Stretching Exercises for Back

The spine supports the main trunk of our body and has a very complicated structure. It mainly comprises of a network of a large number of muscles, joint ligaments, bones, etc. Today, due to modern technology, we lead a sedentary lifestyle. For this, our body movements have decreased to a great extent. During our working hours, we spend hours in front of a computer, and after returning home we sit in front of the television. Thus, our body has become less active. Our backbone is losing its flexibility because of less activeness and give us back pain. We need to do some stretching exercises for back so that the strength and the flexibility of the backbone can be improved.

Importance of Stretching Exercises

There are several benefits of stretching exercises. While doing any body stretching exercises, you must ensure that you pay proper attention to all the muscles that are present in various parts of the body. It will bring about improvement in the coordination among the various muscles of our body. It also helps in increasing the the supply of blood and valuable nutrients to various tissues of the body. When you are doing some muscle stretching exercises, it helps to reduce the soreness of the muscles, and helps in the betterment of your posture. Thus, the risk of injury is greatly reduced. You can term them as physical therapy stretching exercises, because lower back exercises and stretches works wonders in reducing lower back pain.

Types of Stretching Exercises for the Back

Stretching exercises for back does not confine yourself only to back exercises. You have to include the stretching exercises of other body parts too, which in turn will add flexibility to the back muscles. Suppose you are doing ankle stretching exercises, it will help in stretching the muscles of the back.

Arm Stretching Exercises
Stand in an upright position with the hands stretched in an upward direction. Then bend the body downwards at the waist. Now try to touch the toes with your stretched arms. Make sure that your legs should not bend at the knees. Hold this position for a few seconds. Keep this bent posture as long as you are comfortable in it. Maintain normal breathing. Regain the standing position. Repeat it for 12 - 15 times. You can do it as one of the warm up stretching exercises.

Hand Stretching Exercises
Sit on a straight back chair and keep your legs straight while you are in a sitting position. Then stretch your hands as much as you can and try to touch the toes of your straightened legs. Make sure your legs do not get bent in the middle. Maintain this posture for a few seconds before you resume your normal sitting position. Repeat the process for 10 - 12 seconds.

Hip Stretching Exercises
Lie flat on the ground in such a way that one of the legs is kept in a crossed position on the other one. Now gradually try to pull the other knee in the direction of your chest. Continue the act till you start a stretching feeling on the hips. Keep the position and count till 30. Then slowly regain the original position.

Leg Stretching Exercises
You can call this a calf stretching exercise also. Stand in a straight position and then place one foot in front of the other one. The leg that has been kept at the front should be bent at the knee till you get a stretched feeling in your calf muscles. Hold the position till you finish counting up to 15, and then return to the straight standing posture. This exercise should be done for three times for each of the legs. If you find it difficult to keep the balance of your body during the exercise, you can hold a wall for support.

Chest Stretching Exercises
Sit on a straight back chair with an upright posture. Continue normal breathing. Move your arms in the backward direction in such a way that you can give the chair a backward hug. Let your arms face the chair. When you hold this position you can sense a stretch on the chest muscles. Maintain the stretched condition for 20 - 30 seconds and then get back to normal position.

Yoga Stretching Exercises
Yoga exercises are an excellent way of stretching the muscles of the back. It also has a soothing effect on the mind and body, and helps to get relief from stress. Here is a yoga exercise for neck stretching exercises. To start with, close your eyes and place your chin on the chest. Gradually move your neck in a circular manner, beginning from the right shoulder to the back, and then to the left and back to the front. Continue to do the roll 5 times before you change the direction. Now start rotating the neck from the left side. There is another simple yoga exercise for upper body stretching exercises. Sit in the sideways posture on a chair. Keep both the feet on the floor. Twist your body in the direction of the back of the chair without moving your legs. Hold the chair with the hands for few seconds and get back the normal position. Repeat the same process by twisting the body from the other side.

Hope you find these stretching exercises for back very useful for you. You can do some of the exercises given here while sitting at your office desk. If you have any health problems, you should consult your doctor before you attempt any of these exercises.