Having good posture is essential for avoiding back problems – here are some simple exercises.
An exercise designed to help with posture Hummingbird:
Stand tall with your legs apart, your arms out to the side and bent up at the elbows and pull your belly button towards your spine.
Make small backwards circles with your hands and arms, drawing your shoulder blades together.
Next, sway gently from side to side for 10 seconds.
Ask anyone with a bad back if they would like to turn back time so they could avoid getting it in the first place and no doubt the answer will be a resounding yes! Having spinal problems can make your life hell.
Around 80% of us suffer from back pain at some stage in our lives, yet how often do we think about doing things that could prevent problems – such as improving our posture or strengthening our back?
We do exercises for our hearts and other parts of the body, but our spines, which can play a key role in our health, are often forgotten.
Being active will help strengthen your back but now there are exercises you can also do specifically to improve your spinal health. They’re part of an international programme called Straighten Up, which is being introduced here by the New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association.
The stretching and strengthening exercises are easy to follow, and best of all, only take three minutes a day.
“We want people to think of these exercises as something you do as part of your daily routine,” says Christchurch chiropractor Dr Jolanta Houston.
“our ultimate goal is to have them being done in every household in New Zealand.”
While doing them won’t guarantee that you’ll never have back problems, they may make you less likely to suffer from a bad back and help you to recover more quickly if you do get injured.
“We see a lot of people with back injuries from silly little events, like bending over to pick something up,” says Dr Houston. “What happens is that the spine doesn’t have the strength to cope with the strain caused by bending forward. This will have been building up for a long time and even something like bending to pick up a piece of paper can cause an injury to a disc.
“If you had been doing exercises to stretch and strengthen your spine every day, you could have avoided this.”
As well as strengthening the spine the exercise programme, which was devised in the US, is designed to help with posture.
Bad posture can cause a variety of problems, including back pain. And it’s not just your bones that may be affected – slumping can hurt your organs.
“Your spine is important because it protects your spinal cord, which carries messages from your brain to your nerves,” explains Dr Houston. “If you have bad posture and are hunched over, that can affect your nervous system and then your organs. For example, if you are locked up through the shoulders you won’t have good nerve flow to your heart and your heart can struggle as a result.
“This happens over a long time but if you improve your posture and your spine health you can prevent this.”
To find out more about Straighten Up and to download descriptions and photos of the exercises, visit www.straightenup.org.nz.
Alternatively, you can contact a member of the New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association for a brochure.
8 reasons why proper posture is important 1. It keeps your bones and joints correctly aligned so that your muscles are used properly. 2. It helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces, which can lead to arthritis. 3. It decreases stress and pressure on the ligaments that hold the joints of the spine together. 4. It prevents the spine from being fixed in abnormal positions. 5. It prevents fatigue because your muscles are being used more efficiently. 6. It reduces the chance of strain or overuse problems. 7. It prevents backache and muscular pain and discomfort. 8. It helps you look better.
BAD PoSTURE CAN BE CAUSED BY:
obesity
Pregnancy
Weak muscles
High-heeled shoes
Tight muscles and decreased flexibility
Poor work environment
Poor sitting and standing habits
Kids can benefit too The Straighten Up programme includes a version of the exercises for children. It’s never too early to start good habits like looking after your spine, says Dr Houston.
While we often tend to associate back pain with ageing, you can still suffer from it when you’re young.
“Research shows there’s been an increase in the number of adolescents with back pain,” says Dr Houston. “If you can get kids to do these exercises every day, like they brush their teeth, then hopefully we can start to reduce those numbers.”
It is a concern that children are a lot more sedentary than they used to be, and many spend lots of time bent over a computer, she says.
4 tips for a healthy spine
1. Don’t carry unnecessary items in your handbag. It’s extra weight your shoulders and back have to bear.**
2. If you work at a desk, adjust your seat so that your feet are flat on the ground, your hips are slightly higher than your knees and your eyes are level with the centre of the computer screen.3. Never sit in the same position for more than 40 minutes. Take regular breaks so you can walk around and stretch your muscles. 4.** Try to walk more. Get off the bus a couple of stops early, use the stairs instead of the lift or park further away from the entrance to the shops.
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