3. Walk this way<\/strong>
Studies show that walking relieves back pain. But if your posture is poor, you may be taking a step backward instead. Bearing weight on one side or hunching as you walk may cause you pain over time.<\/p>\nSherry Brourman, a Los Angeles–based physical therapist who specializes in “gait training,” healed her back problems by making a habit of walking the right way. Her advice: Unlock your knees and concentrate on keeping both your ribs and your pelvis “stacked.” Relax your buttocks and pull your stomach muscles into a “soft hold” (no clenching). Your feet should roll from heel to ball. Think balanced, not rigid, and dont put too much pressure on your heels. Brourman recommends practicing four times a day for 5 minutes until the stance feels natural.<\/p>\n
4. Lighten your load<\/strong>
Chances are one side of your body does double duty, from carrying a toddler around to schlepping your laptop home. And playing favorites throws off your posture, which can really strain your muscles, says Daniel Mazanec, MD, head of spine medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Spine Institute.<\/p>\nThe best solution: Switch shoulders or hips periodically. Duh, right? But breaking this habit is not always that easy. Try resting your purse on your left shoulder on the way to work, then shifting it to your right shoulder on the way home. Also, whatever youre carrying, be sure that you keep it as close to your body as possible.<\/p>\n
5. Slump less, break more<\/strong>
Between work, Web surfing, and TV watching, you probably spend most of your day sitting, which is murder on your back. Throw poor posture into the equation, and look out. A landmark Swedish study shows that sitting upright increases the force on the spine by 140 percent, compared with standing; slump, and that number rises to 185 percent.<\/p>\nRules to sit by: Line up head over shoulders and shoulders over hips, rest on your “sitz bones” (the two bones in your rear end), and place feet flat on the floor with legs at a 90-degree angle. And dont just sit there; take breaks every 45 to 60 minutes to prevent strain, recommends Norman J. Kahan, MD, director of Sports and Occupational Medical Associates in Cupertino, California. He advises getting up and stretching. Neck rolls, chin tucks, and bending back with your hands on your hips can unkink muscles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Are you sitting up straight? Super—because if you slump, slouch, or hunch through the day, you may join the 80 percent of Americans who will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Recent research confirms that what you do every day can trigger soreness or spasms. So whether youre at home Googling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[27],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}