5 habits for a better back in 2022
1. Calisthenics
Calisthenics are exercises that require nothing more than your own body weight - no expensive equipment, no fancy gadgetry, what’s more you don’t need a great deal of space, so these exercises are ideal if (like many) you are still working from home and not getting out as much as you would like. Don’t get me wrong, I love the park, the gym, all of it - but what’s great about Calisthenics for home exercises, is that you’re far more likely to actually exercise - waiting for the gym, or that walk in the park you had scheduled for your afternoon break only to find its pouring with rain can often lead to skipping a session here and there.
Calisthenics at home has the benefits of:
no commute time
indifferent to the weather
no planning required (perfect for spontaneous workouts)
Free!
Keeping your exercise levels up and keeping them regular is important, and Calisthenics can be the ideal glue in between your other activities to help you do this.
2. Sleep
We could all do with a bit more sleep (especially if, like my self, you have two young children). There are many reasons to get good quality sleep in order to stay healthy, including reducing the risk of developing low back pain, and reducing the chances of sports related injury.
Sleep is your body’s opportunity to carry out necessary repair work, and like your car or your bicycle, if you consistently deprive it of this essential repair work - eventually, it will catch up on you.
A large scale study published by Nature in 2021 suggested that “promoting good sleep and a physically active lifestyle throughout adulthood may have the potential to reduce the incidence of chronic back pain and back-related disability”. So, get to bed early tonight if you can!
Any opportunity Chris!
3. Move, and keep on moving
If our many years of combined clinical experience has taught us one thing about how to prevent and reduce the risk of back pain (and other) health conditions- its that we all need to move more.
There is good evidence that regular physical activity can not only reduce the risks of developing musculoskeletal pain, but also reduce the risks of developing certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, and depression (to name just a few).
This link to the Public Health England page is a great resource, and will give you an idea of how much and what types of exercises you should be doing to stay healthy.
4. Isometric core exercises
If you suffer from persistent low back pain, you definitely want to work on core strengthening exercises. Isometric exercises involve some form of load (sometimes just your own body weight) and muscle bracing, but no movement (a plank would be a good example of an isometric core strengthening exercise).
I love isometric exercises because they are usually instantly available to anybody, regardless of your age or level of physical fitness, and they can also be helpful if you have an injury that involves some sort of tissue damage (muscle strain or a tear) where you might not want to start stretching and lengthening those tissues just yet.
But, if the good old plank is irritating your back (some people find this too much load initially and fall into hyper extension) then knee hovers are a great place to start. I like knee hovers because its easier to find a comfortable loosely packed position for your lumbar spine, and you have greater control for dialling up the load, making it more or less difficult based on what you can tolerate.
Benefits of isometric core strengthening:
Targets deep stabilising muscles of the spine
Important for resolving and prevention of low back pain
Easy access regardless of age and physical fitness
5. Change the things that you can control
(and don't worry about the things that you can't)
Your musculoskeletal health, and back pain in particular, may be determined by a wide variety of factors, such as stress, levels of physical activity, work environment, age, other health conditions, past experiences (to name a few). The fact is, some of these you can control, and some you can’t (like age). So let’s focus on changing the things that you can control.
If, like many, your office is currently also your home, start with optimising your working environment. For us, the gold standard would be to have an option to stand and work when you need it. Some people love standing all day, but if that’s not your cup of tea - don’t worry, you don’t need to. Having the option to sit, stand, and mix it up, can bring huge benefits by breaking up the pattern of sedentary behaviour that sometimes sets in when work at a computer for a living. And, you’ll be relieved to know, you can achieve this for next to nothing.
When I work at home on my laptop, my personal favourite is to use a small plastic recycling bin on the kitchen counter - its the perfect height for me for a standing desk. Connect your bluetooth keyboard and viola!
