Healthy Back – Learn About Exercises That Will Help You Keep It

Various factors mean that our backs are not always healthy. From a sedentary lifestyle and poor body posture to aging, work, and physical exhaustion. Even sports activities can sometimes hurt our backs.

There are many reasons that can cause pain in different areas of the lumbar region. However, there are ways to relieve and prevent pain and injuries through various exercises. In this article, we introduce procedures that can help you keep your back healthy .

Why is a healthy back so important?

Have you ever suffered from cervical or lower back problems? It happens very commonly these days. Routine office work in front of a computer, low physical activity, bad posture and inadequate exercise are often the causes of back problems.

To understand the benefits of a healthy back, we only need to consider for a moment what happens when it is not. Good spine health allows us to enjoy the following benefits:

• We don’t feel any pain when we sit down or get up in the morning.
• We always maintain a better posture in different activities.
• We protect the spine and prevent head, neck, shoulder, waist and limb ailments.
• We feel more energy, avoiding chronic fatigue. This increases the mobility and flexibility of our body and muscles.
• We breathe better, which also improves circulation.
• We save on healthcare costs, from therapy to painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Exercises for a healthy back

In this part of the article, we’ll describe some activities you can do to keep your back healthy for a long time. The exercises are designed to help stretch and stimulate this part of the body, making it stronger. It is very necessary when we spend many hours sitting or standing.

These are useful exercises to relieve or prevent pain, and can even help you with correct posture when walking or sitting. Also to heal pain or injuries caused by fatigue or overexertion.

There are different types of exercise to keep your back healthy. Maybe among them three basic types:

• Stretches: These are designed to relax the spine and can help relieve pain.

• Mobilizing: as the name suggests, they help to put muscles, tendons and joints in motion.
• Strength: They are designed to strengthen the muscles.

Below we will see an exercise program you can follow by combining different types to keep your back healthy. We always start at the head and work our way down the neck and shoulders until we come to the lower back.

Stretching your arms

Standing with your legs slightly apart, with your heels hip-width apart, place the tips of your toes on your shoulders (right hand, right arm).

Make circles by moving your elbows. First forward, then backward, stretching as much as possible. Be sure to stand upright and not to move or sway your pelvis.

Trapezoidal stretching

With the right hand slightly above the left ear, we make a slight tilt and a slight twist, as if we were slightly pulling the head forward.

It should be deep, but smooth and slow. Hold this position for a few seconds and then change hands. Repeat the exercise, but this time pulling your head back. This can be done both while sitting and standing.

Lateral stretching

It takes place in the same position as the previous one. The right hand is raised and directed towards the ceiling, and we bend our torso to the left. The other hand is at the waist.

You will feel the muscles in your sides tense, from your waist to the last ribs. Hold this position for a few seconds, making slight deepening movements to stretch yourself more. Then change the side and do the same with the other arm.

Stretching the extensor muscles

Sitting upright, preferably on a stool, bend your torso with your arms down until your chest touches your thighs. In this position, we wrap our hands around our feet, lingering there for a few seconds.

A variant of this exercise is standing, but you can only do it if you have enough flexibility and a healthy back to touch your head to your knees. This exercise also stretches the muscles in the back of your legs.

The cat-cow is a great exercise for a healthy back

This bizarrely named exercise is called two yoga poses. To do them, you need to put your body on all fours, with your arms in line with your shoulders and your knees at the hip line.

From this position, the head lowers downwards, bringing the chin closer to the chest, while the abdomen contracts and your back is arched into what is known as a cat’s back. Then you raise your head, arching your waist, pulling your chest forward and arms back.

While it’s a little hard to describe this exercise, it’s actually very simple. Of course, the movement must be performed without violence, so as not to risk injury, especially when bending the waist. It is also important to coordinate your breathing: inhale as you raise your neck, exhale as you lower your head.

Cobra

Now we come to another animal that inspired the yoga pose. This time it’s a cobra. This exercise is performed face down on a mat or blanket, with the palms facing the ground and at shoulder height.

We push ourselves off the floor with our hands pushing, straightening our arms to slowly bend the upper torso backwards. We keep the pelvis in contact with the mat and the retracted abdomen. It is not necessary to fully stretch your arms. The position should be held for a few seconds. You also need to make sure your neck is relaxed.

If you want a healthy back, don’t forget to use a plank on your elbows

Like the previous exercise, start the plank face down on the exercise mat. The forearms are parallel to the body. On them we lean the weight of the body by lifting it in such a way that we prop ourselves on the elbows and the tips of the feet, holding this position for fifteen seconds or a little more.

Sternum, or lifting the hips

We stay on the mat, but this time we lie on our back. Knees bent, heels close to buttocks, palms along body with palms down.

We lift the pelvis so that there is a straight line from the back of the knees to the shoulder blades. We stay in this position for a few seconds. This exercise strengthens the extensor muscles as well as the abdominal and gluteal muscles.

Side board

Lying on the side, with the elbow under the shoulder, lean on the forearm and feet, remaining in a bent position. We lift the body so as not to touch the floor with our hips. We hold this position for a few seconds. Then we switch sides and prop ourselves on the other forearm.

In a more difficult version, you can make a side plank by leaning on your outstretched arm. Exactly as in the photo.

Knees to the chest

We continue on the mat, lying on the back. Putting your arms around your knees, try to bring them as close to your chest as possible, keeping this position for a few seconds. This can be done by hugging both knees at the same time or alternately bending them.

A healthy back is also a healthy body

It will not take long to complete this series of exercises; at most thirty minutes several times a week. But the benefits it brings are well worth the effort.

All of these exercises will be very beneficial for the health of the back, relieving pain and tension, preventing contractures and maintaining proper posture hygiene. They can even be performed by a person with a disc herniated if they take precautions to slow down and progress the movements.

Of course, physical activity must always be performed in an appropriate manner, adapted to the age, health and body condition of each of us. Ideally, you would have the supervision of a professional trainer.

You must always follow certain minimum rules so as not to hurt yourself. Remember that if you are bothering, in pain, or feeling exhausted, it is a sign that you are not doing something right. Therefore, it is better to stop exercising for a while. But never give up and remember it’s your responsibility to keep your back healthy.