Back Care Awareness Week - Hammersmith Books

Blog written by Caroline Freedman: Personal Trainer and TRX Sports Medicine Suspension Training exercise professional, and author of ‘The Scoliosis Handbook of Safe and Effective Exercises Pre and Post Surgery‘.

Backcare Awareness Week brings an opportunity to check our posture and become aware of how our lifestyle affects our spines. With back issues affecting many of us at some point in our lives, I feel if we gave more attention to postural alignment and the importance of how to carry, lift, sit and stand from a young age this could lead to improving the nation’s backs and help alleviate some pain and suffering. The knock on effect would be less absence from work and of course lift a little pressure off the NHS.

There is a lot we can do ourselves to keep our spines healthy. Becoming aware of how we treat our spines and looking after our bodies makes a huge difference. Little things like picking something up, I was taught by an Alexander Technique Postural teacher many years ago that ‘our bodies are more important than the object we are lifting’. It’s the way we pick something up that makes the difference. Squat to pick a bag of shopping up off the floor making sure legs are hip width and your hips do not go lower than your knees. Think about getting help for heavy objects rather than over doing it. Avoid twisting to pick something up from the back seat of a car. I have heard so many incidents of people putting their neck out simply by overreaching for something. It’s annoying to have to park up and retrieve a phone that’s slipped down the side of the seat and rolled onto the floor behind you, but it has to be better than wasting time at the physiotherapist and the cost of missing work and recovery. Be aware of housework and try to use both sides of the body to hoover and mop to avoid a one sided build up of muscles.

Thankfully exercise has become a key part of our lives and resistance training with weights has been proven to help slow down degenerative conditions such as osteoporosis of the spine but there is little point in lifting weights and working out your back muscles (lats, trapezius, rhomboids, erector spinae) if your posture is incorrect to start with. Getting back to basics, below are guidelines from The Scoliosis Handbook for correct starting positions for exercise. Perfect these and you will find that your technique when performing exercises will become much improved, leading to getting more out of your workouts.

There are obviously spinal conditions that we have little control over. Traumatic conditions from injury, infection and spinal deformity conditions. Not everyone will have perfectly straight spines. One condition that is not regularly checked for in the UK is Scoliosis (curvature of the spine)

Many people that I know discovered the curvature of their spine by mistake and most hadn’t even heard of the term ‘Scoliosis’. Mine was discovered at 15 in an exercise class by the trainer who’s own daughter had scoliosis. I had complained about pain but my mother had zero idea what to even look for. I have had three spinal fusion surgeries. Caught early, scoliosis can often be improved with a brace.

There are no formal health checks for spotting scoliosis in our children in the UK, but here are some checks I’d recommend you make if you are a parent:

Get your child to stand with their back to you and attempt to touch their toes.
Is the spine straight or the torso veering to one side?
Can you see virtual symmetry?
Do shoulders appear uneven?
Are the centre of the ribs running down the centre of the body?
Is your child complaining of a pulling feeling across one side of the rib cage?
Are the hips balanced?

For further reference and advice contact The Scoliosis Association UK www.sauk.org.uk

POSTURE/ALIGNMENT

HOW TO STAND AND SIT DURING EXERCISE

STARTING POSITION

Suck your abs in. Your pelvis should be tilted slightly forward. If you have movement in your lower spine, do not arch it. Shoulders down, head level and chin tucked in. When standing and exercising, always make sure your knees are slightly bent as this will take the pressure off your lower spine. Do not hyperextend (over- straighten) your elbows or knees.

ALIGNMENT

Always be aware of your body alignment. Head, neck, shoulders, spine, hips, knees, ankles and toes should follow each other. A tip is to look down or check yourself in the mirror. Are your knees pulling together or your toes positioned inwards? Your knees should be front facing or slightly outwards and your toes positioned between 11 am and 1 pm OR 10 am and 2 pm.

LYING DOWN ON YOUR BACK

I was always taught to keep my spine glued to the floor. This has prevented me and my clients from having any pain during exercise. There should be as little space as possible between your spine and the floor. Tilt your pelvis and keep your knees bent with your feet flat on the floor, with a wedge under your lower bottom/upper thighs for support. The wedge takes the pressure off your spine.

To engage your core, imagine drawing your belly button into your spine, scoop your abdominals in and pull your pelvic floor up. You should feel like everything is being sucked in and your pelvis tilted upwards.

If your hair is tied into a ponytail, make sure it is not interfering with the positioning of your head and neck, e.g. chin tilted too far back or forward. The space between your chin and chest should be about the size of an orange – try using one to gauge where the positioning should be – it works. Remember to breathe, in through your nose and out through your mouth, gently and without hyperventilating, in a relaxed manner.