Strengthen Your Core
The body’s core muscle group gives the abdominal area the ability to do its job of flexing, twisting, bending, and rotating with ease. But our sedentary lifestyles mean we’re spending less time keeping those muscles strong and more time letting them lose their conditioning. Keep these core muscles strong so that you can live a life that’s free from restrictions and pain.
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Help Yourself Get Up Off the Floor
You may think that not being able to get up off the floor sounds strange, but it’s possible if you don’t have a strong core. As we age, our muscles get weaker and don’t do as good of a job supporting the body. The risk of falling increases because of those weaker muscles. If you take a fall and can’t roll over, pull your body up, or push off your hip to get to your knees, you’re stuck on the floor.
Fortunately, keeping those muscles strong isn’t difficult. Get up out of your chair without using the chair arms every time you stand up. Squat against the wall for a few minutes each day, and stand one-legged on a rolled-up towel. If you don’t feel that you can do enough at home, sign up for yoga and Pilates classes with professional trainers at studios such as Truecore Fitness to help you gain the strength you need.
Give Support to the Skeleton
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Muscles and the body’s skeleton must work together so that your body functions properly. While they can and do work independently of one another, you still need both muscles and bones to work in concert together. Muscle strengthening can easily relieve many physical ailments.
For example, you can reduce or eliminate arthritis pain with exercises that strengthen the muscles that support the joints. The body’s joints work that much less when the muscles are doing their support job. Likewise, you can put off early joint replacement surgery when you have little to no pain coming from your joints.
Improve Posture and Alleviate Back Pain
Many lower back pain issues are directly attributable to weakened core muscles. These muscles are known as the extensor, flexor, and oblique muscles. You use your extensor muscles when standing, while the flexor muscles allow you to flex, bend, lift, and arch your back. Oblique muscles found on the sides of the spine allow for rotation and posture.
Weakness in one or all of these muscle groups results in back pain when the muscles don’t support the spine and allow for a full range of movement. When you strengthen these muscles, the spine can do its job more freely and without pain.
It doesn’t take much for the body to lose strength, but it also doesn’t take much to rebuild this strength either. Regular exercise a few times a week for about 30 minutes each day can help to restore that strength and flexibility. Being able to live a life free from pain and maintain your body’s range of motion is worth the effort.