In this video, I'm going to show you how to self pop your
pelvis at home. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go
over some great pelvic mobilizing exercises that might
end in a satisfying self pop, crack, or release and I'm
going to show them in different positions so you can do them
laying down, seated, or standing. So, you can pretty
much do them anywhere. As a note, these are not
chiropractic adjustments. They don't serve to replace
chiropractic adjustments. Instead, they're simple
mobility exercises that might just get the pelvis to self
mobilize. So, let's get started. Here is a really
easy way to get the pelvis to self mobilize. I call this the
pelvic corkscrew. It's best done at the edge of a bed.
Whatever side that you're having pain, let's say it's my
right side, I'm going to put the opposite side towards the
edge of that bed. Let's straighten the leg out to the
side that is closest to the bed. What I'm going to do is
bend the other side's knee. In this case, it's my right and
place my right foot underneath my left knee. What we want to
do is take the weight of our left leg and knee and press
down into the foots it creates a stable anchor point. That
way, it's not lifting off and we can get a lot of leverage
with this movement. Just simply rest your head down like this.
What I'm going to do is take my left hand, place it on the
outside of my right knee. I'm rotating my right knee down
towards the floor off the side of a bed. What we want to do is
feel a very deep stretch into the pelvis, hips, and lower
back. Keep going down as much as you can. With this one too,
you might get a sudden pop or release into the pelvis or SI
joint that very common but you just want to go for a
comfortable stretch. Once we hit that, what I'm going to do
is straight my right arm like this and turn my upper body and
head in the opposite direction. This creates that rotational
corkscrew effect and it feels really, really good. It really
deepens the stretch. Again, you might get that pop or release
that you're looking for with this. What we want to do is
hold this one for a comfortable stretch for 15 to 20 seconds.
From there, you're just going to relax and just simply repeat
this up to five times. With each repetition, challenge yourself
to stretch into these movements just a little bit more because
it will help release a lot more of that tightness. If you still
feel like it's locked up and needs a little bit more, this
is how we can take it to the next level. Let me switch over
to the other side to demonstrate this. I'm going to
get back into that position but what I'm going to do this time
around is instead of doing the corkscrew, I'm going to add a
little bit more of a passive stretch into the pelvis and
lower back. So, let's take the right, I just the left hand
this time and place it right over the side of the pelvis
right here, kind of like right over the cheek. What I'm doing
is I'm pulling down with my knee towards the floor, pressing
into it with this hand. What you're going to notice is this
really... I don't know if you just heard it over the microphone
but I got it to release, this one right here it's going to
offer a little bit more of a passive stretch into that area
that will help deepen it but do not try to force this to crack
if it feels like it's going to go it will go the goal is to to
feel a very comfortable stretch. Once we hit that,
let's do this for 15 to 20 seconds. You're just going to
relax from there and then you're going to repeat this up
to five times. Again, stretching into it a little bit
more with each repetition and with these exercises, I would
recommend doing them on both sides just to keep everything
in balance. So, here's how we can take the corkscrew stretch
and turn it into an anywhere standing exercise. I just
wouldn't do this one in public. It might look a little weird.
So, what I'm going to do is go next to a wall I'm going to
angle my feet slightly in front of me. Legs are going to be
straight. I'm going to press my body weight into the wall.
Pretty much my hips, my bottom all the way to my upper back or
flush against that wall and we want this nice and stable.
Whatever side that we're having issues. Let's say it's my right
side. I'm going to lift that leg up, keep the knee bent
roughly at 90° My left hand is going to go on the outside of
my right knee. My right arm is going to go straight like this
and I'm just going to place my hand off to the side and grip
into the wall for a stable anchor The movement is very
easy. We're going to take this right knee and we're going to
swing it across our body towards the left. When we do
this, we want to make sure that our upper back, our shoulder
blades are flushed against the wall. So, it's not rotating
like this. That's our anchor point. Only the lower body is
going to turn. When we do this, we're going to feel a very good
rotational stretch into the pelvis, hips, lower back. You
might get that sudden pop you're looking for if it is
locked up. If it is, you're good to go but if we need to,
let's hold this one for about 15 to 20 seconds for a deep,
comfortable stretch. From there, you're just going to
relax, take a breather, and then repeat this one for up to
five times. With each repetition, try to stretch into
it just a little bit more. Challenge those muscles to get
it to release. Just like the last time, we can add a little
bit more of a passive stretch in there to take this one to
the next level. So, what I'm going to do is take my hand off
the wall, place it on the outside of my pelvis kind of
like cupping the butt cheek again, and again I'm going to
press into it while turning my leg inwards. This will allow
just a little bit deeper of a passive stretch across the
pelvis but do not try to force this one. Only go for a deep
comfortable stretch. Hold this one for 15 to 20 seconds.
Relax, repeat this one up to five times and hopefully that
will get it to self mobilize and for good measure, I would
switch to the other side just to keep everything in balance.
