Back · Bodyweight
Cow Stretch
How to do the cow stretch, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- time
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Start on your hands and knees with a neutral spine. Inhale as you drop your belly toward the floor, lift your chest, and look slightly up until you feel a gentle stretch across the front of your torso, then return and repeat.
- 1A gentle stretch across the front of your torso
- 2Your chest lifting as your belly drops
- 3Each vertebra moving as the spine extends
Common mistakes
- Cranking your neck back too far
- Forcing the arch past a comfortable range
- Locking your elbows under your shoulders
Muscles worked
The cow stretch mainly works the lower back.
- Lower BackPrimary
- Upper TrapsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
Kovo programs the cow stretch for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More back exercises
- How to do the archer pull-up
- How to do the resistance band assisted pull-up
- How to do the machine assisted pull-up
- How to do the back extension bench back extension
- How to do the machine back extension
- How to do the back lever
Last reviewed June 2026.