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Caring For Your Back To Stay Healthy
And Get The Most From Life
Prevent back problems by changing your lifting techniques,
exercising regularly and maintaining good posture.
The back is one of the most important components of our bodies. Unfortunately
it is also a part of our body that is far too easily injured. The main reasons
why the back is injured include improper lifting techniques, lack of muscular
strength (for back muscles) and a lack of all round flexibility.
Taking care of your back has many overall benefits. A solid and healthy back
increases core strength. It can improve the efficiency of your nervous system
and can also help with digestion and blood flow.
Below are a number of tips for back care, so that you can stay injury free.
Tip 1: Don’t lift with your back, lift with your legs.
The fact that most injuries to the back occur when people are lifting everyday
things, shows how common back injuries actually are. When most people attempt to
lift heavy items, they bend from their torso, using their back muscles to lift
heavy items.
The average persons back muscles (particularly lower back muscles) are quite
weak because they are rarely used. Therefore when someone attempts to pick up a
heavy item using their back muscles, there is a real chance of an injury
occurring.
To avoid injuring your back, you should use your leg muscles rather than your
back muscles to lift heavy items. The legs contain the strongest combination of
muscles in our bodies. When lifting a heavy item you should never bend from your
torso, instead you should bend from your legs. You want to squat straight down
to prepare yourself for the lift and then thrust upwards with your legs when you
are ready to lift.
This technique should be used whenever you have to lift something, whether
it is in the gym or when you are just doing everyday chores.
Tip 2: Exercise regularly and stretch.
Regular exercise will do your back wonders (assuming of course it hasn’t already
been injured). Sit ups will not only
flatten your belly fat but they will also
improve your core body strength.
Cardiovascular exercises will also improve the efficiency of your muscles and
help to reduce back problems by lowering you overall weight. Some good
cardiovascular exercises include jogging on soft surfaces, jogging on treadmills
and riding an exercise bike.
Stretching is also something that you can do to improve your flexibility and
reduce the chances of injuring your back. The more flexible you are, the more
your body can take before it is actually injured. You should always stretch
before and after working out. However, if you are looking to improve your
flexibility, then you should also consider stretching first thing in the morning
when you are stiff.
Tip 3: Invest in a good pair of running shoes.
A good pair of running shoes should feel comfortable, not too heavy and should
be able to absorb a reasonable amount of shock. Some of the
best running shoes
are currently made by Nike and Adidas, which can easily be found online.
Tip 4: Consider exercises for your back but take precautions.
Yoga is great exercise for increasing flexibility, while weights can be used by people
who are already in good shape to further improve the strength of their back.
Using weights to increase back strength is not recommended for beginners, at
least not until they have improved their core body strength first.
No matter what exercises you do, you should always ensure that you are properly
warmed up and if you feel any kind of unusual pains, then you should stop right
away.
Tip 5: Sleep on a firm mattress and maintain good posture for your spine.
Older mattresses often lose their firmness and support. Sleeping on an old
mattress can actually do more harm than good. If your mattress has lost its
support then you should replace it with a new one as soon as possible.
When sitting down, you should avoid slouching. Slouching causes your spine to
curve. This can eventually cause your spinal disks to slip out of place. To
avoid this problem you should always sit or stand in an upright position. Your
back should be straight and not hunched over or curved in any way.
Keeping these few things in mind, you can stay healthy and avoid back problems
in the long term, ensuring that you get the most out of life.
About the Author:
Scott Gray is currently a fitness enthusiast and freelance writer who enjoys
providing fitness tips
to consumers. He maintains a fitness web site where you can find tips for getting in
shape, losing weight and how to live a healthy life style.
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