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EXERCISE FOR SPINE HEALTH SMART TRAINING BEATS BACK PAIN
by Michael Curran
ed by back pain. That’s why knowledgeable trainers counsel that any well-designed workout must honor the health and mechanics of this important part of the body. Dr. Karen Erickson, a New York City-based chiropractor and spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Associa- tion, sees firsthand why alignment is crucial, especially if an individual has a history of back pain. “Good stability and good flexibility are the big factors for keeping the spine healthy,” she says. No matter what exercise mo- dality one chooses to practice, Erickson advises begin- ning conservatively, as benefits can be achieved without pushing the level of difficulty.
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Core Strength Counts Developing muscle strength throughout the torso is key to maintaining the correct spinal curvature for a strong back. In addition to the muscles that directly attach to the spine, the spine is also stabilized by deep stomach strength, strong pelvic floor support and the up- per thigh muscles. Pilates is well-known for its focus on such core conditioning. “Pilates uses apparatus expressly
designed for working the abdominals and the back,” explains Lolita San Miguel, from her studio in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. “Most of our work is in the supine or prone positions [lying down], so that the vertical pull from gravity is lessened, and the body can be worked with a more correct alignment, and thus more effectively.” One of a small group of active practitioners who studied with Pilates method founder Joseph Pilates, San Miguel is a living testament to the benefits of the practice. When this 75-year-old isn’t doing her daily Pilates, she’s engaged in other physically demanding activities. “Pilates makes life sweet for the senior,” she says.
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s exercise reaches beyond the realm of pure athletics to include fitness fans everywhere, people have no- ticed that their efforts to stay in shape often are thwart-
Posture Matters
Despite well-meaning parental advice, it turns out that good posture entails more than just pulling our shoulders back. Alignment practices like Restorative Exercise and the Alex- ander Technique were designed to develop an awareness of full-body mechanics as we go about daily activities. Annette Cantor-Groenfeldt teaches the Alex- ander Technique in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “The central theme of the technique is the spine, learning how to maintain length through the spine as you move,” she advis- es. “It is used extensively by actors, danc- ers, musicians and other high-performance people whose activities depend on postural alignment.”
In 2008, the Alexander
Technique was the subject of a yearlong study published in the British Medical Journal, where it was shown to be effec- tive in relieving low-back pain. The system focuses on both mental and physical aspects of movement, and usually includes passive treatments on the massage table, where the
October is National Spinal Health Month
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