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Knees-to-chest

How to do the Knees-to-chest correctly: it targets the Lower back (erector spinae) and glutes, the hold is 30 s, with a gentle rock, and the steps below keep it on the muscle instead of the joint.

This is mobility information, not physiotherapy and not a diagnosis. Pain is the border: a stretch that hurts at the attachment, sharpens, or sends pins and needles down the limb is loading a nerve or a tendon, not a muscle — stop and, for anything that persists or radiates, see a clinician. After an injury or surgery, stretching follows the treating clinician's protocol, not this page.

How to do it

1. Lie on your back and draw both knees toward the chest, hands on the shins.
2. Keep the head and shoulders on the floor; the pull comes from the arms, gently.
3. Rock slowly side to side and breathe into the lower back for 30 seconds.
4. Set the feet back down one at a time.

Why this stretch exists

The knees-to-chest position flexes the lower spine gently and lets the erector spinae — the muscles that hold the back upright — finally switch off, which is exactly what a tired, overworked lower back wants at the end of the day. It is the gentlest entry in the lower-back routine, the one that can be done in bed, and the standard first move when a muscular back feels stiff. The slow rock adds a little massage to the muscles against the floor without asking anything of them.

This stretch is for muscular stiffness. For a back with disc symptoms — leg pain, numbness, symptoms that worsen with flexion — knees-to-chest is not the move, and the routine's lower-back page draws the line in detail. Any back pain that is not clearly muscular belongs to a clinician before a stretching plan.

Hold and frequency figures: the standard stretching and range-of-motion literature — 15–60 second holds, two to four rounds per muscle (about 60 seconds total), two to three sessions a week for measurable gains, static holds after activity or as their own session, dynamic movement before. The injury-prevention position: the systematic reviews — stretching does not prevent injury or soreness; it buys range of motion and comfort. Checked 2026-09-06.

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