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Originally Posted by supervish @ 4/11/2004, 20:55
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Anything ya know for the back ?
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Hey Vish, this isn't exactly a Yoga exercise, but I've found it very helpful. And back trouble is mostly due to slouching while sitting on a chair, so keep that back ramrod straight, esp the lower back, to avoid most of the trouble. It's hard at first, but I've seen that it's best not to use a chair's back support at all, and sit perfectly straight, a bit ahead of the support, so your back's not touching anything. In effect, we're using the chair as a small table.
All right, the exercise is called Hyperextension, the trouble is, you'll usually need another person to help you with it.
Lie
prone on a bed (On your stomach, not your back), such that only your legs are on the bed and your upper body (From the waist up) is hanging in mid-air. This is where you need the partner, s/he needs to sit on your calves/thighs so that you don't tip over and fall on the floor. If you can anchor yourself some other way, like by hooking your heels under something, that's fine too, but it shouldn't put too much strain on your legs.
Now just as you do sit-ups, i.e. raise & lower your upper body from the waist, similarly do a reverse motion, i.e. bend down, so your waist is forming a 90 degree angle, and you're looking under the bed, and then raise yourself up, so you're looking at the floor, and the muscles of your lower back, especially those near your spine, contract (These muscles are called Spinal Erectors.)
Then bend down again, slowly, and raise yourself up again, slowly. Don't do anything with a jerk. We're not used to such a reverse motion, so it'll feel weird at first, but also strangely exhilirating. After a few repetitions (10-20, or what's comfortable), stop. Let your body guide you, don't think of doing a fixed no. of repetitions always.
One very important thing is that you should never go beyond 180 degrees while straightening. i.e. when you raise yourself up, don't go beyond being fully straight, if you raise yourself further, you risk a condition called 'hyperextension of the spine', which is painful, so keep this in mind.
Now get up and walk around for a while. If you did the exercise correctly, your spinal erectors should be feeling pleasantly exhausted and stretched. After a few minutes, do mild stretching exercises, i.e. try to touch your feet, as low as you can go comfortably, hold for a while, then come back up. Then stretch upwards, i.e. reach for the skies, go up on your toes, stretch out your fingers, let your whole body become a taut string. Then relax, you're done for the day. Take some deep breaths if you wish. In fact, deep breathing is always recommended, as everybody reading this thread would already know.
There's another back exercise, but you need special equipment for that, namely, a horizontal rod (or a thin but strong tree branch). If you have any rod like thing on which you do chin-ups (pull-ups), then hang by your hands from the rod, bring your legs up before you, up, up, up, and hook them around the rod, so the backs of your knees are touching the rod, and hooked around the rod. Then cautiously leave your hands and hang upside down, like a monkey. Let your hands hang down limp, relax your whole body. Then if comfortable, bend sideways slightly. Is very good for the back coz gravity, and thus the direction of your body's weight to be borne by the spine, is reversed for a while. So the vertebraeget a sort of rest.
This is hard to do if you've never done it before. In fact, the most probable place you're likely to find a horiz rod is at your neighborhood park, and most ppl would find it silly hanging upside-down in front of other ppl. And if you don't tuck your shirt in, it'll fall over your face, exposing whatever's underneath, so be wary of that.
In general, I don't recommend the second one if you've never done these sorts of upside-down thingy as a kid, and don't have any place to practise in private. In that case, stick to hyperextensions, they're good enough. Very good, in fact.
As for the blocked nose & other thingies, I can tell you plenty, but it's very late and I need to sleep. So look out for it over the next day or so, barring unexpected stuff.
And do post feedback, telling me how it went. I recommend hyperexts. as a general exercise for everyone, not just for those with tweaked backs. And read the instructions & cautions carefully before doing it.
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