Dear Member:
Has your back ever hurt you?
90 percent of Americans suffer from it at some point1. And the bill for all this runs about $50 billion per year.
The good news is I’ve got a simple technique that’ll rid you of back pain in as little as two minutes a day.2
First it’s important to understand why you get that back pain in the first place: tendons attach your muscles to your bones. Ligaments attach bones to bones. As you get older, your flexibility decreases. Certain muscles shorten and your joints lose their range of motion—mean ing your ligaments get weaker. This can trigger a number of back problems.
Healthy stretching works by lengthening those ligaments and strengthening your tendons. Problem is most average stretching exercises put stress on your ligature. Not exactly helpful.
The key factor that most folks don’t know—including a lot of yoga teachers and personal trainers—is that you don’t want loose joints. The tighter they are, the more stable and stronger they are. The stronger they are, the less likely you are to sustain an injury in the first place.
So what you want is long and relaxed muscles that can lengthen on demand without resistance.
I’ve found an easy way to do this. As long as you follow these techniques closely, they’ll ease your back pain instead of making it worse (like a lot of wrongheaded stretches).
The two parts of your body you want to stretch daily to avoid back pain are the front of your shoulders and the front of your hips.
-
Shoulder Stretch: You need to stretch and develop these muscles because they are very susceptible to injury. And tight shoulder muscles contribute to back and neck pain, especially if your head and shoulders droop forward.
How To: Stand in an open doorway. Raising your arm to a 90-degree angle with palm facing out, press your hand and shoulder against the wall and doorjamb. You should feel the wall against your armpit. Slowly increase the tension as you push forward. Hold for a 10 count. Then repeat with the other arm.
-
Hip Flexors: You need to do this stretch, particularly if you sit all day at work. Sitting all day puts pressure on the hip flexor muscles. This is a major cause of minor lower back pain. Stretching your hip flexors muscles several times a week will prevent this kind of lower back pain.
How To: Stand in a modified runner stance, with right foot forward and left foot back, feet flat on floor. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension. Hold for a 10 count. Switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.
Give these a try. They work for me. Start off every other day and go from there. Consistency’s the key.
One more thing: I’ve discovered a great “self-assessment” tool that helps diagnose back pain in order to come up with the right solution. It comes out of a great organization called The Healthy Back Institute. To find out more, click HERE.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1.Frymoyer JD. “Back pain and sciatica.” New England Journal of Medicine. 1988. 318:291-300.
2.Deyo et al. “Cost, controversy, crisis: low back pain and the health of the public.” Annual Review of Public Health. 1991. 12:141-56.