Lower Back Pain? "Drop Everything and Move!"

Haven't we all experienced lower back pain at some point before?   A recent study suggests that 80% of Americans will experience back pain at some point.  As time goes on, and we sit at our desks for hours and hours, drive our cars leaning forward, or even text while waiting in line at the grocery store ~ our posture changes from the natural curve in the spine and it puts stress on our lower backs.  The lumbar spine is designed to move, acting as a shock absorber for walking, running, cycling or group exercising.  However, these daily functional changes will overload and create pain, affecting your entire day!

What can you do?  After all ~ you do need to work for a living...right?  Well, make an effort to "Drop Everything and Move" every couple of hours.  Simply stretch and sidebend for a few minutes and even that will alleviate some stress to the lower back, and maybe even clear your mind a little bit!  

According to the Boston Globe's Health section this week, "A growing body of research suggest the best way to manage any back pain is to get up and move around, stretch and engage in resistance training to increase flexibility and core body strength."  The article goes on describing how people are treated for lower back pain, and it resembles what we do in our exercise classes ~ flexbands and other props to tighten the abdominal muscles which will strengthen the back.  So, keep up the good work ~ you are ahead of the game...managing to "Keep the Peace" within yourselves.....

See you all soon,
Moira