My Favorite Golf Warm-up Exercise: The Can-Opener

Posted on By Alex Wasserman
Golf Warm-up Exercise

If you’ve come to my office looking for relief from low back pain, you may already know this exercise. It’s critical for mobilizing all parts of the spine as well the the chest, back and shoulders. I find it especially useful for golfers and other athletes that require rotational range of motion, but it is useful for anyone looking to increase their flexibility. We call it the can-opener.

Step 1- Golf Warm Up Exercise
Start lying on your side with top leg bent at 90 degrees with your hands in front of you. You may place your hands together or the bottom hand may hold your knee down. Take a deep breath before you begin the next movement.
Step 2- Golf Warm Up Exercise
Slowly exhale as you reach backwards with your top hand. Keep watching your top hand the entire time. Make sure your knee does not come off the ground at all during this exercise; stop reaching backwards if it starts to lift off. If this is as far as you can reach, that’s fine.
Step 3- Golf Warm Up Exercise
After you have reached back as far as you can with your knee staying on the ground, return to the start position. You may not be able to reach as far as the photo model, but this is the goal of this exercise. Repeat on both sides 8-10 times.

That’s it!

Congratulations, you have completed the can-opener exercise. I use this daily for warming up my low back and preparing for activity. For more tips and information to help you recover, contact Wasserman Chiropractic at call and set up an appointment so we can get you feeling and performing your best.

Have a great week!

Dr. Alex Wasserman DC