller while twisting

Try to increase the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis while twisting

Twists : Method 2

Be indifferent to how far your spinal disks are apart from each other while twisting and be willing to let them get closer together instead of farther apart if that lets you twist more

Be indifferent to how far your ribs are apart from each other while twisting and be willing to let them get closer together instead of farther apart if that lets you twist more. 

Be indifferent to the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis while twisting and be willing to let them get closer together instead of farther apart if that lets you twist more. 

Be indifferent to the lengths of your muscles when twisting and let the get shorter instead of longer if that lets you twist more.

Let your torso become shorter while twisting if this lets you twist more

Twists :  Reconciliation between method 2 and method 1

If you must decrease the length of your torso then do so by as little as possible in order to achieve the goal of twisting your torso by a certain amount

Concise list of exercises

Urdhva Hastasana - Upward Hands - four positions - Standing, Lying on back, lying on stomach or lying on left or right side

Urdhva Hastasana - With leaning to the left or right side

Urdhva Hastasana - Hanging from a inversion table

Urdhva Hastasana - Hanging from a inversion table plus spinal twist

"Dead Hang" - Hanging from a pull up bar

"Dead Hang" plus spinal twist

Sagittal Plane

Cat Cow Exercise - not to be confused with Cow Face Pose

Sagittal Plane - Forward Bends

Touch Toes - five positions - Standing, Sitting, Lying on back, Lying on right or left side, Inverted - Shoulder stance - plow / plough ( Halasana )

Prasarita Padottanasana or Wide Stance Forward Bend - three positions - Sitting, Standing, Inverted -Shoulder stance -  Supta Konasana - Reclining Angle Pose

Center Splits from a forward bend - two positions - Lying Prone, Lying Supine with legs on the wall

Saggital Plane - Back Bends

Camel Pose

Cobra - four positions - legs on floor and torso on wall, torso on floor and legs on wall, standing with feet on floor and pushing against a wall, laying on the right or left side this is the same as or similar to LBB3

Upward Dog - Cobra without pelvis touching the floor or the wall

Backbends while lying on side - The Contortionist's Handbook  :  LBB1 , LBB2 and LBB3

http://wandererstraining.com/tchb/backinfo.htm

http://wandererstraining.com/tchb/

Transverse Plane - Twists

Standing Spinal Twist

Sitting Spinal Twist

Spinal Twist in Chair

Lying Spinal Twist

"Dead Hang" plus spinal twist

Urdhva Hastasana - Hanging from a inversion table plus spinal twist

Coronal Plane - Side Bends 

Utthita Trikonasana - Intense or Extended Triangle Pose - three positions - Standing, Lying on Stomach or Lying on Back

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana - Revolved knee head pose - Do not confuse this with Janu Sirsasana

Urdhva Hastasana - With leaning to the left or right side

Side Bend in Chair

Detailed list of exercises

Rib Cage Muscle Stretches

Urdhva Hastasana - Upward Salute Pose - Raised Hands Pose - Upwards Hands Pose

This is not technically a side bend, backward bend or forward bend but may stretch the muscles attached to your rib cage

Four positions - Standing, Lying on back, lying on stomach or lying on left or right side

Note : Doing a handstand against a floor or upside down Urdhva Hastasana supported by the floor might compress the rib cage instead of expanding it but doing it upside down with a inversion table might expand the rib cage

Urdhva Hastasana - Side Bend Variation

You can change it into a side bend by leaning your upper torso to your left or right side to stretch one side of your rib cage more.

Urdhva Hastasana - Inversion Table variation

Upside Down Urdhva Hastasana suspended by or hanging from legs or feet attached to a inversion table

I am not sure if you can safely move your arms in the full range of motion used in Urdhva Hasatasana with the table titled such that you are completely upside down or as close to completely upside down as the table safely allows

You should be able to move your arms in full range of motion if you are not fully upside down and the table is only slightly tilted

You should be able to move your arms in at least part of the range of motion if you are fully upside down or as close to fully upside down as safely allowed by such a table

Make sure to research safety before using or buying an inversion table

Make sure to research how to use an inversion table without pain or injury at the body parts the inversion table attaches to such as your feet or whatever other body parts

A search for "attach feet to inversion table" gave multiple top ranked results about preventing foot pain as of 2023 January 9

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=attach+feet+to+inversion+table&ia=web

Image search for "inversion table"

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=inversion+table&iax=images&ia=images

Urdhva Hastasana - Hanging from a inversion table plus spinal twist

Hang from an inversion table and rotate your sternum relative to your pelvis

Urdhva Hastasana - Pull Up Bar Variation - "Dead Hang"

Hanging from a pull up bar with elbows straight can be similar to Urdhva Hastasana except the hands are closed and the forearms pronated.  This is called a dead hang.  You might have to bend your knees in order to keep your feet from touching the floor with elbows straight.  

