One of the problems that we have in society today is that we're too sedentary, we don't
move enough. So it's important that you sort of get into a habit of sort of moving and you can
do specific exercise but just some general sort of movements of your spine backwards,
to the side. Twisting round either side. Just get into a regime of sort of movement. Here are
a number of exercises that will help promote a healthy back. The Kneeling Stretch exercise is
quite good as a warm-up exercise because it introduces some nice gentle movement to the
spine before you start getting into the more stretchy exercises. So what we need to do is:
you start on your hands and knees so you just need to bring your knees back underneath your hips.
Okay? So that's the starting position. You're going to keep your hands still. What I want you to
do is sit back on your heels. So as you go back on your heels, when you get to that point, you drop
your head down so you get that stretch through your spine and then come back to the starting
position. Okay? Now again just do that five times. So just go back onto your heels when you
get to that point drop your head down. Come back up, lift your head up. That's it. Okay, so again
five times looking at a nice relaxed movement to sort of loosen up your back. Okay, good.
The Back Extension exercise is great because we don't introduce that sort of movement into
our lifestyle on a daily basis. So it's good to give you that change of posture
and change of movement. So what you want to do is your hips stay flat on the bed
now. You're going to push on your hands. Lift your head and shoulders off the bed
so you arch your back and straighten your elbows so that you feel that stretch in
the low part of your back and then down and again you're going to do that five times.
The Knees to the Chest exercise is good for stretching out the back into that bent flex
position to stretch the ligaments and the muscles. If you bend your knees up so your feet are flush
on the bed, okay? Bring your knees towards your chest, get your hands below your knees.
Squeeze your knees into your chest so you roll your hips off the floor so you feel that stretch
in the low part of your back and you hold that for the count of five and then release and again
you're going to do that five times. Get your hands on your knees. Squeeze your knees into
your chest so you roll your hips off the floor and take yourself to the point where you sort
of feel that stretch and discomfort in the lower part of your back and then down. Okay?
The Knee Rotation one is all about movement really. Trying to introduce some sort of
movement generally into the sort of spine, the middle part of your back and lower part
of your back and it's all about movement. So put your feet together, knees together. Rest
your hands on your chest so you take your elbows and arms out to the side. So you're going to keep
your shoulders and arms flat on the bed all the time. Take your knees down to the left and then
right. So you're just going to oscillate between the left and the right so you produce that nice
sort of relaxed sort of movement of your spine and you're going to do that five times either side.
The Superman exercise is all about toning up the muscles that are there to keep your spine
stable. So you're making yourself unstable to actually stimulate the stability muscles
to work. What I want you to do is take your leg out straight backwards and upwards but to the
point where you're keeping your pelvis still. Now you're right on and by doing that now what
we're doing is made you slightly unstable and your muscles now are having to sort of work to
maintain your stability. So you hold that position for six seconds and then relax. Now let's change
sides. So the right leg and then left arm. Again make sure that you're keeping your spine still
and flat. That's it. Good. Count to six and you're going to do that five times either side.
So The Bridging Exercise is all about toning up muscles of the lower spine and the hips
and the pelvis so you create that stability again by instability. So what I want you to
do now is lift your hips off the bed to the point where you sort of get your hips in line
with your knees. You maintain that position. So what you can see yourself doing now you're
slightly trembling because you're having to make the muscles work to maintain that
control of your pelvis and hips. It's important that you get into a sort of regime of sort of
exercise and that can be anything from sort of swimming, cycling, yoga, Pilates. Just exercise.