Exercises for the spine and neck, joints, lower back, posture, strengthening back muscles at home

Exercises for the muscles of the spine and neck will help maintain youth, strength, beauty and health. Classes are useful at any age and have virtually no health restrictions. The spine is like a rod that collects all parts of the human body into a single system.

Indications and preparation for training

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to the development of scoliosis, kyphosis, osteochondrosis and other diseases of the spine. The first signs of osteochondrosis are increasingly found even at the age of 30, and by the age of 50 the disease reaches an advanced stage as a result of concomitant complications.

With the progression of osteochondrosis, a protrusion of the discs or ruptures of the fibrous ring occurs, as a result, an intervertebral hernia appears, which can only be removed surgically. The instability of the vertebral sections leads to pain and limited mobility of the affected parts of the body.

A person has 33 vertebrae, fastened together by ligaments and intervertebral cartilage (discs). Performing sets of exercises, each person can increase their own flexibility, strengthen the muscle frame that protects the spinal column.

Properly selected complex allows you to avoid surgery in case of the onset of the disease. Often it is through the exercise that you can completely forget about the unpleasant diagnosis and avoid the risk of being in a wheelchair.

Complexes for the formation of a flexible and reliable muscle corset around the spinal column require preliminary warming up of the body and warm-up.

With excessively sharp movements with a strong amplitude, the connections of individual vertebrae can be broken. Often injuries lead to damage to the intervertebral discs or infringements of the nerve endings passing inside. For this reason, preparation for training is necessary before starting exercise. You need to start with a little workout.

It may include:

• sideways tilts;
• leaning forward;
• back deflection back;
• tilting the head back and forth, right-left;
• circular movements of the head.

To prepare for the further conduct of active exercises, warming up muscles, and ensuring blood flow, it is enough to do each exercise 10-15 times. Two approaches can be taken.

Such exercises are equally shown to completely healthy people for the prevention of possible diseases and those who already suffer from osteochondrosis.

Contraindications

The condition of your spine should be treated carefully.

Performing complexes for the spine and neck is required with mandatory consideration of contraindications:

• they are not recommended during exacerbation of osteochondrosis, therapeutic exercises are performed in remission;
• with caution, it is recommended that the beginning of classes be treated in the presence of thrombosis, a complete ban is imposed in the event of bleeding;
• exercises are recommended only after consultation with your doctor in case of diagnosis of cancer;
• classes can be contraindicated with increased mobility of the cervical vertebrae.

Given the large number of complexes of therapeutic exercises, you can always choose the optimal list of exercises. Gymnastics is indicated for general health promotion, the formation of a reliable muscle frame, and increased flexibility.

Exercises for the cervical and spinal sections

Doctors are ready to recommend gymnastics to any patient. Depending on the main diagnosis, various developed complexes can be offered.

Joint pain

In this case, various complexes focused on increasing flexibility and stretching help well. Classes will help get rid of pain in the neck and back, from intervertebral hernias.

The need to conduct such classes will show a simple test of several tasks:

1. Grip in the “lock” of the hands between the shoulder blades, one arm is wound behind the shoulder down, the second hand is wound behind the back from the lower back. Hands should meet and connect to the “castle”.
2. Flexibility and stretching will help to assess the inclinations at which it is required, without bending the knees, to touch the floor with your fingers, it is better if you can put your palm on the floor.
3. When tilted, the chest and stomach should touch the legs.

For back pain

Gymnastics, including exercises for the development of stretching and flexibility, is shown in case of lower back pain. A significant part of the complex can be performed on a mat spread on the floor.

It is important to do each task carefully and at a slow pace:

1. Lie on the rug , put your hands on the sides, slowly raise one arm up, straining the foot of the opposite leg. This task helps to stretch the spine.
2. Stretching is shown as a kind of “first aid”. In case of a sharp attack of a pain symptom in the lower back, you need to get up, straighten, clasp your hands in front of you in a “lock”, slowly lift up and stretch. It is recommended to stretch as high as possible.
3. Lie on your back , bend your leg at the knee and try to pull it to the body. When performed, tension occurs on the back, back surface of the leg, gluteal. Hold in the adopted position for a few seconds, slowly straighten the leg. Repeat several times with each leg alternately.
4. Stand on all fours, stretch your right hand forward, left foot back, maintain position for a few seconds, repeat alternately with each hand and foot several times.
5. Get on your knees , bend your head to the floor and touch the surface of the floor with your forehead, stretch your arms forward, touch the heels with your buttocks. Such a pose in yoga is called the “child pose.” Buttocks reach for heels, arms reach forward. Staying in this position is recommended for 30-60 seconds.

Exercise is good for the spine and neck by easing tension and stretching.

