A set of exercises for the muscles of the back and neck. Exercises for the cervical spine: relieve pain in a few minutes! Gymnastics for the back of the neck

Exercise therapy exercises are designed to strengthen muscles that are weakened for some reason. The most relevant today is exercise therapy for the back, since the spine is the most common place where pathological changes occur. And it is these changes that greatly spoil a person’s life.

What is exercise therapy

Therapeutic physical culture is a large group of special physical exercises, the purpose of which is to help restore the tone of any muscle groups. From the point of view of anatomy and physics, the most vulnerable place in the human body is the back and spinal column: from the sacrum to the neck. Therefore, the most relevant today is therapeutic exercises for the back.

There are a lot of exercises in physical therapy. You already know some of them, since you have probably done exercises at least once in your life.

Neurological departments often admit people who cannot straighten up. One day their back was pinched and they couldn’t straighten up on their own. This is due to the pinching of a certain nerve due to the fact that the muscular corset of the lower back cannot provide adequate protection to the spine.

Why are back exercises so necessary? See for yourself:

• Hands - they are always doing something, moving. Even when eating, you hold a spoon in your hands. In general, the arm moves too much for the muscles to atrophy that much.
• Legs - since a person walks, their muscles are also constantly trained.
• What remains is the body. To maintain a straight body position, the back and abdominal muscles must be evenly developed, toned and receive good blood supply. If these conditions are violated (say, with a sedentary lifestyle), the muscles weaken and can no longer perform their functions.

For example, the longissimus dorsi muscle, which runs along the spine, is constantly under stress. During long and motionless sitting, blood flow to it becomes difficult, which reduces its capabilities.

So gradually, depending on our bad habits, the core muscles lose the ability to reduce compression of the spine, the intervertebral cartilage is worn out, and the spinal nerves are pinched. This causes pain and limited mobility.

Thus, the back requires training. If you don’t go to the gym, don’t do exercises in the morning, or are overweight (even if you just have a belly), one day you will have to perform therapeutic exercises to save your back from the progression of diseases.

Types of exercise therapy

Gymnastics to strengthen the back muscles is not the only type of exercise therapy. First of all, physical therapy is designed to restore muscle tone in any part of the body. For example, after wearing a cast for a long time and forced immobility, muscle rehabilitation is required.

As for the back, this is a separate issue, since almost half of the entire earth’s population needs exercise therapy for the spine.

The most vulnerable part of the spine is the neck, because the vertebrae here are the smallest and most fragile. She holds her head, the weight of which can reach 2 or more kg. Imagine - the neck muscles hold this weight for most of the day. Titanic work that we don't notice. And add to this prolonged sitting, tilting your head to the side or stretching your neck forward. Under such conditions, not only does blood supply become difficult, but the load is also distributed unevenly. Some muscles are loaded more than others and cannot stand it. So therapeutic exercises for the neck are also necessary.

As a result, the classification of physical exercises can be based on the following:

1. Training target muscle groups: gymnastics for the muscles of the back, arms, legs, etc.
2. Prevention or treatment of various diseases: for example, for a sore back, etc.

These are all conditional classifications. Often the same exercises are used to achieve multiple goals.

Three complexes for the back of varying difficulty

Any disease has several periods. For example, the manifestation of spinal osteochondrosis can be divided into 2 stages. There is an acute period, and then there is a decrease in the severity of symptoms and the rehabilitation stage. And at each stage there are different exercises to strengthen the back muscles.

With exacerbation of osteochondrosis

Depending on the severity of back diseases, special exercises will be different. And they differ in their complexity and load.

You should start doing exercises only after the acute pain has been relieved.

For example, a primary set of exercises could be like this:

1. We lie down on a soft and warm mat, with our legs thrown over a thick cushion. We squeeze and unclench our palms and feet. We do 10 simultaneous compressions.
2. They moved the cushion aside and placed their feet on the floor. The left leg was bent at the knee, placing the foot on the floor. The right leg remains straight. Move your right leg 10 times to the side (sideways).
3. Place your feet on the roller again, starting position with your arms along your torso. Alternately lift each arm up as if you were floating on your back - 10 strokes for each arm.
4. Now do exercise number 2, but for the other leg.
5. And again, legs on the bolster, bend your arms at the elbows, keep your palms at your shoulders. Make a circle with your elbows in a horizontal plane. That is, you draw 10 circles above you with both elbows at the same time. Try to draw even circles.
6. The legs are still on the bolster, knees bent. Straighten each leg in turn. 10 times for each leg.
7. Now a more difficult exercise that may cause pain in the acute period, be careful. The roller was removed and the legs were bent at the knees. Alternately pull each leg with your knee towards your chest. 10 times.
8. From the same starting position, turn your knees to the side, trying to touch the floor with each knee. Avoid sharp pain.
9. At the end of the complex, breathe by inflating and deflating your abdomen - 10 inhalations and exhalations.

