This exercise will strengthen your paraspinal muscles, helping to keep the spine stabilized. Posture will improve. When posture is better, back doesn’t hurt as much, and mood is better.
Try this experiment next time you walk around.
As you walk down the street or down the office corridor, consciously stand straighter, exaggerate.
Now, notice how you feel when you are walking very straight as you pass someone.
See what I mean?
Better posture, better mood, more confidence.
Back to work.
Lie on the floor on your belly, forehead touching the floor.
Sitting at a desk makes it harder to get exercise naturally.
Try sitting at the edge of the chair, rather than leaning into the back of the chair, that will strengthen the paraspinal muscles on either side of the spine.
The stronger the paraspinal muscles, the straighter your back and the less pain.
For your shoulders, try this in the shower with the warm water flowing onto your shoulders and down your back.
First, tuck the pelvis. You can cue this for yourself by putting on hand on your abdomen and the other on your lower back. Then, push the hand on your abdomen back so that your lower back flattens.
Next, reach your hands up onto the shower wall, palms flat on the wall. And lean towards the wall a little. You will feel a nice stretch in the upper back and shoulders.
All the while keeping your lower back flat and your pelvis tucked. This protects your lower back.
I like to do a few exercises first thing in the morning when I wake up.
Once the day has started, the crush of all the things I have to do makes it hard to take time out.
If you have time to do more than five minutes of exercise, start with the abdominal exercises in this post That will get your abdomen engaged to support the spine for all the other exercises you do.
Then practice the pelvic tilt to lengthen the lower back, you want to keep the lower back long when doing any exercise (see pelvic tilt post ).
This will engage your abdomen to support your lower back. Very important.
This next exercise will strengthen your legs and back and buttocks and abdomen. This works your upper back too.
A strong core will keep the spine aligned and pain free.
