Your lifestyle is at the crux of your health. Every small habit matters in the long run, good or bad it all adds up.
One unavoidable lifestyle habit that wrecks your posture daily is sitting. Studies have proven that sitting does non-reversible damage to your health.
Yet you can’t give it up. The lower back is the prominent part of the trunk that supports your body and it’s getting wrecked with sitting daily.
And sometimes even good habits can harm your lower back like lifting up heavy weights in the wrong posture or stretching at a fast pace.
Turns out I have been self-sabotaging my back for quite some time.
My stretches have wrecked my alignment, as I do poses with unequal weight distribution to the left side.
This revelation came about in the yoga class, as a yoga instructor myself I thought I would finally hack the advanced poses in class only to be told that my basic stretches needed a ton of work.
The slight tilt to the right side was the reason for my constant backache, it refused to subside with therapy and rest.
So, I returned to my roots and joined a yoga class to get it fixed with stretching and basic poses.
There are enough bad habits to wreck your posture but remember good habits performed with carelessness can still lead to severe backache.
My aim to learn the advanced asanas quickly got me into this trouble as I often forgot to pay attention to my alignment.
Here are three simple things you can do to take care of your lower back in the long run.
Become a weekend warrior to avenge your backache
Your lower back is becoming weaker with every hour that you spend sitting. It’s the most important part of the trunk that stabilizes your entire body yet you give it the least attention.
You witness the effects of sitting every day, yet you do next to nothing to improve your posture, and there’s always a shortage of time.
This time crunch prevents you from making a significant change in your lifestyle so you follow the same routine that requires you to sit at least 8 hours a day.
But it only takes a weekend to make a real difference in your health, you can make up for the health lost during workdays in only two days.
This study found that moderate to vigorous exercise on weekends has the same effect as exercising daily . You reap excellent benefits by being a weekend warrior as it lowers the risk of 264 diseases.
You have time on weekends which you can use to claim your health back.
It’s not an ideal scenario but in the real world, you have to live by the rules, which dictate you to work the weekends.
Concentrating your workouts on weekends is better than succumbing to perpetual inactivity, so don’t waste your weekends.
This is another reason I joined yoga classes, as it was getting difficult to stay consistent without accountability. The flexible routine of my studio helped me stay accountable.
Moreover, their guidance helped me fix my alignment issue and led to more mindful sessions.
I recovered my lost flexibility in just two months and my backache was almost non-existence.
The weekend yoga classes helped me fix my lower back issue, thanks to my skilled instructors who helped me push through the difficult phase.
You can boost your health easily on the weekends, but even this commitment seems like a bit much when you only get two days off.
All non-work priorities have to be executed in these two days, so you procrastinate the exercise, an essential habit for a healthy life.
Being a weekend warrior sounds easy but fitting friends, family, and relationships in 48 hours is difficult so you postpone exercise forever.
Here’s how you can make exercise possible on weekends:-
Plan fun fitness activities with friends and family to get a boost of endorphins.
Make it a habit to do at least one fitness class every week, the commitment will get you in the door and the instructor will keep you accountable.
Find ways to make fitness a regular part of your life so you don’t feel the extra strain on the weekends.
A shift to a standing desk will save your lower back
Two workouts a week is a good start, it will improve your core and keep your posture in check.
But it’s not enough as sitting in long stretches is destructive for your back, so you need to take small steps daily to reduce the harm.
One popular solution to extended sitting is a standing desk. A makeshift desk that enables you to work while standing up.
It’s as easy as it gets but only in theory, like everything it takes time to adapt, but you can get a hang of it quickly.
I have been working on makeshift standing desks for years now. They are easy to make and accessible once you get over the weirdness.
You can shift between desks easily without losing concentration. Moreover marching in a place while standing counts as a walk which is proven to boost creativity and productivity.
Small standing sessions peppered throughout the day can relieve your back and give your body an exercise snack for better focus.
Follow the example of t his brilliant psychology professor who added five-minute exercise breaks in his 80-minute lecture to help the students focus better.
Small habits go a long way to make your daily life more accessible and follow a routine that doesn’t harm your health in the long run.
Here’s what you can do:-
Sitting is non-negotiable but that doesn’t mean you have to park your bum in your chair for excessive hours on end.
A standing desk is a simple solution that can help you get your work done and improve your posture at the same time.
It only takes a small stool to make a standing desk, or you could find a shelf at height in a bright space where you can work.
It’s wise to work on a makeshift standing desk before you decide to buy one, as you’ll have a better idea about its usability.
It only takes 15 minutes to improve your backache
A good daily routine demands balance and consistency. A small ritual repeated daily becomes a habit.
So, it’s impossible to improve your back health without following some habits that set off the effect of extended sitting.
But it takes time and patience to add new habits to your daily routine, you have the desire to adopt the habit but lack the motivation to act on it.
It’s all in thoughts and never in action. The smallest habit feels like a mountain of challenge when you don’t have a good enough reason to push yourself off the chair.
I have a hip dip that wrecked my alignment, caused intense bouts of lower backache, and ruined my posture.
This was a reason enough for me to mend my broken back, find your reason because without it you’ll always find a reason to quit.
The good news is that it only takes 15 minutes a day to revive your health. This study found that short wellness initiatives during a workday lead to good health in the long run.
You can find a window of 15 minutes every day to engage in physical activity daily, and the easiest way to do so is by incorporating exercise in your breaks.
An evening walk in a nearby park became my favorite break as I happened to come upon cute puppies recently.
These puppies were saved by some kids who found them in a gutter, these amazing kids have built a cozy home for puppies, with blankets and toys.
Being a weekend warrior will rescue your health from a sedentary lifestyle but you’ll have trouble forming a routine if you don’t follow the activity daily.
So, make fitness a part of your daily routine to have a better more impactful workout on teh weekend.
Here’s how you can exercise daily:-
Find simple ways to add exercise to your daily routine. You don’t need to take the time out of your schedule, but add a fitness activity to it.
Arrange walking meetings and take stretching breaks. Replace smoking breaks with speed walking.
Flip the script on sedentary behavior by being mindful of your movement at all times.
Pepper small movement breaks throughout the day to keep your back healthy and pain-free.
Conclusion
Your daily routine is the deciding factor for your health, you choose the trajectory of your health with your everyday habits.
It’s high time we realize there’s more to life than work and give attention to our health, as we’re ruining it a little every day for work.
Form a lifestyle that helps you avoid lower back pain which is the most common side-effect of a sedentary life.
Daily interventions along with weekends workouts is the way to keep your lower back health in the long run.