Show Your Back Some Love
You’re only as old as your spine
I was recently reading an intersting article, when the author made reference to his bad back and lamented that he doesn’t set aside any time to strengthen his abs….presumably to help his back. While the article, on a completely unrelated topic, was great, the aside about his back made me cringe. I am not sure where this, “common knowledge,” connecting strong abs and a pain-free back came from, but it is useless drivel…pardon the hyperbole.
Having a pain-free or mostly pain-free back is not complicated or time consuming. If you have a sore back, start moving it on a daily basis. The spine likes to flex (bend forward), extend (bend backward), rotate, and side-bend (combination of bending forward, backwards and rotation).
Here are 5 movements that you should start doing today and continue doing on a daily basis:
****Guidelines*****
Perform each movement for 1 min (5 exercises X 1 minute = 5 minutes) You have the time!
Unless otherwise specified just breath through your nose the whole time.
If you have pain or numbness in your back and/or extremities, skip the movements and go see a clinician like me!
Cat/Camel
Puppy Stretch
Hip Flexor Stretch - If you don’t have the hip mobility for this stretch…the post on improving hip mobility is coming soon.
Low Lunge with Rotations
Quadruped with Rotations