Note :  People often confuse tension and stretching.  Tension is force and is not the same as length nor the same as an increase in length.  How much something is stretched is measured by it's change in length or percent change in length and not by force.  If you literally hang from a pull up bar the muscles attached to the your rib cage will experience more tension than a regular Urdhva Hastasana with the feet on the floor.  Using a pull up bar might or might not expand the rib cage more than doing a regular Urdhva Hastasana with the feet on the floor.  These muscles might or might not experience stretching or more muscle length increase when using a pull up bar than doing a regular Urdhva Hastasana with feet on the floor.  Changing the amount of tension while keeping the muscle length the same may effect the results of flexibility training for better or worse.

Note : Some people hang from a door frame instead of a pull up bar.  Hanging from a door frame instead of a pull up bar can potentially result in a broken door frame, a injured person and an evicted tenant.

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/dead-hang

"Dead Hang" plus spinal twist

1 Do a dead hang then rotate your pelvis relative to your sternum in the transverse plane without touching your feet to the floor using your muscles

2 Grab a pull up bar with your feet still touching the floor and move your feet to rotate your pelvis relative to your sternum in the transverse plane while still standing on the floor then bend your knees so your feet no longer touch the floor and try to use your muscles to maintain the twist position

3 Do a dead hang then rotate your pelvis relative to your sternum in the transverse plane by pushing or pulling on some stable and safe object ( that will not fall over ) other than the floor with your feet or legs 

4 Do a dead hang then rotate your pelvis relative to your sternum in the transverse plane without touching your feet to the floor by having someone assist you and hold you in this position

Sagittal Plane Rib Cage stretches

Cat and Cow

Search for "Cat Cow Exercise"

Alternate between Cat and Cow pose.  These are upper torso forward and backward bends.  

Note : Do not confuse Cow pose with Cow Face Pose or GoMukhAsana.  Cow face pose is a shoulder stretch and cow pose is a upper back stretch

Note : You can learn the Cat and Cow rib cage action and change it around to do the same rib cage action while standing

Note : The rib cage action for Cow might look similar to cobra with emphasis on only stretching the upper back

Backbend Rib Cage Stretches

Camel Pose with emphasis on stretching upper back

Cobra but only stretching upper back

Coronal Plane Rib Cage Stretches - Side Bends

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana - Revolved knee head pose

Grab foot, leg or some object with one hand to stretch one side of the rib cage.  

Put other hand on or near your hip or pelvis or other appropriate location in order to try to increase the length of both the right and left side of your rib cage instead of shortening one in order to lengthen the other.

Note : Do not confuse Janu Sirsasana with Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

One is classified as a side bend and the other is classified as a forward bend based on how the torso is rotated differently in each version even though the casual observer might mistake both as side bends based on the leg position.  Do the side bend version not the forward bend version if you want to stretch the right or left side of your rib cage.

Transverse Plane Rib Cage Stretches ? - Twists

Twists described in next section as spinal muscle stretches might help with rib cage muscle flexibility.  But I have no special twist exercises that target the rib cage region currently listed

Spinal Muscles stretches

Transverse Plane - Twists

These are poses that rotate the pelvis relative to the sternum in the transverse plane and or that rotate the head relative to the sternum in the transverse plane

These are easy to find.  Do a search for "lying spinal twist" , "standing spinal twist" , "sitting spinal twist" , or "spinal twist in chair"

You can also combine a "Dead Hang" with a spinal twist

Coronal Plane - Side Bends

Side Bend in a Chair

Do a search for "side bend in chair" or "side bend in a chair"

Utthita Trikonasana - Intense or Extended Triangle Pose

If you can do so without losing balance then put one hand on the pelvis to try to make sure the length of the torso increases on both sides instead of increasing on one side but decreasing on the other side.

Note : This pose puts more emphasis on stretching the lower region of your torso on the right or left side as opposed to other side bending stretches I listed which might put more emphasis on stretching the right or left side of the upper or middle region of the torso or stretching the right or left rib cage muscles

Note : Although this pose is traditionally done standing you can lie on your stomach or back in a similar pose and grab one leg or foot and use that to stretch the right or left side of your torso and or the right or left side of your rib cage

Note : Utthita Trikonasana can also be done lying on the right or left side but I think this has more emphasis on stretching the hips and less emphasis for stretching the torso.  I have not listed this position because this article focuses on torso stretches.  When done lying on the right or left side the name of the pose is changed to Anantasana.   Ananta means without end, eternal or infinite which is secular but also can mean Vishnu which is religious and considered idolatrous to some.  Asana is at the end of all poses and means pose

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananta_(infinite)

Sagittal Plane - Forward Bends 

Easy to find.  Do a search for "touch your toes"

You do not actually have to touch your toes but the search results will give you a good idea what a symmetrical forward bend looks like

You can do this in at least four positions

1 Standing with your feet on the ground

2 Sitting down with your legs on the ground

3 Lying down with your back on the ground and your legs supported by a wall - Not actually touching your toes with your hands.