For posture

Good posture makes each person confident and beautiful. Everyone can get rid of the stoop in a short time, regularly performing simple exercises at home at home to form a healthy posture:

1. The simplest and most affordable task is to simply fix the position of the body in a standing position near the wall. You need to touch the surface of the wall with heels, calves, buttocks, shoulder blades and the back of the head. An upright position must be maintained for at least one minute. As posture is restored, the duration
   may increase to several minutes.
2. Get up to the wall, straighten up, raise your hands up, keeping the connection with the surface of the wall, and stretch. Lock the position for 20-30 seconds.
3. Sit on a chair or stand up, straighten your back, raise your head in a straight position, pull your head forward with the efforts of the muscles of the neck.
4. Sit on a chair, straighten your back, put your hands on your knees, bring your shoulder blades and maintain a pose for 30 seconds – 1 minute.
5. Raise a bottle of water or a dumbbell in front of you. Keep position for up to 30 seconds, do 5-7 times.
6. Perform with maximum amplitude in both directions the body turns 10 times in each direction.

To strengthen the back muscles

Exercises to strengthen the spine and neck are conveniently performed at home to create a strong muscular skeleton of the back.

A set of effective exercises to strengthen the back muscles includes tasks performed while standing, sitting on a chair, lying down. Additionally used dumbbells.

It is best to form a separate small complex from them, which may include the following tasks:

1. Lie belly on the mat, stretch your arms along the body, raise straight arms upward, maximally bending the lumbar spine. At the same time, try not to strain the cervical spine too much.
2. A successful exercise for the formation of back muscles is the “boat”. In such a situation, lying on the floor, stretch their arms forward. At the same time, while bending the lumbar spine, legs and arms are lifted with effort. It takes about 30 seconds to stay in this position.
3. To strengthen the muscular corset of the back, it is useful, while sitting on a chair or stool, to do body turns. Additional load can be given with dumbbells.
4. Various exercises with a fitball give a good load, including a “bar”, during which the legs are placed on the fitball. When performing this version of the bar additional muscle load is provided due to the need for balancing.
5. You can simply do a simple or transverse “bar” 1-2 times a day, to perform a simple version of the exercise you need to lie on your stomach, rest against the floor with your toes and palms and raise your torso. Maintain a static position takes 1-5 minutes. Those who have successfully mastered this task, providing a load on all the muscles of the body, can try to rely only on the fingers of the right foot and left palm.

There is also a large list of special exercises that make up the complexes of exercise therapy.

Such exercises for the spine and neck are included in specialized complexes recommended for home or under the supervision of a doctor.

A set of effective exercises

Arms around the neck

Exercises for the spine and neck include grasping the neck with your hands. To do this, you need to sit on a stool, straighten your back, raise your head and chin. You can perform the task while standing. Hands grasp the neck, thumbs are located under the chin.

Hands become a kind of collar for fixing the cervical spine. Next, you need to do slow slopes to the sides. At each tilt, the head should remain in this position for several seconds.

Hand resting on the table

To form a reliable muscle frame, the task “support with the hands on the table” can be used. During its implementation, you need to go back to the table and lean on the edge with your hands and gluteal muscles. For stretching and training the muscles, leaving your hands on the table, stretch upwards with your torso, bending in the lumbar spine. It is carried out up to 20 times with fixing within 30 seconds.

 “The pendulum head”

To complete the exercise, you need to take a hardcover book and try to carefully put it on the top of the head. Next, you need to give up and try to maintain position. Then they begin to press on the head with their hands, achieving a slight resistance.

Flexion and extension of the neck

The muscular framework of the cervical spine is well formed when performing neck flexion and extension.

This exercise has two parts:

1. Standing or sitting, straighten your back and squeeze your forehead on your palm until resistance.
2. Put the palm of one hand on the forehead, put the palm of the second hand on the back of the head. Pressure is produced with both hands at the same time.

Neck and head twists

Well contributes to the formation of the muscular skeleton by performing tilting the neck with the hands. In this case, resistance is required to attempt to turn the head sideways, obstructing the turn with the help of a palm attached to the cheek.

Palms at the temples

Exercise for the spine and neck “Palms on the temples” – simple for self-fulfillment. Hands need to squeeze the whiskey, as if clutching the head on both sides so that the fingers looked up.

Further, due to the activation and tension of the neck muscles, you need to try to lower your head down, creating tension by holding it with your palms. The teeth in this position are firmly clenched.

Fingers on the temples

Exercise “fingers on the temples” is part of the complex recommended for the spine and neck. In this case, fingers are placed on the temples. Fingers spread out, palms pressed to the cheeks. Then they begin to do gentle facial massage with multidirectional movements up and down. At the same time, the head is tilted back and forth.

