For most of 2025, a bad lower back became my whole identity.
Having resolved to address this issue head-on—or, rather, face down on a treatment table—I’m determined to take better care of my back in 2026.
So, for the past four weeks, I’ve been following my osteopath’s orders to consistently perform the one daily stretch he swears by to offset the damage from prolonged sitting.
The exercise, called open the book, does this by promoting thoracic extension and rotation.
My osteopath, Andy McIntyre BOst MSc from The Livewell Clinic in London, told me he performs this exercise every day, either in the morning or the evening, to keep his back mobile.
Here’s how to do it, followed by four things I noticed after performing it every day for the past four weeks.
How to do the open the book stretch
- Lie on your side with one foot on top of the other, knees bent and together, arms extended and palms together.
- Keeping your feet and knees together and your bottom leg in contact with the floor throughout, slowly lift your arm up and over your body, rotating your torso, moving as far as your mobility comfortably allows.
- Slowly return to the starting position.
- Breathe deeply and slowly while performing the stretch, allowing tension to release through your thoracic spine with each exhale.
If space is limited, you can perform the open the book stretch against a wall with this variation.
What happened when I did the open the book stretch every day for a month
I performed this exercise every morning for around one minute on each side. When time allowed, I would finish with a 30-second hold on each side, with my hand resting on my knee to keep my leg connected to the floor, and the other arm outstretched. With each slow exhale, I could feel my spine releasing further.
1. It mobilized my spine in a new way
Whenever my back used to seize up, I’d try to fix it by flexing forward or extending backward. This would help to a point, but I was overlooking the fact that the spine can also rotate.
The open the book stretch specifically targets the mid thoracic area of the spine, the region between the neck and lower back, by introducing rotation.
If our spines are better able to extend and rotate, argues McIntyre, they will be better able to move in every direction.
When I first began performing this stretch I noticed how locked up my mid back would feel, but after only a few days, I could feel that residual stiffness starting to dissipate.
2. It released tightness in my lower back
Turns out it only takes two minutes a day to reverse a year of lower-back misery.
Okay, misery is a tad strong, but there were very few days in the past year when my lower back hadn’t started to seize up by mid-afternoon.
With this stretch, however, my lower back seems better able to tolerate long spells sitting at my keyboard.
In fairness, I undertook this test while working abroad for most of the month, so my typical nine-to-five has been more varied than usual, but the daily rotation has helped alleviate tightness in other areas of my spine and better prepare it for the rigors of long days on the road.
3. It helped identify imbalances in my range of motion
Early on, I spotted that my range of motion was more limited on my right side.
When I mentioned this to McIntyre, he explained that imbalances are very common, with many people tending to favor carrying items like backpacks—or in my case, my two-year old—on one side more than the other.
Left unaddressed, these imbalances can lead to weaknesses and potential injury, but happily the solution was to keep going with this daily stretch. After a couple of weeks, my range of motion improved on both sides.
I also stopped favoring one side more than the other when ferrying my son around.
4. It became an enjoyable morning ritual
Taking a couple of minutes to move my body first thing in the morning quickly became an enjoyable way to start the day.
If time allowed, I’d continue into a full workout. When I did this, it was noticeable how unlocking my spine with the stretch before a workout made squats and overhead work feel more manageable.
After four weeks, I fully intend to keep using this stretch whenever I can to keep my back mobile and pain-free.
