Body Wheel Stretches for Back & Shoulders

Body Wheel Stretches for Back & Shoulders

Last week I talked about some of my favorite active back and shoulder exercises using a body wheel (or yoga wheel), this week I’m covering some of my go-to passive stretches using a wheel.

Child’s Pose

I’ve always liked elevating my hands in child’s pose, whether it’s by coming up on my fingertips, using blocks, or a wheel - it helps me find a nice stretch in my shoulders that I don’t get with my hands on the floor.

The higher you elevate your hands, the deeper the stretch. Start with your hands just on a flat wheel, and if you want more, then you can use the full wheel’s height. Also feel free to experiment with knee placement: keeping your knees prevents your low and mid back from arching, isolating the stretch in your shoulders and upper back, letting your knees splay wide allows your lower and mid back to join in on the stretch.

Puppy Pose

Puppy pose is my favorite passive shoulder stretch - period. Elevating your hands/arms is a nice way to deepen the stretch.

Remember to keep shoulders “externally rotated” (here’s a short video if you’re not sure what that means!) to ensure you’re stretching your lats.

Note: puppy pose on a wheel is going to be more difficult than your regular on-the-floor puppy pose, especially if you are using a “regular” yoga wheel (which is quite narrow) which forces you to bring your arms closer together - so don’t despair if your puppy isn’t looking super bendy. As long as you’re feeling the stretch in your shoulders/armpits/lats you’re doing great!

Supported Layback (Fish Pose)

This is a great way to get a nice supported stretch in your upper back (and shoulders/lats if you extend your arms).

If you’re just starting out, interlace your fingers behind your head to support your head/neck. As you get more flexible, you can relax your head back on the wheel as well and play with some arm variations like straightening your arms overhead, or grabbing the wheel behind your head.

If you are grabbing the wheel, remember to keep your elbows squeezing in to keep them shoulder-width apart - if you let them flare out to the sides it won’t be as good of a stretch.

Low Camel

Another fun supported back stretch that helps get a nice even bend through your whole back without “dumping” it all into your low back.

I like doing this sitting back on my heels, but you could absolutely do these variations with your feet on the floor and knees bent up towards the ceiling for less pressure on your knees.

Shoulder Stretch

The wheel isn’t just for your back!

This is a nice alternative to interlacing your fingers behind your back and trying to pull your hands away since the wheel can hold them in place (note: that does make this a more “passive” stretch).

For a deeper stretch, you can open your chest by trying to open your collar bone up to the ceiling and look up.

Side Bend

If you’re working on your back flexibility, don’t forget side-bending! It’s important to strengthen (and stretch) your back in multiple ranges of motion.

For the most support, you can keep one hand on the floor. For more of a strengthening stretch, lift both arms and make your side-body do the supporting work, or lift your hips off the floor for a side-bendy plank variation.

Don’t Forget to Include Active Drills Too!

I would be remiss if I was only suggesting passive poses - active poses where you have to use your muscles to support the position or movement are even more beneficial to your overall flexibility! Check out last week’s post 4 for great more wheel drills that help you strengthen while you stretch.