190413 Getting flexible and staying there

Getting flexible and staying there

If you are over 40 years old, you have no doubt started to experience a certain amount of inflexibility. Inflexibility begins to creep up starting at about age 40. This happens because the tissues surrounding your joints start to get a little bit thicker and your muscles start becoming less elastic.

Taking a few steps each day to counter this impending inflexibility issue can make a big difference in the ease with which you move your body. Flexibility makes life easier by improving your balance and posture while at the same time helping to reduce the muscle tension around the joints.

During this age of sitting and looking at the computer or TV, your body is adapting by lengthening the muscles of your back and shortening the muscles in your abdominal region. Consequently, many people are now walking hunched over with lower back pain.

An easy stretch to help alleviate these two problems is to stand with your back in front of a counter top and gently tipping backward into an extended position. You want to make sure that your feet are not going to slip out from in front of you while you are tipping backwards against the countertop.

Another good stretch for your lower back, often used while sitting at your desk, is to put one leg over the other at the knee. For example, if your right leg is over your left leg, you are going to be moving your upper body in a twisting motion to the right. You are going to feel a stretching sensation in your lower left back. Intensify this stretch by tipping forward to the right as you are twisting to the right.