June 10, 2009: Protecting Your Spine

Did you know that one in three American women over 50 will eventually have a spinal fracture? According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, fractures can happen suddenly, when you are doing an activity you’ve done without problems for years. Your best protection is to know which postures are the safest, and which put your spine at risk.

The safest position for your spine is supine, or lying flat on your back. This is the best position for exercises that stretch, rotate, or flex your spine.

Another basically safe position is prone, lying flat on your stomach. If that’s comfortable for you, you can do back arches and upper body strengthening like knee push-ups with minimal spinal risk.

The next safest position is on your hands and knees with a flat back. When gardening, try going down on one knee (not both) and rotating forward from the hips to weed with a flat back, rather than rounding your waist and shoulders. Your back will thank you.

Next safest is standing. Stand up straight, think military “Attention!” without the tension. I like to imagine I have wings attached to my shoulder blades, tugging them gently down and back. You can safely do many exercises standing. Just be careful not to twist with weights. Use this posture to work on your arms, shoulders, waist, and neck. One thing you don’t want to do standing is to bend from the waist. If you need to reach forward, bend at the hips keeping your back flat.

Surprisingly, strong abdominal contractions like sit-ups put your back at risk. The fronts of the lumbar vertebrae are also crunched when you do crunches. If you want to strengthen your abdomen, work supine with exercises like alternate leg raises.

Sitting puts more load on your spine than standing. Things you can do safely standing up, you need to be careful with when seated. For example, don’t twist and lift. This is the single action that puts your back most at risk. Be careful passing heavy plates at the supper table.

You are as young as your spine! Follow these simple guidelines and protect your beautiful back.