The spine is the main supporting structure of your body. Together, these 33 bones and 7 vertebrae hold you upright and connect the various parts of the skeleton to each other. So why is spinal health often left out?
Take time this week to not only focus on spinal health but, more importantly, improve it.
Start taking care of your spine today, do not put off until tomorrow. In addition to the obvious health benefits, you will also find pleasant concomitant results: loss of excess weight, a slender toned figure and the revival of femininity lost in our crazy time.
Here are a few more arguments confirming the dominant role of the spine in our state of health:
- The spine is, literally, our skeleton, core, central part of the skeleton, and it is precisely its share that accounts for the daily main load.
- The spine is the vital center through which our nerves, vessels, and muscles pass, intertwined.
- And, finally, according to the philosophical traditions of the East, the spine is considered the focus of energy and vitality of a person, and therefore see the sources of health in it and, accordingly, look for the root cause of almost all diseases.
Any “disorder” in the spine can lead to a thousand diseases in the body, and not many factors lead to “disorder”:
- Unnatural bends.
- Deformation of the structure of the vertebrae and connecting elements.
- Stagnation (circulatory disorders) in the places of muscle attachment, intertwining of nerves and blood vessels.
Aggravating circumstances of the present
It must be recognized that the modern way of life acts on the spine as aggravating circumstances and against their background, the risk of acquiring problems only increases. Excessive comfort, frantic rhythm, regular overload and a sedentary lifestyle are the enemies of health in general and the spine in the first place.
Add to this the typical bad habits of residents of megacities: the lack of culture to monitor your posture and gait, lifting excessive weights, poor nutrition, and inattention to your health – here you have a complete set of reasons leading to disturbances in the spine. And after this, the well-known “bouquet” of ailments is already manifested: headaches, pressure surges, nervous exhaustion, and so on.
The conclusion suggests itself: if you want to be healthy, start with caring for the spine.
You can’t help the spine with medicines
In the case of the spine, the thought is more relevant than ever: you can not help with drugs. Unless to a small extent, as an accompanying measure. He will need comprehensive care, mainly physical and every second. Moreover, you will have to develop many useful habits and bring them to automatism, so that you no longer think about it, and your body itself exists in a regime favorable for the spine. And, of course, you have to reorient your usual way of life. Now let’s look in more detail.
No weight
I just want to call out: “Women, never forget that you are Women!” Even if you are temporarily alone. Never! Do not turn yourself into a draft horse, do not persuade yourself: “Yes, I quickly!” or “Is it really a burden ?!” Once you pick up something unbearable, most likely, nothing terrible will happen, but no one knows what could be the last straw for the spine and how long it will later come back to you.
Posture, Madame!
Previously, the nobility had a useful tradition – to instill in childhood how to properly maintain posture, move, walk, at what pace. If you want to be healthy, you need to revive the useful traditions of the ancestors.
The basis of correct posture is the image of our spine: a vertical rod on which all muscles, limbs and internal organs are strung. This image completes just a few strokes: the chin is at a right angle, the look is just above the line of the eyes, the shoulders are straightened, the chest is slightly raised, the stomach and buttocks are pulled up to the spine, and the head is like a ball on a needle, which, when correctly positioned, is always in a state of stable equilibrium.
Hydration and a balanced diet play an important role.
Drinking plenty of water is good for overall health. In terms of spinal health, hydration means there is enough fluid in the joints and the elasticity of the soft tissues is maintained.
In addition, choose healthy foods that are rich in calcium. A balanced diet, including the right amount and variety of nutrients, helps reduce back problems as you nourish your bones, discs, muscles, and other parts of the spine.
Poses with all amenities
It is very important to learn to control our posture in any position when we are standing, sitting or lying. Oddly enough, but many poses that seem convenient to us are extremely harmful to the spine. And the whole thing – in the habit. Accustom yourself to the right poses, and very soon those that were previously convenient for you will seem completely uncomfortable to you.
Under what conditions we will ensure the right posture:
- For lying – a hard bed, an elastic mattress, a small pillow.
- For sitting – a hard seat, which should be shorter than the hip, and its height should be equal to the height of the lower leg.
- Sit with your back against the back of the chair.
- Forgetting the reclining position, moreover, not reading while lying down, is harmful not only for vision, but also for the spine, reading and watching TV – exceptionally sitting.
- Do not cross your legs.
- Not to plop down on a chair, but to fall down easily and softly, like a lady from high society.
Wellness breaks
For the spine, an 8-hour working day at the computer is categorically harmful. But since this time, alas, cannot be avoided, wellness breaks become salvation. Force yourself to change postures all the time, stretch now and again, straighten your shoulders so that your muscles do not sag, use any reason to get up, walk again. Feel free to do gymnastics at least once a day.
Hiking
Hiking and running are a wonderful way to improve the spine, because these types of therapy provide a uniform and full load on absolutely all muscle groups, train vessels perfectly, develop joints and at the same time relax the nervous system. And, of course, it is important that walking and running add alternative types of stress to the spine, thereby balancing our predominantly sedentary life.
Shoes not only affect your feet.
If you ever spent the day walking in bad shoes, you know how this can affect your legs. But do you know that shoes can affect the back and spine? Good shoes are the foundation that helps to properly align the spine, and after it the whole body. If you are looking for new shoes, choose the one that fits snugly (but does not squeeze), has a good arch support and protects the ankle.
Do not ignore the massage.
The more various kinds of massage you can organize for yourself, the better. The very first – the simplest acupuncture without leaving your workplace. Massage your neck-shoulder region, lumbar and wrist areas daily – the most vulnerable areas with a sedentary lifestyle. Second – sign up for preventive manual therapy sessions. A similar preventive massage effect will bring you swimming lessons, where you will get a hydromassage. And if you understand that spinal problems are running, then be sure to take a course of therapeutic massage.
Fitness support
Do special exercises for the spine at least twice a week. Just do not overdo it with the load and duration at first, so as not to discourage the occupation. The principle is important here: less is better, but regularly.
A set of exercises can be, for example, this:
Warming up. With your hands, warm up where you get all the muscles of the back and the places of their attachment to the spine. Then grab a tennis ball and roll it back against the wall.
- “Wagtail”. This exercise is literally designed to shock the vertebrae, muscles, joints. Bouncing slightly, shake your torso as if you want to string your vertebrae on top of one another.
- Inside the ball. Stretch your arms: right forward, left – back, and begin circular rotation, as if you were moving your palms along the inner side of the ball in which you are.
- Twisting. Make turns to the sides with the whole body, then separately with the upper shoulder and lower lumbar, then turn the upper body in one direction and the lower in the other.
- Bending-bending. This group of exercises includes the well-known “bridge”, “kitty”, “swing-boat”. The point is to bend the spine in all directions, in all possible ways.
- You can hang on outstretched arms or on bent legs on the bar, stomach, throwing over a beam, or lying on a special ball. On the ball you can hang and lying on your back. That is how all vertebrae under the weight of your own body will be able to self-adjust, taking a naturally-correct location.
