A Pilates instructor says your back feels stiff because you're not moving it enough—try doing these four spine-lengthening moves to fix it

Camera view above a woman on a pink exercise mat and wooden floor. She's on her back, in a tucked position holding her shins wearing an orange tshirt and grey leggings. .

Modern-day living can be hard on your back, especially if you spend most of your day hunched over a desk or sitting on a long commute.

“We’re simply not moving our bodies through full ranges of motion as often as we need to,” says Pilates educator and practitioner James Shaw, founder of James Shaw Pilates.