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rzen 60927b5d1f Add 17 warm-up, stretch, and mobility exercises with new starter splits
The library grows to 64 exercises: arm circles, torso twist, leg
swings, hip and neck mobility, marching, calf raises, and a full
stretching set (forward fold, quad, calf, chest, triceps, hip flexor,
butterfly, cobra, child's pose), each with an authored motion rig and
reference page. Eight new starter splits join the catalog — Upper and
Lower Body Warm-Up, Morning Wake-Up, Morning Mobility, Full Body
Stretch, Evening Stretch, Free Weight Basics, and Full Body Machines —
regenerated deterministically at split schema v3 with fixed ULIDs.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HJDQQDA9QdP8zByg43H5v3
2026-07-08 12:49:18 -04:00

1.4 KiB
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Cobra Stretch

A gentle prone press-up that opens the front of the body and coaxes the spine into extension after a night curled up.

  • Category: Mobility / warm-up
  • Type: Spinal extension mobility
  • Targets: Lumbar and thoracic spine, abdominals, chest and hip flexors
  • Prescription: 2 sets of 8 slow press-ups, pausing a breath at the top of each
  • Defaults: 2 × 8 bodyweight

Setup

Lie face down with the legs long and the tops of the feet on the floor. Set the hands flat under the shoulders, elbows tucked close to the ribs.

Execution

  1. Press the hands lightly into the floor and lengthen the chest forward.
  2. Peel the breastbone off the mat, letting the spine extend one segment at a time.
  3. Keep the hips, pubic bone, and legs pinned to the floor throughout.
  4. Rise only as far as the low back stays comfortable, then lower slowly back to flat.

Cues

  • Lead with the chest, not the chin — length before height.
  • Draw the shoulders down away from the ears.
  • Let the hands share the load; don't hang the whole body weight on the low back.

Common Mistakes

  • Cranking the head back and crunching the neck.
  • Pressing to straight arms and lifting the hips off the mat (that's up-dog, not cobra).
  • Shrugging the shoulders up around the ears.

Progression

Sphinx (forearms down) → low cobra → full cobra with straighter arms → upward-facing dog with the thighs lifted