The Best Stretch You’re Not Doing!

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February 2025. For the original video, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqilO1xnGFQ

Mike: We asked AI to give us the best stretches, including the world's greatest stretch. So we're going to go through some of these and see if we agree.

Brad: Yeah, and we're going to actually start with stretches for the lower back, the hips, and posture. And then we'll try one of the AI stretches and see if it lives up to what, you know, if we agree with what it has to say. But before we get any further, what's AI?

Mike: Artificial intelligence.

Brad: Oh. I've got some of that.

Mike: So the first stretch we're going to do is actually for the lower back. And Brad, what does AI recommend for this?

Brad: Well, it's actually called the cat or the camel, but we've called it different names. But it is, I agree, a really nice stretch for the lower back for both flexion and extension.

Mike: Yeah, I suppose we can show it here. So as long as you're comfortable getting on your hands and knees, this is a pose used in yoga, and anything really. So if I'm doing the cat, I am arching my spine like this. This is like a cat when it is upset and mad and hissing at you.

Brad: I think it's the camel, but whatever.

Mike: No, and then this is supposed to be the camel or the cow, because you have two humps. So the first hump would be my shoulders, and the other hump would be my butt.

Brad: All right, all right.

Mike: So this is the camel. So what you do is you go into arching your back, flexing it, and then you flatten it out like this. And it's just a good spinal mobility exercise, I would say,

Brad: Right, and I would suggest, you know, you can do it on your bed, but it's a little soft. It's probably easier to do on a carpeted floor. So, you know, use good judgment and see what works best for you. Should we go to the second one?

Mike: Yeah, I would say AI got that one right. It's a pretty good back stretch.

Brad: The next one is the best posture stretch.

Mike: Now, for this one, they're recommending using a foam roller on your mid back to help open up your chest and improve your posture. Now, they didn't really get descriptive about whether we're supposed to go horizontal or vertical with it. So I guess we can kind of decide.

Brad: Well, I think we know more about, you know, more than AI anyway. So we're going to use a six-inch foam roller. This one's three feet long. This is standard length. You can't get shorter ones, but you're limited a little bit on what you can do. These, you need to go on the floor, will not work on your bed. And we can work the mid, the thoracic back like this. And this is one of my go-to stretches for the posture of my back and upper back.

Mike: Yeah, it does really open things up.

Brad: It does. Put your hands back like this. Support your head, and go back and take a deep breath. And oftentimes, my back will cavitate. In other words, it'll crack and crumble a little bit.

Mike: Pop.

Brad: And yeah, pop. There you go. Oh, and it just went there. Now, another one I like to do with this is very relaxing. I like to do it after I get done with my exercises. It's a relaxing postural thing that really allows me to relax, breathe, and, ooh, get good posture, use gravity. So my head is on here on the roller. Now, you don't want your head off. Now, some people, particularly maybe if you're a senior, your head may not comfortably go down. So Mike, can you get me a pillow, and we'll give them an option for that. Now, you just want to relax with this. Oh yes, very good. So here, shoulders back, deep breath. And I'll just lie here like this for a few minutes and just allow things to stretch out, really nice. Anything else, Mike?

Mike: No, I think these are a hit both ways. I think, personally, it's a good stretch. Obviously, if you have trouble getting down to the floor, maybe it's not the right one for you. You could certainly do the same things with your back against a wall.

Brad: Ooh, good idea.

Mike: Now, the third one it gave us, before we get into the greatest stretch, is called the hip 90-90 stretch. Now, this one can be done typically on the floor. I'm sitting up here right now. But what it is is one leg goes in 90 degrees, and the other leg goes in 90 degrees behind you. Everyone's hip anatomy and mobility are going to be a little different. People who are really flexible can sit upright. As you see, I cannot sit very upright with this because I am pretty tight on this side, right here. I do not have good motion, and either hip is going that way. So I'm just going to kind of do what I comfortably can. You may notice Brad probably looks a little bit different than me.

