Spinal Hygiene Exercises

WAKE UP WELLNESS _______ MASTER YOUR LIFESTYLE, TRANSFORM YOUR HEALTH ______ AWAKEN - FEED - MOVE - RENEW
Daily Rituals Determine
Health
There is a new dawn in healthcare. A whole new era is rapidly
emerging showing us that we are ﬁrmly in control of our health
destiny. This new understanding is backed by research and it
shows us beyond any doubt that the ways in which we chose to
eat, move and think determines the level of health that we attain.
Disease that was once thought to arise due to predetermined
genetic weakness has now been shown to be a direct result of
lifestyle choices.
This means that your level of health has virtually nothing to do with
your genetics, and virtually everything to do with your daily rituals,
habits and behaviours.

Spinal Hygiene Exercises
Are Required
Clearly our hunter gatherer ancestors never had a need to do spinal
hygiene exercises. This is because their lifestyles were active and they
never sat in damaging postures for long periods of their lives.
The truth is that it is no longer possible to maintain healthy spines and
optimal postures without doing regular postural care and
daily spinal hygiene exercises.

Double Trouble
The trouble is that we are not only
sedentary (movement deﬁciency
syndrome) but we are also spending
long periods of time slumped over
desks, phones, computers, steering
wheels etc. with poor posture.

1 in 3 Spends 10+ Hours
Per Day Sitting
New research commissioned by the British Chiropractic
Association (BCA) reveals that 32% of us spend over 10 hours
sitting down every day, adding up to an amazing 32 years and 4
months of our lives.
On average we spend 16 hours awake per day and 9.4 million of
us spend over 75% of our waking day sitting.
59% of the working population sit down all day at work, nearly
50% of those who work refuse to leave their desks, even for lunch!
And what do people do after work? 62% spend the majority of
their evenings sat on their bums on the sofa!

Children's Spine’s
Especially Vulnerable
Most school seats and desks are not ergonomically
designed with the health of the child’s posture in
mind.
This has long term implications because the amount
of sitting that a school child typically does leads to an
increase risk of injury.
Children’s developing musculoskeletal structures are
especially vulnerable to postural trauma.
Oates, S. Lennon et al. Elementary school children at risk. Computers in schools. 1998 14 (3/4): 55-63

Posture Affects All
Functions
Posture affects and moderates all human functions,
both consciously and unconsciously, from breathing to
hormone production, to thinking.
Lennon et al. Postural and respiratory modulation of autonomic function, pain and health. Am J Pain Management 1994 (4) 36-39

Slumped Posture = Early
Death
“With increasing kyphotic posture, there was a tendency
towards greater mortality”
“For deaths due to atherosclerosis participants with
hyperkyphotic posture had a signiﬁcant 2.4 times
greater rate of death”
“Hyperkyphotic posture was associated with an
increased mortality rate due to atherosclerosis and
possible pulmonary causes in particular.”
Kado et al., Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Men and Women: A prospective Study of the
American Geriatrics Society 2004 52 (10) 1662

Sitting Is The New
Smoking!
!
In an Australian study that followed participants over six-and-a-half years, researchers found that
high levels of TV time were signiﬁcantly associated with increased risk of death from heart
disease as well as all other causes.!
!
Each hour of TV was associated with an 11% increase in death from all causes. !
!
These associations were independent of exercise (so it is the total amount of time sitting that
matters, exercise does not negate the negative effects of sitting) and traditional risk factors such
as smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, waist circumference, and diet.!
!
This is why some health experts have claimed that “sitting is the new smoking.” Sitting a lot
shortens our lifespans to a degree that is similar to smoking cigarettes. It’s a major public
health challenge that, up until recently, few were aware of.!
!
!
Van der Ploeg, et al., Sitting time and all-cause mortality risk in 222 497 Australian adults. Arch Intern Med. 2012. 26; 172(6):
494-500

Simple Changes

The Modern Dilemma
In the modern world it is practically inevitable that
without spinal hygiene care and exercises the spine
will becomes de-conditioned and degenerated due
to the toxicities and deﬁciencies associate with
sedentary living

The Solution
These spinal hygiene exercises are
aimed at counteracting the toxicities
and deﬁciencies created by the
unnatural movement and postural
patterns of modern humans.
They are designed to add in sufﬁcient
and pure amounts of movement
required to strengthen, heal and
maintain a healthy spine as well as
prevent spinal degeneration.

The Solution
These exercises are designed to restore and
maintain:
- Full range of motion, strength, stamina,
proper posture and nutrition and lubrication
of the joints.
This is important because a healthy functional
spine allows for healthy neurological
connections between the brain and the body.

The Corner Stretch
Stand in the corner of the room with
your hands ay head height with your
elbows bent and your head pulled
back and chin slightly tucked
Lean your chest towards the corner
of the room forcing your arms
backwards and stretching your
chest, shoulders and internal
rotators.
Relax as much as possible and let
your body weight gently perform the
stretch. Hold for 30-60 seconds.

The Wall Angel
Place your heels, buttocks, upper back and head
against the wall
Bring arms up with right angles at the shoulders
and elbows and externally rotate your shoulders
attempting to bring your forearms and backs of
hands against the wall. Tuck your chin to create
ﬂexion in the upper cervical spine (neck).
Relax and inhale, then slowly exhale and draw
your elbows down towards your sides attempting
to maintain contact of your arms, hands, head,
back and buttocks against the wall.
Progress slowly in terms of number of repetitions
and force applied.
Begin with 3 repetitions and work your way up to
12.

The YWTL’s Scapular-
Thoracic Exercises
Y’s!
For all of these exercises the
object is to pull the shoulder
blades together (down and
back) as much as possible
and hold.
Inhale while relaxing and
exhale while contracting and
holding for 5 -10 seconds
(build your way up)
Best done standing.

Thoracic Exercises
W’s!
back) as much as possible and
hold.
(build your way up)
Best done standing.

Thoracic Exercises
T’s!
hold.
(build your way up)
Best done standing.

Thoracic Exercises
L’s!
hold.
(build your way up)
Best done standing.

The Yes-No-Maybe Range
Of Motion Exercises
Each of these exercises
is performed on both
sides of the body. With
each exercise move it to
the maximum range of
motion and hold it for a
minimum of 30 seconds.
Make sure to keep
relaxed in your body
and keep breathing
during the stretch.
Neck Rotation Neck Lateral Flexion

Of Motion Exercises
Neck Flexion Neck Extension

Of Motion Exercises
Lumbar/Spinal Flexion Lumbar/Spinal Extension

Of Motion Exercises
Lumbar/Spinal!
Lateral Flexion
Lumbar/Spinal Rotation

Video Trainings
Don’t forget to watch the training videos below for a
live demo on how to do this routine safely with proper
technique.

Spinal Hygiene Exercises

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