Is Your Job Killing Your Back?

If you’ve ever suffered from back pain (while exercising or otherwise), the problem most likely has nothing to do with your back.

Let me explain...

In today’s world, our bodies are constantly contorted into positions that are abnormal for us. Whether it’s working at your desk for 8... 9... 10 hours a day, commuting to work or relaxing and watching television, your body isn’t meant to stay in the “sitting” position for very long.

What’s the result? Your body becomes misaligned… specifically your hips.

After a prolonged period of time, your hips start to pull on the tendons and ligaments that connect it to your back. And this pulling is what causes the sharp or dull back pain an alarming majority of Americans suffer from.

If you were to go to a regular doctor, you’d probably be told to do some stretches to “fix” your back (or even worse - pop some pills!).

But there’s a problem with this solution.

Most of these stretches are designed to loosen your joints. And the key factor that these doctors don’t know about is that you don’t want loose joints. You want them to be tight. Tight joints mean stable and strong joints. And help prevent injury in the first place.

That’s why I recommend the following stretches to my clients. It helps realign your hips to relieve stress on your back, but also works to help keep your joints nice and tight to help avoid injury in the future.

Here are some stretches from my friends over at the Healthy Back Institute that you'll want to perform daily to avoid back pain:

1. Shoulder Stretch: You need to stretch and develop these muscles because they are very susceptible to injury. And tight shoulder muscles contribute to back and neck pain, especially if your head and shoulders droop forward.

How To: Stand in an open doorway. Raising your arm to a 90-degree angle with palm facing out, press your hand and shoulder against the wall and doorjamb. You should feel the wall against your armpit. Slowly increase the tension as you push forward. Hold for a 10 count. Then repeat with the other arm.

2. Hip Flexors: You need to do this stretch, particularly if you sit all day at work. Sitting all day puts pressure on the hip flexor muscles. This is a major cause of minor lower back pain. Stretching your hip flexors muscles several times a week will prevent this kind of lower back pain.

How To: Stand in a modified runner stance, with right foot forward and left foot back, feet flat on floor. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension. Hold for a 10 count. Switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.

Give these a try. They have helped me a lot. Start off every other day and go from there. Consistency’s the key.

There are other steps you can take to overcome back pain and stiffness naturally, too.

In fact, Jesse Cannone – a top fitness trainer and co-founder of the Healthy Back Institute – has written a book called The 7-Day Back Pain Cure. It shows you how to get to the root of back pain problems and fix them without drugs, injections, or surgery. It also suggests numerous measures you can take to prevent back pain in the future.

It's not an eBook or anything like that... it's a real book and it's for sale on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, but don't go buy it because if you go to his website right now you can get a free copy. You just pay a small shipping fee...

But it gets even better... a portion of your shipping fee is donated to one of two great charities: Habitat for Humanity or Kiva.org - you choose.

Get your free copy of this best-selling book here.