The famous American nutritionist Paul Bragg wrote in his book “Bragg Back Fitness Program”:
“We are a civilization of lazy and unreasonable people, we eat lifeless artificial food, and the vast majority of us are not athletes, but fans.”
Is not it time to change life for the better?
Extending our spine, we extend our youth.
Perhaps you noticed that you feel better in the morning than in the evening? But this is not only because during the day you are tired! The fact is that for the day our spine “settles.” Scientists have long established that in the mornings we are slightly higher than in the evening. And in the same way in youth we are taller than old age, because the spine, it turns out, settles not only during the day, but also year after year. Why does this happen and how does this affect our health and well-being?
A very small percentage of people lead a way of life in which their spine performs the functions foreseen by nature, namely, to withstand loads when a person runs, jumps, throws something, swims, rides a horse, etc. Most people, on the contrary, perform very monotonous movements during the day, and these movements are not enough.
The organism is arranged very economically: an inactive body receives less blood, which means oxygen and nutrients, and all processes in it are slowed down. The work of cartilaginous intervertebral disks – to amortize all kinds of shocks, tremors and vibrations of the body. For this, they must be elastic and elastic. And if you do not need to do this, then why should they be elastic?
They skukozhivayutsya, flattened and harden, and every day more and more sluggishly proceed in their recovery processes. In a word, they grow old.
If the intervertebral discs become flat and inelastic, the vertebrae rub and squeeze each other, which in itself causes pain. Inside the spine is located the spinal cord, and from it nerves leave to all organs of our body. These nerves are 31 pairs: eight cervical, 12 nursing, five lumbar, five sacral and one coccygeal. They go through the holes formed by the arcs of the vertebrae. When the distance between the vertebrae is shortened (the intervertebral discs are flattened!), The nerves inevitably become squeezed. But every nerve leads somewhere. So it turns out that when our spine was shortened, that is, the vertebrae “sat down” on top of each other, we have something to start hurting.
If the situation is bad in the cervical spine, at the very base of the skull, – the head hurts, if slightly lower – vision may be upset if in the thoracic region – the stomach, liver, and heart, and just a little lower – the intestines and kidneys , and further – genitals. A person, exhausted, goes to the doctor – one, another, the third (we have a lot of them), and everyone finds something in their part, each diagnoses. It turns out that a person has dozens of diseases. But in fact, everything is “guilty” of the spine. It happens, however, that no doctor finds anything, and a person for all that feels like a wreck. Again, it’s all about the spine.
Five simple exercises from Paul Bragg, which must be performed in the complex. These exercises will help keep the spine healthy:
Exercise 1:
This exercise affects the part of the spine that “serves” the head and eye muscles, as well as a whole network of nerves that go to the stomach and intestines. Thus, performing only this exercise, we influence the sources of such ailments as headache, eye strain, indigestion and poor digestion of food.
Lie down on the floor face down, lift the pelvis and arched back arched. The body rests only on the palms and toes. The pelvis should be above the head. The head is down. The legs are set shoulder width apart. Knees and elbows are straightened. Lower the pelvis almost to the floor. Remember that the hands and feet should be straight, which gives a special tension to the spine.
Raise your head and swing it back sharply. Do this exercise slowly. Now lower the pelvis as low as possible, and then raise it as high as possible, arched up your back, lower it again, lift it and lower it. If you do this exercise correctly, you will feel relief in a few movements, as the spine relaxes.
Exercise 2:
This exercise is designed to stimulate the nerves that go to the liver and kidneys. The starting position is the same as for the first exercise. Lie down on the floor face down, lift the pelvis and arch your back. The body rests on the palms and toes. Hands and feet are straight. Turn the pelvis as far as possible to the left, lowering the left side as low as possible, and then to the right. Do not bend your arms and legs. Move slowly and think about stretching the spine.
Exercise 3:
Relaxing the vertebral column from top to bottom, you relieve the load from the pelvic area. The muscles reaching the spine are strengthened, the intervertebral discs are stimulated.
Starting position: sit on the floor, rest on the arranged straight arms, located just behind, legs bent. Pick up the basin. The body rests on the placed bent legs and straight arms. This exercise must be done at an early pace. Raise the body to the horizontal position of the spine. Go back to the starting position. Repeat the motion several times.
Exercise 4:
This exercise gives a special power to the part of the spine where the nerves that control the stomach are concentrated. In addition, it is effective for the entire spine, stretches it, leading the body to a balanced state.
Lie on your back, legs stretched out, arms outstretched. Bend your knees, pull them to your chest and clasp your hands. Push your knees and hips from your chest, not letting go of your hands, like a rocking chair. At the same time raise your head and try to touch your knees with your chin. Hold this position of the trunk for five seconds.
Exercise 5:
This exercise is one of the most important for stretching the spine. In addition, it brings relief to the large intestine, stimulating the control nerves.
Stand on all fours, remember how little children do it. “Walk” thus in five to seven minutes. And now imagine that you are a cat: raise the high pelvis, arched your back, lower your head, leaning on straight arms and legs. In this position, go around the room.
After the exercises, the best thing you can do for rest and additional stretching of the spine is to hang, catching your hands on the crossbar. Exercise strictly individually. First you need to do each exercise no more than two or three times. After a day, increase to five or more times and perform the entire program daily.
Once the body has made improvements, you can reduce the performance to two times a week to keep the spine flexible and relaxed. However, please note that negative changes in the spine have occurred for many years and you can not fix anything in a short time.
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