Cobra Stretch for a Bulging Disc: Elbows First, Then Press-Ups
Video masterclass
5 Bulging Disc Lower Back Exercises for Pain Relief
Sitting or bending aggravates your disc bulge? A movement check, then five extension-preference exercises — plus why relief isn’t the whole comeback. Watch the full session below — then open the video page for notes, timestamps, and related guides.
Free program
The Back Pain Mastery Guide
The Low Back Mobility Mastery Guide, created by Evolve Physio & Mastery, is a step-by-step recovery program designed to help you navigate a low back flare-up with clarity and confidence.
Hips down. Range earned.
Exercise 3 in 5 Bulging Disc Lower Back Exercises is the cobra stretch and its progressions. Same direction as standing back-bends, more bodyweight through the lumbar spine, more chance to cheat. Watch on YouTube.
Progression we use:
- Prone lie — on your stomach, arms wherever they’re comfortable. Two minutes of “can I even be here.”
- Prone on elbows — sphinx. Hips heavy. Shoulders not shrugging into your ears.
- Press-up — hands under shoulders, lift the chest, hips stay. Stop where symptoms still like you.
Want a structured plan, not just five exercises?
This video is a starting point for one type of back. The Back Pain Mastery Guide (free) is our step-by-step flare-up roadmap — what to do early, how to reintroduce movement, and when a symptom is a red flag. Pair it with a free Rehab Academy discovery call if you want the plan mapped to your scan and your week.
The details that make it useful
Breathe. If you can only get there by bracing and holding your breath, the range is too far. Come down. The win is a quieter leg and a back that doesn’t feel trapped in flexion after sitting — not a full U-shape on day one.
Do this after the massage ball if the lumbar muscles are bricks. Do not do this as a party trick in the middle of a flexion-preferring back. Check first: movement check.
Online Rehab Academy
Book a free discovery call
Want this protocol mapped to your injury, scan and timeline? Our Online Rehab Academy pairs video-guided rehab with remote coaching from our clinical team — the same standards as in-clinic care, from home.
Then we leave the floor
Relief from cobra is a great start. I don’t want you living there. Next in the video: dead bug isometric and the wall runner — strength and upright life, not a permanent sphinx.
Get the free Back Pain Mastery Guide or book a discovery call
The Back Pain Mastery Guide is our free flare-up-to-function roadmap for the lower back and hips — early settling, graded movement, and a red-flag list. It is not a substitute for an assessment if your pain is spreading down the leg or getting worse.
Get The Back Pain Mastery Guide (free) →
Want this mapped to your scan, sport and the fear of bending? Book a free discovery call for our Online Rehab Academy →
The massage ball from the video: shop the massage ball. In Cabramatta / South West Sydney? Book an in-clinic physio assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the first cobra progression?
Lie on your stomach. If that is already better, you have information. Then prop on your elbows, hips heavy on the floor, breathe. That is often enough for week one of an extension-preferring flare.
When do I straighten the arms?
When elbows are boringly comfortable and symptoms are not spreading. Then a gentle press-up — elbows toward straight, hips still down. You do not have to lock the elbows out. Range is a dose.
My hips keep lifting.
Then you have turned it into a back-bend from the knees. Drop the hips. Reduce the height of the chest. The disc does not care that the photo looks like yoga.
How long do I hold?
Start with repetitions (8–10 easy press-ups) or short holds of 10–20 seconds on elbows. Longer holds only if the symptoms like it. This is not a three-minute meditation on a hot nerve.
Can this make sciatica worse?
Yes — if it was the wrong direction or too much range. Pain or pins moving further down the leg is a stop. Centralising toward the back is the response we want.
Where is this in the video?
Exercise 3 from 3:28 — https://youtu.be/t3rd8G1MFd8.
