5 in 5: Body Stretches To Keep You Limber After A Hard Day’s Work
Do you stretch after work?
Like, on a regular basis?
The clinical world is filled with bending, twisting and lifting. It takes a toll on your body. Many accept aching backs and tense shoulders as par for the course, the price we pay for caring for others.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s never too late to start a regular stretching routine. You will improve flexibility no matter what your starting point. And who knows — maybe even become pain free.
A study published in Pain Management Nursing in December 2012 looked at a cohort of 127 nurses with lower back pain. An experimental group participated in a stretching exercise program (SEP), while the control group maintained their baseline level of activity. The nurses who participated in the SEP noted a significant reduction in their lower back pain symptoms. Data collected six months after the SEP was conducted was impressive. 81% percent of the experimental group reported a moderate to high level of relief from lower back pain.
Our bodies work so hard to take care of others. Why not show a little gratitude by practicing some gentle stretching after a hard day’s work? You have nothing to lose and a whole lot of mobility to gain.
Check out these videos for some basic stretches and helpful tips.
Lower Back
Upper Back and Shoulders
Neck
Hands
Feet
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- You’re the Expert: Tips From Our Scrubbed In Readers | Scrubbed In: The Nurse.com Store Blog
- GoodStuff
This makes total sense! I stretch before and after exercise and during yoga. Why not stretch after a day of providing patient care?? It’s hard to say which video was the most useful as they’re all good. I guess for me it’s the Pilates foot/toe stretch video. I have bunions and my feet are crammed in tennis shoes during work and exercise!
Martha Mitchell, RN,BSN
I need help with my knees. Don’t want surgery.
I have chronic knee issues and doing Egoscue exercises helps a lot. The exercises help get muscles around the knee to support it in a more balanced way (instead of having unbalanced muscles pulling on them in an unbalanced way – out of alignment – which creates unnecessary friction). Ditto with back and shoulder stuff.
He has various books available, but the one I found most helpful when it comes to understanding the process (and why to do which exercises) is the one called “The Egoscue Method of Health through Motion.”
Reading the amazon reviews might help you decide whether this book might be helpful for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Egoscue-Method-Health-Through-Motion/dp/0060924306
Here’s a link to a “sneak peak” of the book:
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060924300
Don’t forget to check your local library system. Ours has a number of titles by Egoscue. (How did I function before their magical system of sending books to me from all over the city and county, where I can pick them up at my local branch?)
All of my joints glide more smoothly, and my movement becomes almost effortless, after an Egoscue session. Especially nice after a day with a lot of heavy or awkward lifting.
Besides improving the “glide” of your joints anatomically, look to nutrition. Up the amount of collagen-promoting foods in your diet, and possibly supplements (I know someone who has ongoing great results with Genocol (sp?)).
My husband’s aunt dramatically improved her knee alignment with a combination of Egoscue exercises (an hour daily) and Gyrotonics (once or twice a week with a trainer). She is nearly 70 and still skis regularly in the winter, and goes on adventure trips.
When stretches aren’t enough to eliminate pain, look deeper.
It may be that your muscles have not been exercised in a balanced way and you are not moving with focus and intention. Try some of the exercises and habits recommended by experts like Pete Egoscue, Esther Gokhale and Mary Bond. My local library carries titles by all of these authors (though of course they are available on Amazon, as well).
It may also be that your fascia needs stretching even more than your muscles do….regular stretching may not target that. Check into the fascial stretches in the “The Ming Method” by Ming Chew.
Great resources Laure. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for supplying this information. I wanted it and I am very pleased to start doing these stretches.
That’s great, Doreen! Let us know how it goes. Hope a stretching routine improves any aches and pains you may have!