These exercises are suitable for daily use. You can see that a very light load is used for treatment. But it is enough to help a person.

When the acute period is over, you can do a more serious set of exercise therapy exercises.

When symptoms began to subside

When the symptoms are no longer so severe, you can gradually increase the load. But listen to your body - if doing something hurts (acute pain) - reduce the range of motion. This will definitely help.

1. Lying on your back with your arms extended along your body, raise your head and at the same time strain your abs. This is a lightweight version of raising the body from a lying position. We repeat the movement 10 times.
2. We lean on the shoulder blades, arms along the body, bend the legs at the knees. Raise the pelvis 10 times. There is no need to bend it too much towards the ceiling, just raise it by 10–15 cm. A large amplitude can cause you pain at this stage.
3. Lie straight on your back, tense your buttocks and relax them. Try to achieve maximum tension. This is a static exercise.
4. We lie down with our legs bent at the knees, alternately touching our knees crosswise with our hands, slightly raising our head and body above the floor. 10 times for each hand.
5. Place a large cushion under your knees (or an ottoman). From this position you need to raise your pelvis above the floor - again by 10-15 cm.
6. We stood on our knees and hands, with our backs arched upwards. We sat down with our backs on our heels and stood back up. So 10 times.
7. Now we stand in the same position as in exercise 6 - we arch our back up, lower it back to a straight position. So 10 times. This exercise works well the longissimus muscle and other muscles of the spine.

Well done, more strenuous exercises now that the pain has subsided!

Exercises for rehabilitation

At this stage, when there is no longer any pain, you need to gradually allow them to withstand the normal load of your life.

The main targets are the abs, the longissimus spinae (all its parts), and the core muscles.

The complex is as follows:

1. Lifting the body while lying down. You have already raised your head, now from the same position try to lift your upper back off the floor. You need to put your knees over the ottoman.
2. From a lying position, lift your straight legs one at a time. Over time, you can lift both legs. Press your lower back to the floor. This can be painful at first, so you need to work each leg individually first.
3. Raising legs from a vertical position. You need to hang on the gymnastics wall or use a horizontal bar or special supports. You don't need to keep your legs straight; in your case, it is enough to raise your legs with your knees bent. Just try to touch your knees to your chest.
4. A very effective exercise in physical therapy is rolling back and forth on a round back. Wrap your arms around your knees and roll. But do it on a mat, since rolling on a hard surface is not the most pleasant experience on your spine. You can lean slightly to the side to get a longer trajectory and stretch more muscles.
5. Hyperextension and are the best exercises for strengthening the back. Regular hyperextension should be done in parallel with abdominal strengthening. This is the key to lower back health.
6. Exercises for stretching the legs and lower back are also a mandatory part of exercise therapy. To do this, stand up straight, fix your lower back and try to reach the floor with your hands. If you are good at this, grab your shins with your hands and reach closer to your legs. When performing the exercise, try to maintain the curve in your lower back, which is characteristic of correct posture.

There are, as already mentioned, a lot of exercises. You need to do them regularly and monitor your feelings.

Here are some simple tips to help you recover faster:

• Don't do anything through pain. But, do not immediately abandon the exercise if it causes pain. Reduce the range of motion and conduct an experiment. As a result, you will know exactly at what stage the pain occurs and where to stop.
• Don't lift weights. In your case, hyperextension and abdominal lifting cannot be done with additional weight.
• For osteochondrosis, it is useful to simply hang on the horizontal bar; this stretches the spine.
• Avoid drafts while exercising as you are exercising on the floor. Cold is an enemy for the back not only with osteochondrosis, but also with other diseases.

Neck pain, otherwise known as cervicalgia, is an unpleasant phenomenon that every person has encountered. The most common cause of this condition is weakness of the neck muscles. With a prolonged uncomfortable position, the muscles become numb, which causes discomfort and the inability to turn the head. To strengthen the neck muscles, you need to do a simple warm-up every day, which will help you get rid of pain forever.

