Yes! These, in my technical language, I call flexion activities, which involve getting out of bed, washing your face, wiping your feet, putting on pants, sitting on the chair, picking up an object on the floor, sitting to drive, getting out of the car, eating a meal (sitting) etc, which add up to an average of 3 to 5 thousand movements forward, in a single day! Can you believe how much we bend forward?
And how many times do we move our body backwards? Between taking an object from a tall closet, hang up clothes on the clothesline or changing a lamp: it adds up to an average of just 60 movements a day.
So, how to do to better balance the frequency of these movements?
The balance that is so sought after must also occur in the joints. Thus, everything that is done forward must be compensated with backward movements. Simple! With this easy habit, many people are able to avoid getting into acute pain attacks in the lumbar, thoracic spine (the area from the shoulder blades to the waist) or the neck and also have more flexibility and joint health, after all, they invest a lot in stretches, correct? So, one should also invest in stretching and moving backwards.
What is missing is the notion of how important it is to keep your neck or back moving all around and without pain, which means keeping your joints free! This way, it is possible to avoid new acute crises and even reduce their duration.
It is not enough to have a good performance and muscle stretching, but it is also necessary to maintain good joint mobility. Then, it is possible to have more quality of life, more agility and comfort in the physical activities you like to practice, whatever they are!
So here are simple and yet effective tips:
1) Whenever you bend forward, whether to pick up an object on the floor, to get dressed or to put on shoes - for example - when you finish, stand up, put your hands on your back (below the waist line) and bend backwards as far as you can, keeping your knees straight and your hands steady. Repeat from 1 to 3 times, until you feel that the movement is now easier, lighter;
2) After long sitting activities, such as reading, watching TV or working on the computer, when you finish, keep yourself seated at the bottom of the chair with your back supported, slowly pull your head in (as if you were asking for silence) and so extend the neck, looking upwards, thus making the neck extension movement. Come back, then. This sequence is intended to compensate for the time spent with the head projected forward. Repeat 1 to 3 times, until the movement becomes easier and lighter;
Observation:
If you try one of these two procedures and find it very difficult to move, insist for another day or two, only if the movement is gradually getting easier and less painful. If there are no changes or even if you notice any worsening, interrupt your attempt and seek the evaluation of a certified or diplomaed professional in the McKenzie Method, who, through a detailed evaluation, will know what adjustments are necessary, so that you have an exercise better suited to your condition.
In most of the cases, the use of such compensatory movements, reduces the chances of crises or recurrences by about 70%. In this way, these habits will make you compensate for the movements you need to make forward and, with that, protect your joints against deformations that can be generated and accumulated over days, months or years. These accumulated deformations generate greater stiffness in other directions of movements, bringing difficulty and pain to those necessary on a daily basis.
In short: balance for everything in life, including the joints!
