Learn how to develop mobility in your spine to minimize stress on your lower back while exercising with extreme weights in the gym. Each person should remember that his health largely depends on the condition of the spinal column. If you lead a passive lifestyle, the spine loses its flexibility and this can cause the development of various diseases. First of all, the lack of flexibility of the spinal column is reflected in posture, gait and poor coordination. Keeping your spine healthy can help you stay young and active for a long time.
Unfortunately today, many people experience back problems. This is not due to the desire to play sports and sedentary work. This leads to ossification of the spinal column, and the intervertebral discs lose their elasticity. To regain your former mobility, you must master the technique of exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine.
How to Maintain the Flexibility of the Spine?
In order to be able to tilt and rotate the body, the vertebral discs must be elastic. If you pay attention to children, you will notice how mobile their spine is. This fact is explained by the fact that their intervertebral discs account for more than half of the spinal column. Gradually, the spine contracts, and in an adult, the vertebral discs occupy no more than a quarter of the length of the entire spine. This is precisely the reason for the decrease in flexibility.
You can test the flexibility of your spine with a simple test. Take a standing position and, tilting your head, touch your chin to your chest. If you find it difficult to do this, or you hear a crunch when performing a movement, then you definitely have problems with the spinal column. You can also lean forward and reach the ground, or you can bend back and touch your calves. If this is also beyond your power, then you need to familiarize yourself with the exercise technique to increase the flexibility of the spine. It doesn't make sense for people with an active life to ask themselves how they can improve the flexibility of the spine. If you are not one of them, then you must remember that to increase the flexibility of the spine, you must do the following:
- Exercise regularly, which can be done not only in the gym, but also at home.
- Do not stay in one position for a long time. If you have a sedentary job, get up periodically and do warm-up movements.
- Try not to overload your back. If you need to lift heavy loads, then do it without sudden movements.
- Try not to often wear clothing that restricts movement.
- Be sure to include in your diet foods rich in calcium, such as seafood, jellied meat, nuts, etc.
How to train to increase the flexibility of the spine?
If you have not been involved in sports for a long time, then it will be quite difficult to start training. Start by hanging from the horizontal bar, thereby relieving the vertebral discs from the load. This is the first step towards restoring the flexibility of the spinal column.
It is necessary to hang on the horizontal bar in a free position, relaxing the body. Very quickly, you will feel how the spinal column begins to stretch. It is very important to practice regularly and only in this case you will achieve a positive result. In addition to special exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine, the technique of which we will describe below, the following physical activity will be very useful:
- Walking will allow you to relax.
- Swimming - will relieve the muscles of the back corset.
- Yoga - will help eliminate deformities of the spinal column.
- Pilates - works on deep muscles and improves posture.
If we talk about the technique of exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine, then you need to correctly dose the load and perform all movements smoothly. To get maximum results in the classroom, follow a few rules:
- Exercises should be performed only after warm-up.
- Exercise in clothing that does not restrict your movement.
- Avoid jerking and painful sensations.
- Performing the exercise, you need to concentrate on the part of the spinal column being worked out.
- Relax as you inhale, and exhale at the time of maximum load.
- Begin to do each movement with 5-7 repetitions, gradually bringing their number to 15. After that, you can add another set.
- Exercise should be regular, and the load should be increased gradually.
It is advisable to consult a specialist before starting classes, and this is especially true for people who have problems with the work of the articular-ligamentous apparatus or diseases of the spine. We recommend doing a set of exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine in the evening, a couple of hours after dinner. But in the morning this gymnastics is not recommended.
A set of exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine
- Lie on your back and pull up. At the same time, you must pull your legs in the opposite direction.
- Lie on your side and perform a movement similar to the previous one. It must be repeated in the other direction.
- Take a sitting position with your legs crossed in front of you. The back should be straight, and put your hands in the lock and place them behind your head. Inhaling, begin to stretch the top of your head up. Return to the starting position as you exhale.
- Having adopted a position similar to the previous movement, bend your chest forward, trying to open it as wide as possible. In this case, the shoulder joints must be taken back. Then lower your head down, touching the chest with your chin and in this position you should linger for half a minute.
- Get on all fours and take one leg back. Begin to lift your torso and stretch your head forward. Then turn the body towards the leg laid back, trying to grab it. Again hold in this position for 30 seconds. Repeat in the other direction.
- Take a sitting position with your legs crossed in front of you. Begin to lower your head downward, folding your spine.
- Take a sitting position with one leg bent and bent, locking it in the groin area. Begin to tilt the body forward while twisting the spinal column. Repeat the movement in the other direction.
- Perform the exercise "Bridge" familiar to you from childhood.
- Lie on your stomach with your arms at your chest. Begin to lift the body in the chest area and when you reach the maximum position of the trajectory, pause for 30 seconds.
- Get on all fours and begin to arch your backs, pausing at the final position of the trajectory.
- Take the starting position similar to the previous movement. Start simultaneously raising your left arm and right leg as high as possible. Then move in the opposite direction.
- Take a prone position with your arms and legs extended in opposite directions. Put your hands together in a lock, and put one leg on the other. After that, start lifting your legs and arms at the same time.
Check out the back flexibility exercises in this video:
