Do you ever have trouble motivating yourself to do things you know are good for you? You’re not alone. We’ve all had that moment when we think, I should use this time to exercise but turn on the TV instead. Especially when it comes to back pain, it is easy to push off things that are good for us because we have lived with it for so long, and we think what is another few days? Hopefully this information gives you more of an incentive to choose your health over other things. Doing these 5 things that are healthy for your back will actually benefit other areas of your life as well for the long run. 

1. Exercising good posture 

How it benefits your back

Practicing correct posture is amazing for your back. If you try and keep good posture during every activity you do (work, stand, eat, sleep, sit), you can receive major benefits for your back. Maintaining correct posture means keeping the natural curvature of your spine, which helps keep your spine healthy and protects you from back pain. When you are standing up tall or anytime you are practicing correct posture, your bones and joints are in proper alignment and your muscles are being used correctly. It also protects your joints and ligaments from extra wear and tear. If you practice good posture for a long period of time, your core muscles will be stronger and eventually good posture will come naturally. 

How it benefits your long term health

According to Schultz, practicing good posture can have long term benefits for your mental and physical health. Some of the benefits she mentions are that it gives you extra confidence, helps you breathe easier, supports your digestive health, burns more fat as you strengthen your core, reduces anxiety, relieves headaches, and more. From all these amazing benefits, it’s crazy that we aren’t better at good posture as a society, but it makes sense that we have a lot of other issues because of it.

Two things you can start doing now to improve your posture are getting up and moving from your chair at least once an hour and using the Chirp Wheel to help reteach your muscles and joints what proper alignment feels like. 

2. Eating healthy

How it benefits your back

Eating the right foods might help decrease your back pain. This means eating the right foods and avoiding inflammatory-causing foods. Good food to eat for your back includes vegetables, fruits, omega-3 fats (like salmon), nuts, cocoa, and herbs and spices. Foods to avoid are processed foods, partially hydrogenated oils, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar. 

How it benefits your long term health

Eating healthy food will benefit your overall health drastically. It will help you maintain a healthy weight, help with your cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, and help manage healthy blood pressure and cholesterol. So the next time you would rather order a pizza for dinner than make a balanced meal at home, try and remember the many benefits a healthy diet can provide; I’ll try too. 

3. Exercising your core/just exercising 

How it benefits your back

Exercising your core will make maintaining correct posture easier, oodles. It will also help keep your spine in proper alignment so you can avoid back pain. Exercising in general is an amazing treatment for back pain because it reduces stiffness, keeping your muscles and ligaments flexible. It also keeps your spinal discs healthy. 

How it benefits your long term health

There are so many proven benefits to exercise. I’ll just list off a few: helps with weight management, reduces risk of heart disease, helps maintain blood sugar and insulin levels, can help you quit smoking, improves mental health, strengthens your muscles and bones, improves your sexual health, helps you sleep, and increases your lifespan, sounds pretty good to me.

4. Using the Chirp Wheel 

How it benefits your back

The Chirp Wheel+ is a back roller that stretches the muscles around your spine to relieve upper back pain, lower back pain, neck pain, and hip pain. It is shaped like a wheel so it can fit between your shoulder blades and massage deeply into the muscles around your spine. It comes in three different sizes: Gentle (12 inch), Medium (10 inch), and Deep Tissue (6 inch). The main difference between each wheel is diameter; the smallest wheel applies the most pressure, and the largest wheel applies the least amount of pressure. 

How it might benefit your long term health

The Chirp Wheel can help motivate you to work out and live life when you didn’t want to before. Without stiff muscles and back pain, it’s easier to do things around your house and exercise. Go here to read more about how exercise with the Chirp Wheel can benefit you.

5. Drinking water

How it benefits your back

Drinking water can benefit your back in two major ways: If your spinal discs are properly hydrated, your discs will cushion your spine, keeping your vertebrae safe from rubbing against each other. Drinking enough water also helps prevent lactic acid build up in your muscles, keeping you safe from extra inflammation and nerve compression. 

How it benefits your long term health

Staying hydrated can be beneficial for your body in many ways. Have you ever had a day when you didn’t drink enough and you were really tired? That’s because drinking water significantly improves your energy levels and brain function. Because water makes up about 60% of your body, it also benefits your physical performance, helps reduce headache pain, can help relieve constipation, and much more. 

References 

Arrow. (n.d.) How does drinking water reduce lower back pain? Retrieved from https://arrowptr.com/conditions/lower-back/does-drinking-more-water-help-relieve-lower-back-pain/#:~:text=Drinking%20plenty%20of%20water%20throughout,cushion%20the%20spine%20during%20movement.

Cleveland Clinic. (2020). Back health and posture. Retrieved from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/4485-back-health-and-posture

Corner Chiropractic Center. (2017, November 29). The importance of exercise and nutrition for back health. Retrieved from https://www.cornerchiropractic.com/the-importance-of-exercise-and-nutrition-for-back-health

Foodincare. (n.d.) Why healthy eating matters. Retrieved from http://www.foodincare.org.uk/eating-well/why-healthy-eating-matters

Hochschuler, S. (2004, August 4). How exercise helps the back. Retrieved from https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/how-exercise-helps-back

Leech, J. (2020, June 30). 7 science-based health benefits of drinking enough water. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-of-water#5.-May-help-treat-kidney-stones

MedlinePlus. (2020). Benefits of exercise. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/benefitsofexercise.html

Schultz, R. (2019, July 15). 8 unexpected benefits of good posture. Retrieved from https://www.sonima.com/food/health-nutrition/benefits-of-good-posture/