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Tai Chi Tackles Back Pain
You’ve been given advice by your health care provider to find some type of exercise program to get you into better physical condition and help conquer that recurring back pain. Its been suggested that you try aerobics but you’ve learned that this high impact exercise regimen could do you more harm in the long term than good. Then you looked into isometrics. Researching this possibility you discovered that isometrics exercises potentially could make your joints more open to injury. Calisthenics seemed an option; that exercise regimen offers more benefits to your muscles then the others. Yet, it concentrates on only a limited number of muscles, as does weightlifting. So, what does that leave?
It leaves the Chinese martial art of Tai Chi. This martial art was developed because the ancient Chinese believed that it’s the sedentary lifestyle, that lack of activity, that is the root cause of all illness. They established many similar systems that they believed would not only prevent, but also potentially cure illness. It is felt that Tai Chi is among the best of these.
When looking for a good program for your back pain a big advantage to Tai Chi is that unlike so many exercise programs there are no age issues to deal with. Doctors are very clear that high impact exercises should only be practiced by those who are middle aged or older after they’ve had a thorough medical examination and received an accompanying doctor’s approval. This is not the case with Tai Chi, which is safe for any person at any age. It is also equally useful to men and women.
Tai Chi helps deal with back pain because it is designed to improve the stamina and strength of the body’s systems. A complete program will improve flexibility, keep weight in check to avoid excessive gain and allow for a better recovery from injury. This is all done in a program that promotes movement of the arms, legs and torso. It is a program that allows for slow gentle movements. It also has the advantage that even in poorer health or with serious muscles strain this program is still of use in improving the way you feel. Like yoga it promotes the use of deep breathing. This is not pushed on the students but learned slowly over time as part of this marital art.
Tai Chi is an inexpensive, non-invasive technique to improve the body’s well being with gentle movements that assist the spine with posture and body alignment. It uses the philosophy of caring about the life force by training its students to take better care of their body. It trains them to stop slouching, improve posture and stop standing with your shoulders rounded in. Therefore, it reduces and relives back pain by the lessons it teaches.
It also improves balance by teaching a sense of the position ones body should hold. It helps the student learn to shift weight for better comfort, flex their joints and generally understand the messages your body gives you. The belief is that with this better understanding of one’s body the student will find that they are less likely to harm themselves by moving incorrectly or by falling. This is another way of avoiding potential back problems and is the reason that Tai Chi is recommended for seniors as well; it helps prevent potential injuries by its teachings.
The exercises it teaches flex the spine and shoulders, building the strength in the muscles that surround the spine, including the abdominal muscles, and so reducing strain and alleviating back pain. By increasing the range of movement and the flexibility of the muscles and so reducing the stress on the back muscles you once again lessen or eliminate back pain.
Tai Chi promises to strength muscles while building confidence in your inner strength and promote muscle conditioning especially of the very important abdominal muscles. Each step to a stronger body and better posture is a step towards minimizing back pain and back injury.
An extra bonus of using Tai Chi is that after learning this excellent program for the benefit of conquering your back pain you will also have a good understanding of this most useful self-defense program.
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