Hey, look behind you, no not behind you, behind-you. When you think of your back do you think of an impressive set of shoulders or maybe your latissimus muscles, your butt? Well, you’re all right but this surprisingly complicated area of the human body is interesting. He’s made it easy with this one and broken down the muscles in the back into three;
The superficial group, which holds the trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rhomboid minor and levator scapulae. The intermediate group known as the respiratory group is a combination of serratus muscles and the deep group which are all of the wildly useful muscles that control and balance the movement of your spine.
The multitude of systems that are present in the back provide support to the head and thorax, and the ribs which are attached to the back. So before you reach for your ibuprofen and decide that your back hurts too much to do x and y, keep reading.
- Pull it, In my experience there is no better cure for back pain than prevention. A strong and healthy back will get you through the hard times and will ensure that you remain healthy for a long time. The back responds to pulling thing, so pull yourself up, pull something up, or pull yourself through the water and develop the muscles that keep your spine safe.
- Twist, the spine is not necessarily meant to twist and I don’t advise you to watch one youtube video and become a yogi but putting your body through the paces with regular movement supporting your back in less than regular movements, will be best. A burpee is tremendous, next time try two.
- Get up, there isn’t a practice more regulating than walking, I understand you are probably reading this and you are either on the subway looking down, or on your computer looking down, you’ll never see that goose coming… Walking chest out and take up space, look up and balance your spine on your pelvis like you are holding an egg with a spoon, notice the torque in places it should not be and stretch.
You’ve got this, the pain of failure defeats never trying at all.
Your Canadian Brother
Leadership from the front. 