Brad: Well, I hope so. Yeah, so this one, some people will have problems with in their hips. If you have ever had a hip replacement, I would not do it. Because you may have some precautions or some tightness that you don't want to, you know, have a problem with the work that's been done.

Mike: So you're going to want to make sure to do both sides with this, and you can kind of mess around. You can lean forward with the flat back. You can try to sit more upright, no support, or with support. Just see what feels good for you. And I would just do each of them. You could sit in this position for 30 seconds up to 90 seconds, as long as it's comfortable.

Brad: There ya go, all right.

Mike: So is it a good stretch? I would say so. It's a good hip stretch. But can everyone do it? Probably not.

Brad: There you go. Let's go to the next one, Mike.

Mike: The world's greatest stretch. Now, this is quite the combination. I would say it's a bunch of stretches in one movement, wouldn't you?

Brad: Right, and that's why they're saying it's a good stretch, because it stretches the back, it gets rotation involved, which we'll demonstrate. Balance is actually involved, which I like. Hamstring stretch, hips.

Mike: Now, you'll notice that I lack some flexibility in some areas.

Brad: Well, you got your jeans on. Why don't you come to work with something decent to wear?

Mike: These stretch really nicely.

Brad: Oh, that. They don't stretch that well.

Mike: They are perfect.

Brad: You need something with stripes on the side, like me. All right, go ahead.

Mike: So in order to do this, you're going to start in a standing position. And what they recommend is bending down and touching your toes. Now, if you have back pain, try to keep a nice flat back. However, you notice me, I have tight hammies, I can't get to the ground very well. So you can bend your knees and slowly go down. Once you're down here, you actually wanna touch and walk your hands forward, and you're going to go into a tall plank hold like this, arms extended out. Now we're going to stretch one side first. So I'm going to bring my left foot forward in a lunge, getting a good hip flexor glute stretch. And now you add the rotational component. So that same hand goes up towards the ceiling, and I'm getting spine rotation. Hold this for a few seconds.

Brad: Stay right there, and you can't see it from there, but it really works the shoulder blade, which is really important for that shoulder motion as well. Gettin' hips, nice stretch on the piriformis muscle. Just stay there, we wanna talk about this for a while.

Mike: Oh yeah, I'll just keep doing it forever.

Brad: Now, how long is it recommended? We're saying 15 to 30 seconds, depending on how you feel regarding being comfortable.

Mike: So you're going to go back to the plank after that, and then make sure and switch sides. My right leg's going to come forward. And twist to the same side, same arm. This is a lot easier than the other way. As you can see, I can't get very far in the opposite direction. So normally, go to the same side. Again, you can hold it for a little while. Make sure to breathe. Make sure to keep your back leg straight, not bent like this. Once you get to your plank position again, crawl your hands, and then slowly come back up.

Brad: Now, you don't have to bring the leg up as high as Mike did. If you feel like it's scary to you or too much, Mike is really going up high with the leg and doing that, which I do like, but you know, just start out down here if that's comfortable for you. But this does really help the hip. I like that. But, again, take your time with it. Get a feel for it and work with it. So yeah, I think we can agree that that's a really nice stretch.

Mike: Yeah, I feel like it's a whole yoga sequence. I've done yoga before. But it's kind of nice. I enjoy it. I could say, if you're able to do it, it's a good thing to do.

Brad: All right, Mike, so what do you think? What do you think? AI, do you give them a pass on this for good quality?

Mike: I think it did a good job. Obviously, if you have more specific problems, like, say, I have back pain, can you modify these? You could certainly put that in the AI. But overall, we didn't give it much to work with, and I thought it gave us decent answers.

Brad: Yeah. What's the next video that relates to this?

Mike: Now, if these stretches seem hard for you, you can check out this video. "Do These 4 Stretches Every Day! Stretches For Seniors, by Bob and Brad."

Brad: You don't have to be a senior.

Mike: No.

Brad: If you're 54 years old, you can do them, but if anything below that, then you're too young.