Bye Bye Back Pain

I got some good feedback about the recent post Unlock Your Aching Back so here are 3 more moves that really help to loosen up the whole of the back.  Whether you're suffering from too much activity or just too much time at the desk, these three moves will are great.  Adopt each position slowly in turn and hold the stretches for 5-10 seconds each.

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Get a Strong Back?

Back pain is still one of the biggest issues that compromises feeling good every day.  

A while back I suggested 3 moves to unlock your back.  Here's another move - one that will really help to strengthen up your core stomach muscles to keep your lower back safe.

Try this every morning, then no matter what you put your back through for the rest of the day you'll be less likely to injury yourself.

Lie face up with your knees bent at 90-degrees

Cough gently and hold your stomach muscles tight

Slowly straighten one leg and lower it towards the floor.

Keep your stomach tight but breathe deeply throughout the movement.

When your foot has almost got to the ground bend the leg back up to the start position.

Repeat the movement with the other leg.

Keep your lower back in contact with the floor at all times, do not arch it.

Continue alternating legs until you've completed 5 leg lifts on each side.

Relax your legs onto the floor and take three deep breaths.

Now carry on with the rest of your day.

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Photo by Arenamontanus (Flickr)

How to Stretch Properly Part2

Naturally, you've all been doing plenty of stretching since I posted about it last week.;-)

Here's part two in our series to keep your lower limbs flexible and keep you on the road to fitness without any breaks for injury.

I've chosen these two fitness tips particularly following a recent conversation with someone who used to suffer a lot of lower back pain. It turned out that tightness in the front of their legs was causing their pelvis to be pulled out of line and the solution to fixing the back was to loosen off the muscles at the front of the hips and the front of the thighs.

So here are the key stretches.

Quads
This one is to stretch out the muscles that run along the front of the thigh. This area can become very tight if you train your legs a lot or take part in dynamic sport with quick bursts of speed in a variety of directions. Do this after running and cycling. Also great if you have problems with your knees after workouts.

Stand upright with a bench or wall next to you for support
Bend your right leg up behind you and grab the laces of the trainer on this foot
Keep your supporting knee bent and knees together
Still standing upright, push the right side of your hip forwards and you'll feel a stretch along the front of the thigh
Hold for 10 seconds, relax and repeat on the other leg

Hip Flexors
The hip flexors and small muscles at the front of your hips. If you sit down a lot these muscles can become shortened and tight which can result in them pulling your pelvis and spine out of natural alignment. To keep them loose:



Stand next to a bench for support
Step your left foot forwards into a half lunge position
Keep your body upright and tilt your pelvis backwards on the right side
Because this muscle can be tight it's best you move very slowly into this stretch - it can feel quite acute
Hold for 10 seconds, relax and repeat on the other leg