Mobility exercise

# McKenzie press-up

A press-up from lying on your stomach where the hips stay on the floor and the lower back extends. It comes from the McKenzie method, also called Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy.

Also called: prone press-up, cobra press-up for back, lumbar extension press-up

- **Type:** Mobility

- **Equipment:** No equipment

- **Area:** Lower back

- **Level:** Gentle

- **Starting dose in Remedy:** 3 sets of 10

## How to do it

- Lie face down with your hands under your shoulders, like the bottom of a push-up.
- Relax your hips, buttocks, and legs completely.
- Press through your hands to lift your chest, letting your low back sag while your hips stay on the floor.
- Straighten your arms as far as is comfortable and pause.
- Lower slowly back down.

## Form cues

- Hips stay on the floor.
- Press the chest up fully, pause, then lower slowly.

## Common mistakes

- Squeezing the glutes, which stops the low back from extending.
- Letting the hips lift off the floor.

Stop if
Stop if pain spreads further into your buttock or down your leg, or if you get numbness or tingling. Pain moving away from the spine is a sign this movement is not right for you right now.

## Easier and harder versions

- **To make it easier:** Start by resting on your forearms (lying on elbows) for 30 seconds to a minute before trying full press-ups.

## Why it helps a sore back

Some people with low back pain find that repeated backward bending eases their symptoms, especially when sitting and bending are what bother them. It is also one of the exercises where how your body responds matters most, so watch where you feel it.

## How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called **McKenzie Press-Up**. Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by sitting too long or bending or lifting or standing or walking. A typical starting dose is 3 sets of 10, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.

## More mobility exercises

[Mobility

### Cat-cow stretch

An all-fours movement that alternates rounding and arching your spine.
No equipment · Gentle](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/cat-cow)
[Mobility

### Open-book rotation

A side-lying rotation for the upper and middle back.
No equipment · Gentle](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/open-book-rotation)
[Mobility

### Chair thoracic extension

A gentle backward bend of the upper back over the top of a chair.
No equipment · Gentle](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/thoracic-extension)

## Guides that use it
[Guide
### Back pain from sitting
For people whose back gets tight from a chair and a screen.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/desk)

[More exercise guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/)

## Get a back program you can actually keep

Free to download on the App Store. Answer a few questions and your first session is ready in minutes.

[](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/remedy-back-pain-relief/id6813745106)[Read the guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/)

---
Source: https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/mckenzie-press-up
Remedy is a fitness and wellness app, not medical care.