Easy On The Back

Wall yoga for posture is an excellent way to improve rounded shoulders and correct posture.  You don’t have to be a yoga student to benefit from them.

This Yoga wall stretch is great for opening the chest and stretching the shoulders to improve rounded shoulders.   The exercise in the video is advanced for many, especially if you are very tight.

This exercise is also an excellent hamstring stretch.   If the stretch is too extreme for your hamstrings, you can bend both knees slightly to take most of the tension off the hamstrings.   The main points to think about are:

-  Have the feet under the hips

-  Keep your arms straight, continue to push away from the wall

-  Drop the chest and armpits towards the floor

Enjoy!

May your days be “Easy On the Back”

Dianna Gomez

Hi all,

Just got back from a great day at Long Beach Island, NJ - spending a day with my sister taking a long walk on the beach.

Then it was the 2 hour ride home  which leads me to this comment…….A lack of physical activity is one of the leading reasons people experience low back pain.   Long hours of sitting is one of the worst things on a back.   The following exercise is easily done with or without a stability ball.  The video shows the “Back Bridge” being done with a ball but you can do it by simply lying on your back and bending your knees so the feet are flat on the floor.   Then simply press the weight into your heels and lift the hips towards the ceiling.

Give it a try and let me know how you make out.   Please leave a comment if you found it helpful or have any questions.

Thanks.

Dianna Gomez

I’m returning from two family reunions in July, quite a busy month.
Spending time with family and friends is always special.   The reunion inspired me for this blog.

We had a hula hoop contest as one of the activities, broken down by age group.   All the winners of each age group had a “hoop off”.   Would you believe that my 4 year old great niece won the entire contest!

So that leads me to today’s video posting.  Hula hooping is excellent for the low back as it works on the abdominals and more importantly, flexibility of the hips.  As we age, our movement often becomes limited to sitting, standing, walking (all one directional).   Hooping allows the hips to move in their full natural range of motion and as the hip flexibility increases, it helps decrease or eliminate low back pain.

Watch the video and then start doing the “hula”.   You can do it with an imaginary hula though it is always more fun to use a hula hoop.   They are readily available and inexpensive or you can purchase a weighted hula hoop at many fitness stores.

Hoop away and enjoy.

Wishing all your days to be  “Easy on the Back”,

Dianna Gomez

I know I don’t want to LOOK older than I am so I am conscious of my posture and do the best to maintain good posture.  Poor posture, specifically forward head and rounded shoulder (rounded upper back) is one of the most common issues I see among my personal training clients.   If you haven’t noticed, several of my latest postings have been about the topic of posture and I’ve been bringing you various exercises or stretches to improve posture.

Here is a short video that uses a foam roller to increase flexibility.   The guy on the video talks quite a bit about the “T” spine, this is simply the thoracic spine (upper back around the shoulder blade area).   What he doesn’t mention is that using the foam roller can be painful WHILE you are doing the exercises.    I am just fore warning you that this in normal and the relief you get can be amazing.   It is like doing a self massage.

Watch the video, try it and see if you don’t feel some relief.

Please leave a comment and let me know if you found this helpful.

I’ve been having issues with my left shoulder and found that the rolling on the “lats” (broad muscle of upper back) was very helpful.  He demonstrated this by rolling sort of on his side and rolling up towards his armpit (more pressure is on your back however, not the rib cage - BIG difference!)   Enjoy all!

Wishing your days to be “Easy On The Back”

Dianna Gomez

Looking for a great postural exercise for the upper back?   The following shoulder squeeze  exercise is very simple to do.

Do 3-5 repetitions of the exercise, 2-3 times per day.   Depending on how tight your muscles are, this exercise may act as a great stretch for the chest.   Tight chest muscles are very common among those with forward head/rounded shoulders.   A contributing factor to this poor posture is sitting at a computer for extended hours.

Watch the short video and do the exercise on a routine basis and see for yourself if you get results - improved posture?

Please leave a comment and let me know if you like this week’s proper posture exercise!

Thanks for watching.

Dianna Gomez - Easy On The Back

If  you remember, last week I posted a video with Zeke, the cat, showing us how naturally cats seem to enjoy stretching after lying around or cat napping!

