Move It Or Lose It

Exercise and stretching are two of the best things you can do to maintain back health and prevent injury throughout your life and into your golden years. Doing very simple stretches and staying active is crucial for aging as gracefully as possible. Exercise combats the natural process of the body shutting down (i.e bone and muscle loss, decrease in lung and heart endurance, stiffness of joints, etc.).

Stretches
Here are some easy daily stretches everyone should be doing at the bare minimum to maintain back health, prevent back pain and slow down the aging process.

The Exercise Ball Back Stretch - Sit on a fitness ball with your feet flat on the floor and place your hands behind your head. Slowly step your feet forward allowing your back to roll onto the ball until your upper back is curved over the center of the ball. For a more advanced stretch, extend you arms over your head so they are reaching behind you keeping your chin slightly tucked into your chest. Stay here for a few seconds then gradually retrace your steps, rolling back up to the starting position. Do this 5-8 times.

Standing Back Stretch – Stand up straight with feet hip width apart distributing your weight evenly on each foot. Interlace your fingers and extend your arms out in front with palms facing away from you. Drop your chin down towards your chest and concentrate on extending your arms further forward until you can feel the stretch in your back. Hold for several seconds then slowly work your way back to the starting position. Do this 5-8 times.

Rag Doll Stretch - Stand up straight with feet hip width apart and your arms stretched up over your head. With a spotter to help you maintain your balance if needed, slowly bend forward at the hips bringing your hands down in a sweeping motion and reach for your toes with slightly bent knees (do not lock). Let gravity pull the weight of your upper body down relieving the stress on your lower back. Hold his position for several seconds then slowly roll up one vertebra at a time until you are standing straight up. Do this 3-5 times.

After the stretches, you’re ready to begin your daily exercise program.  If you’re not very active, walking and pool exercises are great low impact ways to get your cardiovascular and endurance training started.  And they are also can be stepped up to provide additional challenges for those who need higher intensity workouts as they become more physically fit..  Pool exercises are soothing and gentle on stiff joints. Walking is a full body workout that both strengthens and stretches core muscles.   If you’re interested in starting a walking exercise program and aren’t quite sure how to begin in order to get the greatest benefit, check out this beginner walking exercise program.


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