Back Stretches
These stretches can either be done as a complete series or individually. The aim of stretching is to relax the muscles so it should never be painful.
Each stretch should be held for 15 seconds and repeated twice. Ideally you should stretch daily.
Back
- Clasp elbows in front of your body at shoulder height, making big circles in front of you – push out and look down. This will stretch your upper back.
- Lie on your back and raise your legs with your knees bent and hands palms down at right angles to your body. Move your legs over to one side of your body keeping your knees together and bent. Repeat for the other side of your body.
- Lie on your back with your arms at right angles to your body. Raise a leg with your knee bent and let it drop over to the other side of your body. Now repeat on the other side.
- Kneel on all fours, then sit back with your buttocks on your heels and your head on the floor and your hands outstretched in front of you (child pose for those who know yoga). This will stretch your entire spine.
- Kneel on all fours, look down whilst arching your back upwards (like a cat) hold for 15 seconds, then slowly drop your back down and stretch your head up and hold for 15 seconds.
- Lie on your back with your right knee up keeping your foot on the ground. Place your left ankle on your right knee, letting your left knee drop outwards. Clasp your hands below your right knee and pull towards your body, this will stretch out your gluteals. Now repeat on the other side.
- Lie on your stomach with your arms by your side and gently raise your head slightly. If these feels comfortable then you can also raise your feet of the ground and raise your arms above your head in from of you. This is very strengthening and especially good for people with straight backs.
Related Posts
Why do your muscles hurt?
The most common reason for booking a treatment with Vitality Therapy is muscle pain due to your"knots". So what do we mean by "knots"? Technically speaking they are either Trigger points (or Myofascial Trigger Points to give them their correct name) or hypertonic muscles. There are six key elements that cause acute or chronic muscle pain:
- Ischemia: the lack of blood flow to soft tissues that causes hypersensitivity to touch.
- Hypertonic muscles: very tense muscles or muscle spasms.
- Trigger points: highly irritated points and bands in the muscles that refer pain to other parts of the body.
- Nerve entrapment/compression: pressure on a never by soft tissue, cartilage or bone.
- Postural distortions: imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting from poor posture while siting at a desk.
- Bio-mechanical distortions: imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns e.g. poor sports techniques.
Guess what science has discovered about back pain …
According to the UK's Office for National Statistics the UK economy loses almost 31 million work days per year which costs the UK economy £14 billion to bad backs, neck & other muscle problems. A bad back is of the most common causes of absence and 80% of p will suffer with people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. At Vitality Therapy we find back pain is something we treat on a regular basis. I know a lot of my clients and potential clients are interested in what the latest scientific research is on how effective massage is for treating back pain, becuase they don't want to waste their time and money if massage isn't going to help them. Until now scientific studies of the effectiveness of massage were conducted in controlled research situations. However in a recent study, a physician sent patients to a massage therapist. The massage therapist designed and provided a series of 10 massage -- at no cost to the patient -- in a clinical treatment environment. This clinical treatment environment mimicks the experience of people who choose to seek massage in the real world. More than 50 percent of those who participated in the study experienced clinically meaningful improvements in their low back pain. The reasearches concluded that the study gives primary care providers (i.e. GPs) the confidence to tell patients with chronic low back pain to try massage, if the patients can afford to do so. References http://www.nhsemployers.org/news/2015/04/bad-backs-cost-the-uk-31-million-days-of-work Elder WG, Munk N, et al, 2017, Real Wold Massage Therapy Produces Meaningful Effectiveness Signal for Primary Care Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: Results of a Repeated Measures Cohort Study, Journal of Pain Medicine, 18(7):1394-1405
