One sign of knowing that you are getting old is when movement becomes difficult for you, not because of nerve cell damage, or pain in any organs, but because your joints do not move as good as before. They may also hurt badly. How do you fix or prevent this. Other body complications have exercises and things, that can help to reduce them, but what exercises do you do to improve the mobility of your joints. The following are three answers to this question.
1. Neck circles
Many people have complications with their neck like forward head posture, resulting from them bending their neck too much to either stare at phones, laptops, or the television. This particular complication causes knots and tension points to form in neck muscles as the muscles located at the back of the neck are lengthened. Some parts of the spine can also become stiff as a result of bending the neck a lot.
Neck circles help to relieve you of all these symptoms, stand with a straight back and knees bent slightly, as your arms drop down by your side. Draw in your stomach as your chin is allowed to drop to your chest and start to rub your right shoulder with your right ear. Move your head back and slowly rub your left shoulder with your left ear, after which you move your head to start all over again on the same side, repeating there until you become good at it, before moving to the other side.
2. Cat cow
This ancient pose is great for flexing and lubricating the disks of the spine, especially the thoracic spine at the middle and upper part of the back. This also reduces back pain you might be feeling and helps to improve movement, as a bent spine causes problems in the nervous system.
Get on all fours and maintain a straight back. Breathe in heavily as you pull your back in and jerk your head and buttocks upwards. Breathe out as you now push your back in, drawing your stomach in as well, and you tilt your head to your chest and buttocks turned in.
3. Pelvic circles
Your spine is the ultimate bone that absorbs the shock of you landing hard. If the spine especially the part of your lower back lumbar spine has a jammed bone or some other blockage, it will not be able to absorb shock properly, but instead distributes the force to tendons, muscles and ligaments, damaging them as they were not designed for that.
Other complications like strains, sprains, knee pain and back pain, may also result. Pelvic circles help to lubricate your lumbar spine and pelvic joints, freeing any jammed bone or object and hence reducing back pains and other complications. Stand with your feet apart and start doing circular motions with your pelvis, as your feet are planted in one spot.
Image Courtesy of: runnersworld.com
