• Your abdomen is basically the “front of your back.”  Some of the muscles that attach to your spine are actually accessible through your soft abdomen by a trained massage or muscle therapist.  Sometimes the muscles in the “front of your back” are the ones that cause your lower back pain.
• When you do sit-ups, the movement removes the natural curve from your lower back; it makes it flatter.  The curve is good–it’s there for a reason.
• When you do sit-ups, it’s easy to strain your neck muscles.
• Sit-ups shorten your abdominal muscles.  Short muscles in front help flatten your lower back and take away your natural curve.  Short muscles in the front of your body make it harder to keep good posture.  Good posture helps prevent back pain.

What are some safer options?

• Suck in your abdomen.  That strengthens your muscles without aggravating any other part of your body.
• Do reverse crunches.  Rather than raising your head, reverse crunches curl your pubic bone toward your nose by using your abdominal or stomach muscles.  Your head never leaves the floor and nothing gets strained.

How do you do a reverse curl?

• Lay on your back, knees up.
• Move your knees so they are over your waist.
• Activate your stomach muscles (not your hips, legs or butt.)
• Contract (squeeze) your abdominals and bring your knees closer to your face.  Your tailbone will leave the floor but your head does not.

Remember the key to being pain-free is having muscular balance on all sides of your body.  If you have a strong back AND the front of your body is also strong–so all of the muscles are working in balance–you can get rid of your back pain.

Want to discover more about what happens when you have muscle imbalances?

Go to Back Pain Natural Relief. It’s a long page packed with information.  Scroll down and read all about it.  You will learn more about the importance of balancing your muscles and discover how to get  rid of your back pain naturally.

I tried it and as I followed along, I thought, “ha! This isn’t doing anything.”

I was wrong.  So very, very wrong.

I was so sore the next day.  Those simple little pumping movements create a lot of muscle activity, quickly.

Since the muscles we most need to build are those in back of our body, those are the ones we’ll talk about.  These are the muscles that hold us upright, straight and strong.

Here’s how to use these simple little pumping movements.

To strengthen the back side of your upper arm:  Lift your elbow slightly so it is behind you.  Squeeze your shoulder blades a bit toward your spine.

Now, lift your elbow just a little bit more, then go back to your starting point. Lift, lift, lift, lift.  Each pumping movement is that quick.  You can do both arms at the same time.

To strengthen the backside of your thigh and gluteals (buttocks):

Lift one leg behind you slightly.  Lift slightly more and go back to your starting point.  Lift, lift, lift, lift.  These are small pumping movements that use the muscles in back of your thigh and butt.

How Many Repetitions:  Don’t make the same mistake I did.  If you haven’t been strengthening or using the muscles in the back of your upper arm and thigh, take it slow.

Start with 10 pumps the first day or two, twice a day.  Then try 20 twice a day for a few days.

After that, you will be able to do these movements several times a day, when you feel the need to be strong and straight.

For more help, go to http://www.SimplePainRelief.com and http://CarpalTunnelPainReliefNow.com.

But, boy, could she ever visualize!

She would actually visualize herself exercizing so well that she would make her muscles ache.

When I would see her, she would say, “Oh, I am so sore.  I did fifteen repetitions.”  She would tell me which exercise she had “done.”

Every time, I would say, “Gloria, if you would just “do” one, instead of fifteen, you would not be sore.”  She would tell me that she knew, but it just felt so good.

She had done the movements only in her mind, yet she did them with such imagination and with such belief, that her body responded as though she was actually, physically doing them.

Research has been done with athletes who practice “only in their mind” while hooked up to monitoring devices.  The monitoring machines show the same kind of muscle response that they would have if they were actually performing the exercise.

If you can put yourself into a relaxed state, a meditative state, you can visualize yourself doing things with your muscles that you might not yet be able to do very well.  When you are that relaxed, your muscles won’t know the difference between really moving or imagining that you are moving.  They will get the same message.

Your muscles will start to become re-activated.  They will start to become strong.

What is visualization? It is “seeing” with your mind.  Your eyes are closed, you are relaxed, and you are imagining what you want to do or be.  Imagine yourself doing the thing you are thinking about perfectly.

If you want to move your arm in round circles, you can do it perfectly in your mind.  The reality may be that you would have a more jerky movement doing it physically, but in your mind you can make it perfect.

What is meditation? Meditation is simply the act of relaxation with a focus.  You focus on one thing.  Your focus may be deep breathing or something specific that you want to do.  “Counting sheep” is a form of meditation.  It gives you focus.

Can your mind make you strong? This is one of those situations where it can, if you work with enough dedication.  And, it can’t hurt to try.

If all you learn is how to meditate or visualize well, you will be ahead of the game.  You will have learned new skills.

Being able to meditate can come in mighty handy when you have pain, to move through it.  Visualizing can help you attain goals and become well.

Start visualizing your perfect, healthy, strong body today because

“You Deserve to Feel Better!”

For more help, go to http://www.SimplePainRelief.com and http://www.CarpalTunnelPainReliefNow.com.