Unlock your overhead position with a deep upper-back stretch.
Keep your lower back neutral and let the stretch live in your upper back, not your spine.
Elbows parked on a bench, hips sitting back, chest sinking toward the floor: this position coaxes the stiff upper spine into extension while the lats and upper back get a long, patient stretch. It directly targets the stiffness that steals overhead range and makes the lower back compensate. A couple of quiet minutes here pays off every time you press or squat.
Before overhead pressing, front squats or pull-ups, anywhere the overhead position matters, and any time your upper back feels locked up from sitting. It works as a between sets reset too.
Somewhere around thirty seconds to a minute per hold, breathing slowly and sinking a little deeper on each exhale. Two or three calm holds beat one long forced one.
Yes, you are extending from the wrong place. Sit your hips further back toward your heels, keep your ribs from flaring, and think about melting the area between your shoulder blades rather than arching your whole spine.