The therapeutic effect of gymnastics for the cervical spine

Therapeutic gymnastics is a fairly well-known method of medical rehabilitation, based on the use of physical exercises to cure or eliminate the consequences of any disease. Currently, many doctors consider gymnastics as an integral part of the treatment of chronic diseases, which is as effective as the effects of medications.

The main goals and essence of therapeutic exercises

Like any therapeutic event, gymnastics has several goals. All of them are aimed at improving the general condition of the patient, getting rid of the problem and further prevention.

The goals of therapeutic physical gymnastics:

Effects of daily exercise

All effects from the use of therapeutic exercises can be divided into short-term (occurring immediately at the time of completing tasks) and long-term (remote effects from training).

To achieve long-term effects, you must perform the exercises regularly without skipping classes.

Effects of therapeutic exercises - table

Who should not do therapeutic exercises?

Like any therapeutic agent, therapeutic physical culture is not indicated for everyone.. For some groups of people, it is absolutely contraindicated to perform any kind of exercise, as this can provoke an exacerbation of the disease and complicate its course. In cases where the supposed harm from the exercise may outweigh the benefits, therapeutic exercises are not prescribed.

To find out if you are at risk, you should consult your doctor. The therapist will issue a certificate of health and determine its group, which will allow the medical rehabilitation specialist to conclude that the patient can perform physical exercises.

Engaging in physical therapy is contraindicated in the following conditions:

• increased body temperature;
• intense pain syndrome that is not eliminated by non-narcotic analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs;
• dehydration and general exhaustion of the body (cachexia);
• the first signs of pulmonary edema;
  With edema, fluid accumulates in the air cavities of the lungs - the alveoli.
• acute cerebrovascular accidents (ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebral infarction);
• acute respiratory failure;
• chronic respiratory failure of the fourth degree;
• chronic heart failure of the third and fourth degree;
  Chronic circulatory failure is a consequence of heart disease
• disintegration of a cancerous tumor;
• recent infectious disease;
• tendency to form blood clots (thrombosis);
• recently suffered a major myocardial infarction;
  Myocardial infarction - an area of ​​​​dead heart muscle due to the closure of the lumen of a vessel by a thrombus or plaque
• severe forms of dementia;
• severe mental illness.

Indications and contraindications for prescribing exercises

The neck is a very thin and sensitive part of the human body. If its structures are damaged, there is a possibility of complete paralysis. That is why it is worth prescribing special exercises to strengthen the muscular corset only to those who really need it and have no contraindications for taking a course of exercise therapy.

Indications for prescribing exercises:

In order to prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases, it is recommended to carry out therapeutic exercises in the following cases:

• regular sports training;
• professional training in martial arts;
• sedentary lifestyle;
• long-term work at the computer (six or more hours a day);
• age over twenty-five years;
• presence of spinal diseases in close relatives;
• obesity.

Contraindications to prescribing exercises:

Preparing to do the exercises

In order for gymnastics to be effective and not bring unpleasant consequences, a certain ritual of action should be carried out. Correct technique and compliance with safety precautions are the main key to successful exercise.

Conditions for performing exercises

Doing therapeutic exercises in inappropriate conditions can result in unpleasant consequences: increased fatigue, injury. To avoid this, you need to prepare a room and special clothes for performing gymnastics.

Conditions for competent conduct of physical therapy:

Safety precautions

As with any sport, some unpleasant moments may arise when performing gymnastic exercises. They can be avoided by following safety precautions. With a competent approach to performing exercises, the risk of injury is minimized.

A few simple rules that will help you avoid unpleasant consequences:

Method of execution and stages of exercises

There are a great variety of different techniques that will relieve pain and restore mobility of the cervical spine within several sessions. The principle of any therapeutic therapy is phasing and consistency. If you regularly and accurately perform all the exercises, gradually increasing the load, then after six months there will be no trace of pain in the neck, and as a bonus you will feel excellent, cheerfulness and freshness of thought in any endeavor.

Bubnovsky Sergey Mikhailovich is a recognized specialist in the field of traumatology and orthopedics, as well as medical rehabilitation. The course of gymnastic exercises he developed will allow you to restore the tone of the neck muscles, strengthen the tendons and ligaments and get rid of unpleasant sensations in the neck.

