Resisting wear and tear of the spine: TOP 5 best exercises

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

With age, the muscles of a person become flabby, the tissues do not receive sufficient nutrition, as a result of which the cartilage and discs between the vertebrae are destroyed.

The spine "dries up", because people by the age of 60-70 become shorter. But this does not come from "old age".

By lengthening our spine, we lengthen our youth.

The fact is that our spine "settles" in a day.

Scientists have long established that in the morning we are slightly taller than in the evening. And in the same way, in youth we are taller than in old age, because the spine, it turns out, sags not only during the day, but also from year to year.

Why does this happen and how does it affect our health and well-being?

A very small percentage of people lead a lifestyle in which their spine performs the functions provided by nature, namely, to withstand loads when a person runs, jumps, throws something, swims, rides a horse, etc.

Most people, on the contrary, perform very monotonous movements during the day, and even these movements are not enough.

The body is designed very economically: a non-functioning organ receives less blood, which means oxygen and nutrients, and all processes in it slow down.

The work of the cartilaginous intervertebral discs is to absorb all kinds of shocks, shocks and vibrations of the body. To do this, they must be resilient and elastic.

And if you don't need to do this, then why should they be elastic? They shrink, flatten and harden, and with each passing day, recovery processes are more and more sluggish in them. In short, they are getting old.

If the intervertebral discs become flat and inelastic, the vertebrae rub and press against each other, which in itself causes pain. The spinal cord is located inside the spine, and nerves extend from it to all organs of our body.

There are 31 pairs of these nerves: eight cervical, 12 thoracic, five lumbar, five sacral and one coccygeal. They leave through the holes formed by the arches of the vertebrae.

When the distance between the vertebrae is reduced (the intervertebral discs are flattened!), The nerves are inevitably compressed. But every nerve leads somewhere. So it turns out that when our spine is shortened, that is, the vertebrae "sat down" on top of each other, we will definitely start to ache.

From which vertebra that hurts.

If the situation is bad in the cervical spine, at the very base of the skull, the head hurts;

if a little lower, vision may be upset;

if in the thoracic region, the stomach, liver, and heart are sore and work poorly;

a little lower - intestines and kidneys, and then the genitals.

A person, exhausted, goes to a doctor - one, the other, the third (after all, we have a lot of them), and each one finds something according to his own part, each makes a diagnosis.

It turns out that a person has a dozen diseases. But in fact, the spine is to blame for everything. It happens, however, that not a single doctor finds anything, and for all that, a person feels like a wreck. Again, it's all about the spine.

A set of simple exercises to strengthen the spine.

Here are some simple exercises from Paul Bragg that must be performed in combination to maintain the health of the spine and the body as a whole:

1. This exercise affects the part of the spine that "serves" the head and eye muscles, as well as the entire network of nerves that go to the stomach and intestines

Thus, by doing this exercise alone, we are addressing the sources of ailments such as headaches, eye strain, indigestion, and poor digestion.

Lie facedown on the floor, lift your pelvis and arch your back. The body rests only on the palms and toes. The pelvis should be higher than the head. The head is down. Legs are shoulder-width apart. Knees and elbows are straight.

Lower your pelvis almost to the floor. Remember to keep your arms and legs straight, which gives extra tension to your spine.

Raise your head and tilt it back sharply. Do this exercise slowly.

Now lower the pelvis as low as possible, and then raise it as high as possible, arching your back up, lower it again, raise it and lower it.

If you do this exercise correctly, you will feel relief after a few movements, as the spine relaxes.

2. This exercise is designed to stimulate the nerves to the liver and kidneys

The starting position is the same as for the first exercise. Lie facedown on the floor, lift your pelvis and arch your back. The body rests on the palms and toes. The arms and legs are straight.

Rotate the pelvis as much to the left as possible, lowering the left side as low as possible, and then to the right. Do not bend your arms and legs.

Move slowly and think about stretching your spine.

3. Relaxing the spinal column from top to bottom, you take the load off the pelvic region. The muscles going to the spine are strengthened, the intervertebral discs are stimulated

Starting position: sit on the floor, rest on the spaced straight arms, located slightly behind, the legs are bent.

Raise your pelvis. The body rests on spaced bent legs and straight arms.

This exercise must be done at a quick pace.

Raise your body to a horizontal position of the spine.

Lower yourself to the starting position.

Repeat the movement several times.

4. This exercise gives special strength to the part of the spine where the nerves that control the stomach are concentrated. In addition, it is effective for the entire spine, stretching it, bringing the body into a balanced state

Lie on your back with your legs extended, arms out to the sides.

Bend your knees, pull them up to your chest and wrap your arms around.

Push your knees and hips away from your chest without letting go of your hands, like a rocking chair.

At the same time, lift your head and try to touch your chin to your knees.

Hold this torso position for five seconds.

5. This exercise is one of the most important for stretching the spine. In addition, it brings relief to the colon by stimulating the control nerves

Get on all fours, remember how little children do it.

"Walk around" in this way for five to seven minutes.

Now imagine that you are a cat: raise your pelvis high, arching your back, lower your head, leaning on straight arms and legs.

In this position, walk around the room.

After exercise, the best thing you can do to rest and stretch your spine is to hang with your hands on the bar.

The exercise is strictly individual. First, you need to do each exercise no more than two or three times. Every other day, increase up to five or more times and carry out the entire program daily.

Once your body has improved, you can cut back to twice a week to keep your spine flexible and relaxed.