Taking care of the back is often neglected in our fast paced world. Whether you are an athlete, an office worker, a stay-at-home parent or anything in between, maintaining proper back health doesn’t require a lot of effort. Here are nine habits to develop in order to maintain a healthy back.
- Lift with Your Legs. However cliche it may seem, whether it’s a piano during a move, or your own children, make sure that you are lifting with your legs and not letting your back do all the work.
- Come on Baby, Let’s NOT Do the Twist. Twisting motions have an adverse effect on the health of your spine and should be kept to a minimum.
- Water, Water Everywhere. Since our bodies are comprised of nearly 70% water, it’s an answer to many common ailments-including back pain. Water helps keep the intervertebral disks functioning properly.
- Abs are for Action. Abdominal muscles are the most important to strengthen in order to avoid back pain.
- Worth its Weight in Gold. We all know maintaining a healthy weight has health benefits–one of them being preventing posture problems, and avoiding overloading your spinal disks.
- Get Back to Sleep. Sleeping on your back on a firm mattress can help alleviate strains placed on your back.
- Warm Up that Workout. Warming up prior to working out helps prevent muscular injuries and pain.
- What Warms Up Must Cool Down. Similar to warming up to prevent injury and pain, a cool down period post workout relieves tightness in the muscles and alleviate strain.
- Who Wants to Sit Still? If you work in an office or at a computer for extended hours, schedule times to get up and move to alleviate stress put on your disks.
Dr. Knight is committed to helping you achieve optimum health, and believes that no one should start each day in pain. For a FREE screening and information about how Dr. Knight can get you back to health, contact us today!