To ensure that the effect of the exercises does not keep you waiting, you must strictly follow all the rules of gymnastics. Professor Bubnovsky recommends first consulting with a specialist, and only then resorting to exercises.

Mandatory rules:

• before starting the exercises, you need to perform a light stimulating neck massage, warming up and preparing the muscles for the load with smooth stroking and pinching movements;
• monitor your spine and posture: if your back is positioned incorrectly, exercises can be harmful;
• monitor your breathing: the exercise begins with inhalation, and ends with a return to the starting position at the exit;
• If you experience severe pain, dizziness, nausea and loss of balance, you must immediately stop exercising and call a doctor or trainer.

Six simple exercises from Dr. Bubnovsky that are easy to do at home:

Video: Doctor Bubnovsky tells how to get rid of neck pain

Isometric muscle strengthening exercises

Isometric exercise sets are based on complete relaxation of the neck muscles without their subsequent contraction. Such loads remove the block caused by compression of blood vessels and nerves. Unpleasant sensations will begin to disappear a few minutes after the start of classes.

There are a great variety of isometric exercises, but the most commonly used are the following:

Video: isometric gymnastics for the neck from a physical therapy specialist

Gymnastics Norbekova

Mirzakarim Sanakulovich Norbekov is a doctor engaged in research activities in the field of alternative medicine and rehabilitation. With the help of the techniques he developed, many people forgot about spinal problems forever and were able to return to everyday work just a few weeks after starting classes.

Exercises from Norbekov, created to eliminate pain:

Video: Norbekov’s joint gymnastics

Cervical Spine Strain

Stretching is a mandatory element of every set of exercises. With its help, muscles tense and relax as quickly as possible, blood flow and energy metabolism improves. Proper stretching will ensure easy and painless exercise.

Stretching exercises:

1. Neck flexor muscle training. Starting position - standing. The arms are bent at the elbows, lying on the belt, the shoulders are extremely low. The head is slightly thrown back, the chin is pulled up. The duration of the exercise will be two to three minutes.
2. Stretching the muscles of the head and neck involved in turns. You need to place your left hand above your eyebrows on your forehead. The hand, like a lever, puts pressure on the head, tilting it back, and then turning it to the right. Then the exercise must be repeated with the right hand and turning the head in the other direction. The repetition rate is ten times.
3. Stretching the neck extensor muscles. The starting position is with support on the wall. The left hand rests freely behind the right ear. Using your hand as a lever, you tilt and turn your head. The exercise must be repeated for ten to fifteen approaches.

Photo gallery: performing neck stretches

Stretching the muscles of the head and neck will minimize the load on the shoulder girdle Stretching the neck flexors will help relieve pain Extensor stretching exercise will relieve muscle tension

Video: stretching for neck muscles

Gymnastics Popova

Yuri Popov offers all people suffering from cervical osteochondrosis several simple exercises that can reduce discomfort and minimize pain. The duration of the course is four weeks.

1. Starting position - lying on the couch, head hanging freely down. You need to rotate slowly and smoothly. The number of exercises is gradually increased from five to ten times.
2. Starting position - sitting or lying on the couch. Place your palms on the temple area, and use your hands to carefully turn your head to the right or left. The frequency of repetition of exercises is ten times.
3. Wall-supported position. As you inhale, the shoulder girdle rises, and as you exhale, it lowers to its original position. You need to do the exercise fifteen times.
4. Lying on your stomach, you need to perform a light massage of the cervical vertebrae. It is necessary to apply gentle pressure on the vertebrae and rub the muscle ridges of the neck. The duration of the massage is from five to seven minutes.
5. In a sitting position, massage the interscapular space for ten minutes. As a result, not only the neck muscles will relax, but also the entire shoulder girdle.

Video: gymnastics from Yuri Popov

Exercises to strengthen muscles according to Shishonin

Dr. Shishonin is an outstanding specialist at the Bubnovsky Center. Under his leadership, many rehabilitation programs are carried out daily aimed at restoring mobility of the cervical spine.

Video: Shishonin’s therapeutic exercises

Gymnastics Qigong

At the dawn of the millennium, Chinese sages and healers created a unique Qigong technique aimed at activating the body’s internal reserves. The body begins to heal under the influence of exercise, which is due to its effect on certain points.

