85% of the population suffers from serious back pain at one point or another. Doing these 10 things will eliminate or manage most back issues.
Strengthen your Abdominals– Lying on your back doing exercises like crunches and pelvic tilts make a huge difference because these muscles help stabilize the spine.
Use a Foam Roller on Your Hips – Lie down and use a foam roller or a medicine ball to self-massage your hips. This will loosen the muscles and connective tissue, creating less friction in the pelvis, hips, and lower back.
Stretch Your Hamstrings– When the hamstrings get tight, the pull the pelvis out of alignment, which creates problems in your discs.
Walk– Surprisingly, walking is one of the best things you can do to relieve back pain.
Stretch Your Hip Flexors– The hamstrings are on the back of the leg, and hip flexors are on the front. When you sit too much or too long, the hip flexors tighten up and it makes it hard to straighten your back out, which shifts the center of the core upwards to the lumbar spine, instead of the pelvic area, and this causes pain. Stretch the front of your hips.
Twist Gently– Lie on the floor and cross your legs. Drop your legs to one side 30 seconds and then the other side 30 seconds. This will keep you from getting stiff in the rotational function of the spine.
Stay Hydrated– Being dehydrated can cause back pain and other problems.
Do Lower Back Exercises and Stretches- This is self explanatory, but 2-3 times per week do gentle back exercises like bridges or the “birddog” exercise and stretch your lower back.
Use a Standing Desk or Get Up and Move Around Every Hour- Prolonged sitting is not good for your back.
Learn to 1) Draw In and 2) Brace and Practice Doing This When You Exercise or When you’re Sitting-
Draw In – take your navel and use the muscles in your core to pull it in to the spine. This would feel like trying to pull your stomach in to get into a tight pair of pants.
Brace– create tension or hardness in your core by contracting the abdominal wall. This would feel like you were tightening up because someone was going to punch you in the stomach.
Get in the habit of doing these things and they will become second nature. All of a sudden, you may wake up feeling like you have a new spine.
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