Sitting for long periods of time can cause back pain.  Stop your low back pain right now by doing this one simple exercise:

Reset your posture and stop your pain!

I am sure you have heard the phrase sitting is the new smoking.  This is probably because sitting and being sedentary is being linked to all sorts of health problems, especially chronic pain.  Not only am I a Registered Respiratory Therapist, I am also a Certified Postural Alignment Specialist trained in providing chronic pain relief.  This allows me the rare ability and opportunity to incorporate many pain relieving exercises into the workouts for our Pulmonary Patients.  Also, once we help Patients straighten their posture, they are amazed at how much of an improvement there is in their breathing.  Their oxygen levels go up and their heart rate goes down!  Remember your body works as a complete unit.

With this in mind, have you been sitting all day and regularly experience lower back pain? If you are looking for an amazingly powerful, simple, yet effective exercise, static back is for you!

Directions:
Lie on your back with your legs up over a chair, ottoman, or couch aligning the knees directly over the hips. Your arms are at a 45 degree angle on the ground at your sides and your palms up. Try and relax your upper back and notice if your lower back is flat and even from left to right. Lying on your back and elevating your legs to 90 degrees allows gravity to do its job of removing rotation and/or asymmetry in your body. For example, you may feel that one shoulder or one hip is higher off the ground than the other; this is asymmetry. Hold for a minimum of 5-8 minutes to allow the curve in your lower back to flatten and fall to the floor. This will help re-balance your body and make things even and reduce your pain.

Proper breathing:

1. Inhale slowly and softly only through your nose for 2-3 seconds
2. Hold for 1 second
3. Exhale slowly and softly only through your lips (as if you were cooling off a hot cup of coffee) for 4-6 seconds
4. Repeat this breathing pattern throughout the exercise, if it is comfortable for you

Try it and let me know how your back feels after you do it.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

The picture on top shows the correct way to do this exercise which will give you the most benefit, and the picture on the bottom shows the incorrect way where the knees are not aligned with the hips and the arms are not at a 45 degree angle with the palms up.

About the author:
David Junga, RRT is a Nationally Board Certified Registered Respiratory Therapist and Program Director at Pulmonary Rehabilitation Associates, LLC and PulmonaryRehab.com. David has been in private practice since 1999 and loves teaching patients how to overcome their shortness of breath.
https://pulmonaryrehab.com

David is also a Postural Alignment Specialist certified by the Egoscue University and Program Director at CtPainFree. His other passion is teaching people how to eliminate chronic pain through simple yet powerful corrective exercises.
http://ctpainfree.com