This is what I like to call the anywhere pelvic mobilizer
because you can pretty much do it anywhere... on a couch, edge of
a bed, in a chair. We just need to be seated. What I'm going to
do is start with my legs roughly hip width apart and
from there, I'm going to take my hands and place them on the
outside of the knee. This is a two-part movement that's very
easy to do and the first part, we're going to drive our knees
outwards into our hands but we're going to resist this
movement with our hands. This is an isometric exercise so
it's going to feel like we're doing a lot with little
movement. So, really challenge yourself to press out and
resist against it as much as you can. You should feel a lot
activate into the lower back, the hips, and the pelvis.
When we do this, let's hold it for 5 seconds. We're just going
to relax and then repeat this five times. So five second holds
for five times or what I like to call the five-for-five. This
is the neat part. So, in the second motion, instead of going
out with it, we're going to go in. Let's take our hands, make
fist, put them together, and then put them on the inside of
the knees. From there, simply squeeze and I don't know if you
heard it but I got my right side to release right there.
Again, five second holds, really challenge yourself to
drive those knees in as much as you can and you want to do this
for five repetitions. It's just a simple way to really put a
lot of good motion into the SI joints and pelvis pretty much
anywhere and if this does bug your hands, you can use
something like a rolled up towel pillow even like a
basketball in between your knees instead. So, here is a
great pelvic opener that you can do on a floor or at the
edge of a bed. I call this the SI joint opener. What I'm going
to do is whatever side that I'm focusing on, I'm going to bend
that side's knee at 90 degrees just like this. The movement from
here, I'm going to take my foot on the bent side and I'm going
to turn it inwards. So, I'm taking my foot and then turning
it inwards as much as we can. You should feel already a
little bit activate across the leg into the hip. From there,
the movement is very easy. I'm going to take my knee towards
the other side shoulder while turning my foot inwards. So, my
left knee is going to go roughly 45 degrees towards my
right shoulder. Am I going to take my hand on my right side?
Actually, let's take both hands for this one. Place it on the
inside of that bent knee. We're going to resist against this
motion. So again, I'm turning my foot inwards, taking my knee
towards the other side but I'm going to resist this motion.
When you do this, you're going to feel a lot activated into
the hip across the pelvis into that SI joint. Really focus on
feeling it and if it is locked up, you might get a sudden pop
or release with it but hold this one comfortably for about
15 to 20 seconds. From there, you're just going to relax,
take a breather, and simply repeat up to five times. With
each repetition, try to stretch into it just a little bit more
to challenge yourself. Let's target it just a little bit
differently with this next part. So, instead of turning my
foot inwards, I'm going to turn it outwards and the movement
again is I'm going to resist against it by putting my hands
on the outside of my knee right here and we're trying to bring
the knee outwards, almost kind of straight away from us
towards the floor but we're going to resist it. When you do
this, you're going to notice that the pelvis, hip, and the SI
joint gets hit just a little bit differently but do
this one again for about 15 to 20 second holds for about three to
five repetitions, and when you're done on one side for
good measure I would do it on the other side just to keep
everything in balance. One of my personal favorite ways to self
mobilize or self pop the pelvis and even the lower back is with
the foam roller method. I'm going to be using a two foot
foam roller which has a diameter roughly of six inches
if you don't have a foam roller I will leave a link in this
video description. They're wonderful. Think of it as an
investment for a lot of good stretches and exercises that
you can do pretty much from your head all the way down to
your toes. So, let's start on the floor with our foam roller
pretty much positioned across our pelvis, right below the belt
line, kind of will support over the sacrum, over the top of the
glutes buttocks. From there, what I'm going to do is just
take my hands. You can grip off to the side of the foam roller
or you can grip off to the side, and I'm just going to lift my
legs to the point where my knees are together. They're
roughly at 90 degree we're going to start with what is
known as a sacral roll. So I'm just going to take my knees
together and go from side to side very slowly go down as far
as you're able to go keep your upper back flat while doing
this too only your legs and lower body should be moving
when you do this you're going to feel a lot activate you're
going to feel in the lower back cross the pelvis, hips, glutes,
buttocks... even into the legs. It's a wonderful compound
stretch but you want to hold each side for about three
seconds come back up to the middle and then just go towards
the other side. Again, with each repetition, you just want
to stretch into it a little bit more and if it is locked up,
you might get that satisfying pop, crack, or release that
you're looking for, but I try to do this nice and slowly for
about 10 to 15 repetitions on both sides. From there, what
we're going to do is focus a little bit more on an SI joint
opener. So, again, I'm going to put my knees at 90 degrees.
This time around, I'm going to put my legs roughly hip width
apart. I'm going to put my hands on the outside of my
knees and I'm going to drive them outwards but I'm going to
resist against this. This right here just puts a very good
isometric exercise across the SI joints and hips. You want to
do this for about a five second hold. You're just going to
relax, repeat it up to five times. From there, I'm going to
take my foam roller, place it in between the knees, and then
squeeze inwards and I don't know if you heard it over the
microphone but this generally will get the SI joints to
release and give a very good satisfying pop or crack but
again, just squeeze inwards, hold this one about 5 seconds.
You're just going to relax and then just simply repeat this
one for five times and I hope that really puts a lot of good
motion across the sacrum, hips, and pelvis and gives you that
self mobilization you're looking for. If the exercises
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soon as I can. Thanks so much for watching!