How to Strengthen Your Middle Core with Chiropractic Care
Part 3 of a Series:
“The Importance of Exercise in Chiropractic Therapy”
The key to good chiropractic care is a regimen to strengthen the muscular systems that are integral to the overall health of your spinal column. These include the abdominal muscles, the buttocks, and low-back muscles.
Here are easy-to-perform exercise routines that are expressly designed to address these three muscular systems. Each can be performed in ten minutes or less, for a total exercise period of half an hour, using only a floor mat.
ABDOMINAL STRENGTHENING EXERCISE
* Lie on your back and bend your knees with your feet on the floor.
* Either cross your arms over your chest or place your hands behind your neck to support the head.
* Flatten your spine against the floor.
* Raise the shoulders off the floor by contracting the abdominal muscles. You should be able to feel the abdominal muscles tighten.
* Slowly raise the shoulders upward, as abdominals continue to tighten.
* Relax the abdominals.
* Allow the shoulders to return to the floor.
* Repeat this exercise as many times as possible. Start with as many repetitions as you can comfortably handle. Make 50-75 reps your goal.
BUTTOCK MUSCLE STRENGTHENING EXERCISE
* Lie on your stomach and place your chin on your hands.
* Turn your right foot out.
* Tighten the buttock muscle, and raise the right foot off the floor while keeping the knee straight.
* Hold for a slow count of 4.
* Slowly let the leg down.
* Repeat 6 times with the right leg
* Repeat exercise with the left leg, 6 times with a slow count of 4.
LOW-BACK STRENGTHENING **
* Lie flat on your stomach, with arms along your side. Turn your palms up.
* Slowly raise your chest from the floor.
* Feel the muscles of the low back tighten.
* Hold the chest up from the floor for a slow count of 4.
* Slowly let the chest down.
* Rest for a few seconds between each repetition.
* Repeat 6 times.
**NOTE: Only do this exercise with the approval of your physician.
