The other day I had a patient who couldn’t understand why he was sore when he had been in for a few treatments and was doing all the exercises I suggested. I soon realized he was doing too many exercises that were in fact irritating his spine and prolonging the pain. He was in his later years and had developed a stooped posture. I helped him realize this wasn’t good and could be helped by gradually starting to do exercises that improved posture. Unfortunately, he missed the point about GRADUALLY starting these new moves.
It turned out he suddenly started pulling his shoulders and chin back several times a day and each time he did it, there was pain. I told him right away to stop doing these exercises so vigorously and to pull back slightly at first until it no longer hurts to pull further. Gradually we can increase our range of motion and find we are able to stand straighter without pain. However, the longer one has been stiff, the longer it takes to correct. If you rush into these exercises and try too many or too often, too soon, it will continue to irritate the spine, muscles and nerves in the area.
Sure, most people don’t exercise enough, but sometimes, people do exercise too much. Generally, we should try to establish normal range of motion in an area by doing more stretches, before trying to increase our strength. Once the flexibility is restored it is much safer and less irritating to do strengthening exercises. After improving posture and flexibility one usually needs to work on core strengthening. We need to start out gently with easy core exercises and gradually work up to more strenuous, longer work outs.
It’s really not that difficult or time-consuming to do the exercise recommended for good health. The main difficulty is in starting a routine. Start easy with a little amount of time and just easy exercises. Then, try to aim for at least a half an hour a day doing something and gradually work up from easy stretching/posture correction exercises to core and then maybe some aerobic exercise like walking or cycling. More is not always better, unless you are self-proclaimed couch potato. Make exercise more of a priority and you will reap the benefits of better health and longevity.