This week, I’m bringing you the real cat stretch, (done by man)!

The cat stretch is great for the overall back and helps to increase flexibility.   Done properly, it is even a great ab exercise.

Enjoy!

Dianna Gomez

The Cat Stretch - this week’s featured back stretch to help ease your back pain!

Thought I was going to bring you another back stretch or back exercise right!

Enjoy!

The point is, cats and dogs and animals know when they need to stretch and they simply take a couple seconds to do so.   No planning, no thought, no equipment needed…. they just simply act on their instinct and STRETCH!   I’m sure they feel much better for doing so.   Why is it then that we intelligent human beings ignore our needs and fail to do stretches on a routine basis?   I’m sure we’d by a lot more limber and happier too if we did like Zeke!

I am partial to orange cat’s.   I have one myself who’s name is Remy.   He is a character and keeps us laughing.

Enjoy the lightheartedness of this posting but I hope you get the message and STRETCH.   It only took Zeek 14 seconds for a big “Cat Stretch”!   The cat stretch will certainly help your back feel better and decrease your back pain.  Follow Zeke’s lead!

Next week, I’ll post the human doing the “Cat Stretch” for the back care.

Please reply by posting your comment if you enjoyed this week’s posting.   Thanks.

Til then,

Hoping your days to be “Easy On The Back”

Dianna Gomez

This video shows 2 stetches that are excellent to help improve forward head/rounded shoulder (often called “humpback”).  Done consistently, these will certainly make a difference in improving your posture.   The guy in the video is much more flexible than the average person…don’t be intimidated.

Note about first exercise shown - be sure to keep the top of your head to the ceiling as you do the overhead stretch.  Tendency is to allow the head to tilt way forward (like a turtle) and you are negating the effectiveness of the posture stretch if you stick your head forward in an attempt to get your arms further back.

If you haven’t gathered by now, most of the time I will bring you exercises that require no special equipment.  If you don’t have an exercise band, you can use a towel, a broom stick, belt… lots of items will work.

Give the exercises a try and please leave a comment below, letting me know what you think of the posture corrective stretches.

Till next time,  wishing your days to be  “Easy On The Back”!

Dianna Gomez

Back again,

Did your parents tell you to stand up straight?  As a mother, I learned the most valuable lesson about “parenting” from my own mom.   Her one word was “be consistent” (ok - so it’s two words).  So what does this have to do with eliminating back pain?

I ask you,  “Have you been consistent with the corrective posture exercises and stretches” provided?   If not, and your neck or back pain have not subsided, that might be a CLUE to promise yourself to “be consistent” with your exercises.   If you keep your promises to others, then keep your promise to yourself!  OK, enough said…

If we would all practice standing up straight, we would have better POSTURE.   So many of us have  “forward head, rounded shoulders” posture.   This can be due to many reasons but I believe one of the main reasons is that we, as a whole, have become way to sedentary at work and we don’t exercise or “play” enough.

The following video by Posture Confidence is one of the best demonstrations for correcting forward head posture.   It’s a subtle movement to bring your head back into proper postural alignment.   (The subtle movement is demonstrated at about the 1:35 point in the video).  The entire video is brief so please watch the entire clip as the explanation is excellent.   Like so many exercises, they are very easy to do, require no special equipment and only take a minute or two.

Please comment back and let me know if you found the exercise to correct forward head posture useful!

Also, Please comment back about the number one lesson you learned from your mom, dad, or most influential person.   I’d like to get to know you!

Thanks for watching (and DOING!)

Wishing your days to be “Easy On The Back”

Dianna Gomez



Love finding these easy to follow videos that only take a minute or two and require no special equipment.

This exercise is great to stretch a tight lower back.  As you do the exercise, it is important to keep the upper back and shoulders on the ground.   If the exercise is too intense, you can modify it by lowering one knee to the side, followed by the other knee.  Also, remember that if your knees do not touch the ground, that’s not a problem.   Your flexibility will improve over time.   Just stick with the exercise and your back should feel relief.

Wishing your days to be “Easy On The Back”.

Dianna Gomez