Neck extension

It perfectly stretches the spine and strengthens the muscular frame of an exercise such as stretching the neck. To perform it, you will need to lie on the roller. Hands are located under the neck.

When completing the task, the muscles of the cervical are strained, the neck is slightly extended upward to overcome the resistance of the palms of the hands.

Also, therapeutic gymnastics is used to form a healthy muscle frame of the neck and spine in all areas.

Physiotherapy

According to Bubnovsky

Exercises for the spine and neck are specially designed for home use. The author of the system is Sergey Bubnovsky. In this situation, the main idea is to perform gymnastic tasks with overcoming pain.

Sergey Bubnovsky recommends focusing on 4 leading rules:

1. Performing workouts by overcoming the pain threshold.
2. Mandatory training in daily mode, the rarest – once every two days, otherwise m
   uscle memory is lost.
3. At the time of the effort, exhalation is required to reduce pain.
4. The completion of each lesson to relieve swelling of the joints becomes mandatory rubdown with a cold wet towel.

Exercise can be performed even in case of severe back pain. Among the options are types of complexes for patients with severe pain. They are carried out with an expander and various weights.

According to Norbekov

Another well-known author of exercise complexes is Academician Norbekov. The basis of practice is the combination of effects on the physical and spiritual body. Academician Norbekov in his complexes for the spine and neck uses the mandatory use of the power of self-hypnosis.

The author of the technique is sure that the basis of health is the ability to feel joy from each movement. Health gives self-confidence, the ability to control your own mood and body. You can use the practice even in case of severe pain.

According to Karl Leviticus

Another specialist who created a training program to strengthen the muscular skeleton of the spine is the Czech manual therapist Karl Levit. Complex exercises are able to develop each department of the spinal column. An important part of recovery is manual therapy. All tasks are adapted for independent performance at home.

Tasks are aimed at loading the problem blocks of the spinal column.

Karl Leviticus called for a foot load on problem areas. The degree of load is determined by the first signs of mild pain. With proper execution, the pain threshold gradually increases. During classes, it is important to monitor breathing, making an entrance at the stage of muscle tension, which lasts no more than 10 seconds.

1. The easiest exercise option is to warm up the neck. You need to sit on a chair, straighten your back and relax your neck. Hands bend at the elbows. Palms are wound on the back of the neck. Fingers are placed on the seventh cervical vertebra. It is clearly visible if you tilt your head forward. During classes, you need to press on the back of the neck with your hands, while tensing the muscles, resisting pressure. On inspiration, they turn their heads in one direction and the other, holding their breath at the maximum turning point for 5-7 seconds.
2. Keeping the position and pressure of the hands on the seventh vertebra, tilt the head back and forth. The tilt is performed at the entrance. Fixation lasts up to 10 seconds.

By Paul Bragg

Planning to improve the condition of the spine, you can try to do exercises for the neck and spine according to Paul Bragg. All tasks are performed at a calm pace without undue stress. Exercise helps relieve tension in the muscles of the eyes, relieve headaches, soothe pain in the stomach.

1. The first is a variant of the “bar”. You should lie on your stomach, legs apart shoulder width apart. Bending the lower back, they raise the pelvis above the head, resting on the floor with palms and toes of the toes. The pelvis is raised to the level of inclination forward. The knees can be left slightly bent. The second stage is the lowering of the pelvis to the floor with the arching of the lower back.
2. To stimulate the nerves that go to the kidneys, exercise with turning the pelvis to the side will help. You need to lie on the floor on your stomach, rest on the floor with your palms and fingers of your feet and turn left and right, while maintaining a fixed position of the palms and feet.
3. To start the next exercise, you need to sit on the floor, rest your palms on the floor at shoulder width, bend your legs at the knees. Next, you need to raise the hips, bending in the lower back, until the body is in a horizontal position to the surface of the floor, elbows and knees need to be straightened. This exercise strengthens the spine in the lumbar.

Recommendations of specialists

Regardless of the chosen treatment system, it is worth paying attention to following some simple and clear useful recommendations:

• You need to deal only with an understanding of the meaning of the workout.
• Each exercise for the muscles of the spine and neck is selected in accordance with their own well-being.
• It is not recommended to start training in the stage of severe exacerbation and alarming symptoms, pain. At this stage, an experienced physician must control the order of classes.
• It is imperative to start each workout with warm-up and a light workout. It is advisable to engage in continuous mode and without interruptions. This will help maintain muscle strength and spinal health.

A feature of each workout is the slow and careful execution of each exercise. This is required to maintain the integrity of the intervertebral joints. Tasks must be performed carefully.

Spine & Neck Exercise Video

Exercises for the muscles of the spine:

Technique for doing exercises for the spine and neck: