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How to Exercise Your Back

It is important to exercise your back, both upper back and lower back regions. You use your back muscles in almost everything you do, active or sedentary. Therefore it is worth taking the time to exercise these important muscles to keep them supple, healthy and to reduce any strain on your back. Exercising your back will improve muscle definition in your torso and helps to prevent lower back injury.

1- Stretch before you start with these exercises. Stretching is an important way to maintain your health and fitness, especially if you haven’t exercised in awhile.

2- Do a 90/90 neutral back stretch. This will help open up the muscles in your back, readying them for your workout. The stretch will also help your chest muscles open up and reduce tension in muscles and ligaments overall.You might also like to consider a thoracic stretch. Place the back of a chair facing you to serve as a stable support. Stand behind this, placing your feet shoulder-width apart and bend your knees slightly. Push back through your backside; you should feel a stretch along your upper back. Hold for a count of 10, then move back up gently.Another thoracic stretch: Sit on a chair and place your feet flat on the ground. Roll your upper body slowly forward from the waist. Place your hands beneath your legs and grip the chair legs. Then curl back up slowly.

3- Do the downward facing dog pose in yoga. The downward facing dog is a fairly straightforward stretch, so if you want to challenge yourself you should take a look at the whole sun salutations series. This pose is a good resting position stretch at any time during the workout.

4- Do a seated hip roll with an exercise ball. This exercise helps to strengthen your core and relax your back. Make sure to keep your movements fluid and your arms at your sides as you roll out, and try to get each leg as straight as you can.

5- Do a shoulder stand in yoga. This is a pose that helps relax stress-prone areas in your back and neck. It is also good for blood circulation. You’ll need to support yourself using your elbows, but so long as you keep your balance you shouldn’t have trouble with this exercise. Just be sure to have a comfortable mat underneath.

6- Do a cat and dog exercise. This high-intensity exercise improves flexion and extension of the spine. Try to do the movements of this exercise as smoothly as you can in order to maximize its effectiveness.

Exercise is good for the heart and blood vessels

Meyers says that exercise also limits inflammation associated with heart trouble, such as arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries around the heart, which may lead to heart attacks. Many recent studies have focused on C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation. Meyers says that research showed that sedentary folks who embarked on three- to six-month exercise programs, on average, experienced a 30 percent dip in their C-reactive protein levels – about the same drop as someone given a statin (a cholesterol and inflammation-lowering drug). In other words, in many people, exercise might be as effective as an Rx in tamping down inflammation, one of the key risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Exercise also boosts cardiovascular health by decreasing the amount of plasma triglycerides—fatty molecules in the blood that are associated with plaque build-up in the arteries— notes Haskell. What’s more, he adds, physical activity helps reduce the particle size of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or so-called bad cholesterol in the blood, and increase amounts of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), aka good cholesterol, which translates to less artery clogging.

Exercise also boosts cardiovascular health by decreasing the amount of plasma triglycerides—fatty molecules in the blood that are associated with plaque build-up in the arteries— notes Haskell. What’s more, he adds, physical activity helps reduce the particle size of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or so-called bad cholesterol in the blood, and increase amounts of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), aka good cholesterol, which translates to less artery clogging.

Builds strong bones

Robert Recker, an endocrinologist and current president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation in Washington, D.C., says research indicates that moderate exercise increases and maintains bone mass and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. “The most compelling evidence,” he says, “is that if you don’t do anything, your is much greater.”

Like muscles, bones become stronger when forced to bear more weight than normal. “The skeleton is a smart structural organ and knows how much load [force] is being put on it,” Recker says. “Pick up a pail of water, and you’re loading your arm, your shoulder, your spine, your legs and your hips.” That means muscles are contracting, exerting forces on the bones supporting those body parts. This force stimulates the bone to maintain or even build new tissue. But scientists have yet to figure out why. “That’s a focus,” he says, “of incredibly aggressive research.”

Recker says that researchers speculate, however, that it has to do with exercise triggering osteocytes (the most mature bone cells) to instruct bone-building cells called osteoblasts to increase bone formation.

Senior Citizen Back Strengthening Exercises

Back strengthening exercises are important for lifting up or extending the back. Lay flat on the floor with a pillow under your stomach and lift your head and chest off of the floor to strengthen the back as demonstrated by a fitness instructor in this free video on exercise.

Series Description: Exercise is important for senior citizens to help strengthen and add motion to muscles and joints and to improve posture.