Stretch for a healthy, painless body.

Do you feel pain in your back after sitting for a long time? Perhaps you are an office worker and the chair is where your body spent most of its time. If that is so, and there is lack of exercise, it is just a matter of time before your backbone cries out in pain.

When you sit down, other than your muscles, your spine is the bone which holds up your upper body. If you sit too long in one particular position, gravity and your weight set down onto the spine. The vertebrae of the spine are weighed down, pressing onto the disc and perhaps a nerve. If the vertebrae were to compress onto a nerve, there will be pain.

However, such a problem can be easily prevented. All we need is movement. A person who sits for a long time needs to get up from his chair every hour or at the most two hours to take a short walk to the toilet or the window. A stretch or two would help the spine to straighten or unbend, or counter the forward bending over the table with a backward bend. Of course, do not overbend or overstretch in any kind of movement that is made. The movement should also be slow and not abrupt.

Such stretching or movement can help to lessen the tension in some muscles. It can help to strengthen muscles which otherwise are not given the opportunity to tighten and pull on certain parts of the body.

By changing the position of the body, by stretching and getting certain muscles to tighten and strengthen, and by moving the body to get better circulation, the body will be able to endure better your sitting position. These change in position, stretching and movement will prevent the spine from sagging downwards without relief for too long and so prevent injury and pain.

Too many people suffer from back pain due to sitting too long; especially office workers and 'computer addicts'. It is time they take correct action to prevent their back from suffering. If your back suffers, so will you. So, prevent it!