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Draw the Sword

BeginnerMobilityTier T1

You sit cross-legged on a mat with your right hand closed beside your right hip. You breathe out and sweep your right arm diagonally up and across your body, as if drawing a sword, letting your trunk turn to follow.

Targets: Thoracic Spine

Stop if

Choose an easier exercise if pain reaches 6 out of 10 or becomes sharp. Stop and rest if pain reaches 8 out of 10.

This is the general ClapMove rule. This exercise has no extra stop rule of its own.

  • Pain 6 out of 10 or more: choose an easier exercise.
  • Pain 8 out of 10 or more: stop and rest.

Equipment needed

No equipment needed

Dosage

2

Sets

10

Reps / Time

30 sec

Rest

controlled

Tempo

Step-by-Step Guide

Set up

  • This is safe to do at any stage of pregnancy. Stop and seek advice from a health professional if you feel dizzy or unwell at any point during any exercise. Avoid pain.
  1. A woman sitting cross-legged on a mat, her right hand closed lightly beside her right hip and her left hand resting on her left knee, facing forward.

    Step 1 of 3

    Sit cross-legged and inhale to prepare, your right hand closed lightly beside your right hip as if about to draw a sword from your pocket.

  2. The same woman with her right arm fully extended diagonally up and open across her body, reaching into the air above her left shoulder, her trunk rotated left to follow it.

    Step 2 of 3

    Exhale and draw your right arm diagonally up and across your body, as if drawing a sword out of your pocket into the air above your left shoulder, letting your trunk rotate to follow it.

  3. A woman sitting cross-legged on a mat, her right hand closed lightly beside her right hip and her left hand resting on her left knee, facing forward.

    Step 3 of 3

    Sit cross-legged and inhale to prepare, your right hand closed lightly beside your right hip as if about to draw a sword from your pocket.

Breathing

  • Inhale to prepare; exhale as you draw the arm diagonally up and across into the air.

Safety Information

This is safe to do during any stage of pregnancy. Stop and, if symptoms continue, speak to a health professional if you feel dizzy or unwell at any time. Keep a comfortable seated reach, not a held end-range stretch. Keep a neutral pelvic alignment and gentle activation of the transverse abdominis and pelvic floor muscles throughout all of its exercises. Keep this same tall, neutral seated posture rather than a slumped or arched one. Pregnancy hormones such as relaxin can increase the elasticity of connective tissue such as ligaments. Keep a comfortable diagonal reach, not a forced or end-range twist. Stop if the exercise causes pain or you become unwell. Seek appropriate professional advice about symptoms or suitability.

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Printed from clapmove.com. ClapMove is not a replacement for professional medical advice — always consult a healthcare provider before starting any exercise program.