Core health starts by sucking it in!

That’s all you have to do to start improving your core health: sit up straight and pull your belly button in toward the spine and up toward the rib cage. With that simple movement you have effected a wholesale change in the use of your postural and phasic core muscles; as a byproduct of this movement, you have also set up a foundation for great posture. In this position, you should be able to experience how your muscles are working to lend stability to the lower back and maintain the natural curves of your spine. As many times a day as you can remember, suck in your belly button and use the muscles in the core to maintain that position. This is a great example of how you can subtly change your habits to improve the use of your core and your spinal health. 

Improving core health from the ground up

Here are simple ways you can stretch and elongate the overworked postural muscles, which we see as the first step toward improving core health.

• Simply stand up and reach for the sky: by standing up straight and reaching upward, you are elongating the muscles that are tightened from sitting excessively. You can then take this stretch a step further by bending over and letting your arms hang down toward the floor. Don’t reach, just let yourself hang and feel the stretch. 
• Grab the back of your chair and gently twist: don’t go any further than feels comfortable. 
• Stretch out the hamstrings: these muscles don’t get enough credit for the pain they inflict on the lower back. Tight upper leg muscles create a pull on the lower back that can affect spinal alignment and body balance. 

Resetting the core is an easy way to feel better

Our lower backs can use all the relief we can possibly give them. All the little ways count and add up- so the more you can remember to do the better. Chiropractic offers gentle therapy aimed at elongating the spine and providing relief from the constant compression of daily life. Give our office in Sacramento a call and find out how we can help you improve your core health to improve your experience with back pain.