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TUESDAY DEEP DIVE: THE STRETCH
Sunday’s issue introduced Child’s Pose with Side Reach as this week’s foundational stretch. Today we go deeper into why the lateral torso is so important for core health — and how to address it at three different levels of mobility and floor comfort.
The quadratus lumborum — the QL — is a deep rectangular muscle that runs from the lower ribs to the top of the pelvis on each side of the spine. It’s one of the primary muscles responsible for lateral spinal stability, and it’s also one of the most chronically shortened muscles in people who sit for long periods or train asymmetrically. Tight QLs pull the lumbar spine laterally, contribute to the hip hiking pattern that leads to IT band problems, and make the dead bug and other core exercises significantly less effective because the spine can’t find neutral.
The three variations below address QL and lateral torso restriction at different starting points.
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VARIATION 1: SEATED SIDE BEND (CHAIR OR FLOOR, BEGINNER)
Best for: People who find floor kneeling uncomfortable, those with knee or ankle issues, or anyone just beginning to address lateral torso tightness.
How to do it:
Sit tall in a firm chair or cross-legged on the floor
Place your right hand on the seat or floor beside you for light support
Raise your left arm overhead and reach it up and over to the right, feeling the stretch along the entire left side of the torso
Do not collapse into the side — keep reaching the left arm long, creating length rather than just bending
Hold 30–40 seconds, return slowly, repeat on the other side
2 rounds each side
What you’re feeling: A stretch from the outer hip through the QL and obliques all the way to the armpit. Many people feel one side is noticeably tighter than the other — this is extremely common and worth noting as a benchmark.
VARIATION 2: CHILD’S POSE WITH SIDE REACH (INTERMEDIATE)
Best for: Most people with adequate knee and ankle mobility for kneeling. This is Sunday’s featured stretch.
How to do it:
Kneel on a mat, sit hips back toward heels, extend both arms forward — standard child’s pose
Walk both hands as far to the right as comfortable, keeping the hips reaching back toward the left heel
The left hip wants to lift — gently resist this; keep it reaching toward the floor
Hold 30–40 seconds feeling the stretch along the entire left side from hip to armpit
Walk hands to center, then to the left side
2 rounds each side
Upgrade: From the full side reach position, take 5 to 8 slow, deep breaths. On each inhale, feel the stretch deepen slightly as the ribcage expands into the tight side. This combines the QL release with the diaphragmatic breathing work from Issue #21 — two things at once.
VARIATION 3: SIDE-LYING SUPPORTED LATERAL STRETCH (ADVANCED TISSUE RELEASE)
Best for: People who want to address QL restriction more aggressively and have a foam roller available. Particularly useful before heavy deadlift or squat sessions.
How to do it:
Place a foam roller on the floor and position yourself side-lying on it, the roller sitting just above the hip, below the bottom rib — directly over the QL region
Stack your feet or place the top foot on the floor in front for stability
Let your body weight slowly sink into the roller — you’re looking for a pressure sensation, not sharp pain
Hold 30–60 seconds, then shift slightly forward or back to find the densest area of restriction
Roll slowly from the top of the pelvis to just below the lowest rib, pausing at tender spots
Switch sides; compare how the two feel
What you’re doing: The foam roller applies direct compressive and shear force to the QL tissue, which has poor blood supply and responds slowly to static stretching alone. The combination of Variation 2 (lengthening the tissue) followed immediately by Variation 3 (compressing and mobilizing it) produces noticeably greater release than either alone.
Important: Do not roll directly on the lumbar vertebrae. Keep the roller on the soft tissue to the side of the spine, not on the bony midline.
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When the QL is chronically shortened on one side, the pelvis tilts laterally during floor exercises. This means your dead bug — Sunday’s strength move — is being performed from a skewed foundation, which both reduces the effectiveness of the exercise and trains the body to stabilize around an asymmetry rather than correcting it.
Spending five minutes on whichever side stretch variation applies to you before performing your dead bug sets will produce noticeably cleaner movement and more symmetrical core engagement. The stretch and the strength move are designed to work together.
COMING UP
Thursday we go deeper on the Dead Bug: three progressions from the absolute beginner version (modified range of motion, arm only) to the advanced version (full contralateral extension with a controlled breath cycle). Plus the one breathing cue that transforms the exercise from a leg-lowering drill into a genuine deep core workout.
Still moving forward,
— The SIM60 Team
simsixty.com · Educational content only. Not medical advice.
