Neck, upper back, shoulders, wrists, lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Full Body Warm-Up: Quadruped

A warm-up that also wakes your hands and shoulders, ready for work on the mat.

How to do it

1. 1

   Come onto hands and knees with padded knees

   A folded blanket under the knees, hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips. Look down at the floor so your neck stays in line with the rest of your spine.

2. 2

   Spend a moment on the hands first

   Spread your fingers and press through the whole hand rather than just the heel. If your wrists complain, make fists, raise the surface under your hands, or come down onto your forearms on blocks.

3. 3

   Shift your weight slowly around over your hands

   A little forward, a little back, then side to side. This is what makes the quadruped version different, since your arms and shoulders take graded weight rather than resting.

4. 4

   Then move the spine and hips

   Round and lengthen the back, sway gently side to side, and circle the hips in both directions. Keep the range to whatever your body offers today.

5. 5

   Take three to five minutes, resting when needed

   Sit your weight back towards your heels at any point for a break, then return. Widening the hands helps if the wrists start to feel busy.

What to watch for

The hands and wrists taking more than they are ready for, so the shoulders creep towards the ears and the elbows lock. Take your weight back towards your heels, widen the hands, or drop to forearms on blocks as soon as the wrists object.

Ways to adjust it

• Neutral gaze down
• Range per ability
• Shift weight back
• Hands wide
• Fists
• Raised surface under the hands
• Forearms on blocks
• Folded blanket under the knees

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Full Body Warm-Up: Seated

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Full Body Warm-Up: Chair
• Full Body Warm-Up: Seated
• Full Body Warm-Up: Supine

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.