4 Lying on your left or right side in the same shape as when you touch your toes standing or sitting

5 Inverted - shoulder stance - plow / plough ( halasana )

Note : It is traditionally considered best to try to bend at your pelvis first, then your lower back then your upper back.  However if you are trying to target a specific area of your back such as stretching your rib cage muscles you could change the emphasis of what region you stretch or the order in which you stretch different regions and see if it helps.  Changing the order might show some similarities to Cat Pose

Note : It is traditional to keep your knees almost straight or straight but not hyper extended.  If you do not care if you want to stretch your hamstrings or thigh muscles and want to emphasize stretching your torso then you can choose to bend your knees if this helps and is less painful.  But if you want to stretch your hamstrings or thigh muscles then you should keep your knees straight but not hyper extended

Note : It is traditional to keep your ankles dorsiflexed but if you do not care whether or not your calf muscles get stretched and want to emphasize stretching other muscles and it is less painful then you can let your ankles be in whatever safe position is most comfortable

Note : Prasarita Padottanasana or Wide Stance Forward Bend Variation - This variation is not the same as the center splits.  

You can also do a similar exercise but with your feet far apart while standing and bending forward.  In my opinion this variation of the exercise is primarily for people who have difficulty balancing with the feet close together or for people who are extremely flexible and wish to rotate more than 180 degrees in the sagittal plane ( where 0 degrees is standing straight and not bent at all ) but can not do so when the feet are close together.  The wide legged variation is much easier for many people and it is traditionally considered more impressive to bend the same amount "forward" with your feet closer together.

Note : Center Splits variation 

Doing the center splits with your torso prone on the floor can be a form of forward bend stretch.  There are two different ways to end up in the position with the torso prone on the floor, either sitting down in the splits and leaning your torso forward or standing in the splits whiile in a forward bend position and then moving your feet farther apart until you are lying on the floor but both ways end in a similar end position with the torso prone on the floor in final form.  Doing the center splits with your torso supine on the floor and your legs on the wall can be a form of forward bend stretch.  Not all center splits stretches are forward bend stretches.  If you start out in a forward bend position flexing your hips in the sagital plane and then abduct the hips in the transverse plane to do the center splits then this is a forward bend.  If you do not flex your hips in the sagital plane and do not flex your spinal columb in the sagital plane ( relative to anatonomical position ) but only abduct your hips in the coronal plane then a variation of the center splits is not a forward bend.

Sagittal Plane - Backward Bends

Fake Back Bends - 

Often bridges in which someone is not actually bending their torso backward but keeping their torso flat are listed as back bends.  These exercises do not stretch the spine in the same manner as a genuine back bend.  There are more advanced variations of bridges that are genuine back bends but these are not usually taught in beginner or probably even intermediate yoga classes.

Genuine Back Bends

Upward Dog - The difference between upward dog and cobra is that in upward dog you do not let your pelvis touch the floor but in cobra you let your pelvis touch the floor

Cobra - This time stretch your lower back instead of your upper back only.  In the rib cage muscle stretching section I suggested to do a variation of this exercise in which you only stretch your upper back

Pose Variations

1A With your legs on the floor and your torso against the wall

1B With your legs on the floor and pushing against the floor with your hands and no wall.

2 With your legs against the wall and your torso on the floor - This is more difficult and does not seem worthwhile to me  

3 Standing with your feet on the floor and your hands pushing against the wall

4 Lying on your left or right side with that side of your torso and legs on the floor.  This is similar to LBB3 from The Contortionist's Handbook

5 Inverted - You could theoretically put your feet on the wall and try to do a headstand, a shoulder stand with the neck flexed, or a handstand with this pose.  I have never done this variation as of the time of writing this article and do not plan to try it anytime soon if ever.  I would guess that most people could easily get injured if they try this variation.   For these reasons I have not counted this towards the list of positions for Cobra in the concise list of exercises.

Note : You can use a floor and a wall to help you do the cobra stretch.  A wall might make it easier to isolate the location of the backbend to put more emphasis on the lowest part of the sternum, or close to the pelvis or anywhere in between.  

Note : If you are using both a floor and a wall you can adjust your amount of anterior or posterior pelvic tilt.  This may change the pose to be less of a back bend and more of a hip flexor stretch or more of a hip flexor stretch and less of a back bend.  When hip flexor muscles are stretched the hip joint is extended

Other backbends

Positions LBB1 , LBB2 and LBB3 from the contortionist's handbook

At least some editions of "The Contortionist's Handbook" teach to do a backbend while lying on one side

If the side on the floor is the left side then

In my opinion the best choice is to

Lie on your left side and pull your left leg or foot behind your body with your right hand and try to bend your back while doing so.  

The disadvantage of this method over the alternative might be friction making it more difficult to move your left leg than your right leg. 

In my opinion the less optimal alternative is to 

Lie on your left side and pull your right leg or foot behind your body with your right hand and try to bend your back while doing so.  

This is less optimal in my opinion because it is easier to cheat by rotating your body in certain ways while doing so.  And I might be wrong about it being the less optimal alternative because I have not formally incorporated this method into my regular flexibility practice as of when this article was written.

Note : You could probably lie on your left side and use your left hand to pull your left leg but I imagine that would be much more difficult because your left shoulder would be on the floor.

Note : If the side on the floor is the right side then switch the words left and right in the explanation above

Note : The Cortortionist's Handbook uses the variation I consider easier to cheat in and less optimal in it's pictures

Note : In the more advanced version position LBB3 the person grabs both feet at once

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