Video: Qigong gymnastics

Exercises to relax the cervical spine

After a long day of work and an uncomfortable position, all muscles need rest. Relaxation of the cervical spine should be carried out in a calm environment, without making sudden movements.

A few simple exercises to relieve tension:

1. Slow and smooth tilts of the head to the right and left. There is no need to try to reach your head to your shoulder; the purpose of this exercise is to relax the muscles as much as possible. The duration of the exercise is twenty inclinations in three minutes.
2. Tilts the head forward and backward. This exercise is performed from a sitting position. The head slowly lowers to the chest and returns to its original position. After this, you need to tilt your head back a little without overextending it. Repeat ten to fifteen times.
3. Lying on your stomach, head slightly hanging off the couch. It is necessary to lie in this position for five minutes to restore the physiological curves of the spine.
4. Pronation. The arms are extended forward, the head rests on the mat. Spend two to three minutes in this position to recuperate.

Video: relaxing the cervical spine

Exercises for rehabilitation after neck injuries

It is recommended to start classes if you have a neck injury no earlier than twenty days after removing the special corset. Traumatologists determine the start time of rehabilitation depending on the complexity of the injury. Now there is a sequence of performing various sets of exercises that will reduce the recovery period to a minimum:

Exercises used to treat cervical myelopathy

Cervical myelopathy is compression of the spinal cord in the bone canal, which leads to intense pain. Therapeutic physical training is an integral stage in the treatment of this pathology. Various sets of exercises will help alleviate the patient’s condition and improve his health in a short time:

1. Experts recommend starting with Popov gymnastics, alternating it with stretching the cervical spine.
2. After a few days of intensive training, exercises from the Bubnovsky and Qigong course are introduced.
3. In parallel with the successful use of these exercises, the patient is given a course of medical massage.
4. The final stage of treatment involves the patient choosing a technique aimed at maintaining a positive result.

Unpleasant consequences and complications of gymnastics

If you do not perform the exercises correctly, unpleasant consequences may occur that will have to be eliminated with medication or surgery. Most complications are potentially reversible and will not cause serious impairment, but very severe cases also occur.

Causes of complications:

• violation of safety conditions and regulations;
• violation of the gymnastics technique;
• incorrect appointment of a rehabilitation doctor;
• presence of contraindications to gymnastics;

Complications of therapeutic exercises:

Experts' opinions

Gentlemen, diseases of the musculoskeletal system are mostly associated with our lifestyle. Except for the injury. So, specialists from the Dikul and Bubnovsky centers made the absolutely correct conclusion that our immobility must be treated with movement. Please note that V.I. Dikul, S.M. Bubnovsky are people who lead large teams who are directly involved in solving your problems. There are also differences in methods. If S.M. Bubnovsky places emphasis on physical exercise, while V.I. Dikul, the loads in the gym are more gentle and a strong diagnostic and treatment base has been added to them. So choose where to get treatment, the main thing is that it is not in front of a computer screen.

http://spinet.ru/osteoh/publicforum/otzyvy-o-Bubnovskom.php

The WHO recommendations, based on the results of studies based on the principles of Evidence-Based Medicine, talk about the benefits of physical exercise. But the type of exercise is selected individually by a specialist (based on the patient’s problem and the doctor’s knowledge). Of course, in most cases there is a certain scheme and at each stage of the scheme there are its own average methods. These are the ones you either need to learn to understand yourself, or trust a specialist (and the principle of selection is the “principle of reasonableness” and, unfortunately, there is a “principle of trial and error”).

Doctor Stupin

https://www.medhouse.ru/threads/1663/

The cause of back pain according to Bubnovsky: a person has deep muscles (they are located in a column around the spine). They provide nutrition to the intervertebral discs and nerve roots (they deliver moisture there). There is a disruption in the functioning of these muscles (either as a result of injury, when muscle spasm occurs, or as a result of a sedentary lifestyle, when they are constantly in a tense state). So, as a result of malnutrition, the fibrous ring dries out and the hernia breaks through. However, this does not threaten you in any way, since the hernia itself does not contain nerve endings and cannot touch the root. Also, due to lack of moisture, inflammation of the nerve root occurs, and pain appears in any position, usually in the lower leg. There is such a thing as muscle memory. It lasts 2 days. The muscles remember how to relax. Since during a sedentary lifestyle (computer, TV, etc.) the back muscles are constantly tense and weakened, at one point you make an awkward movement, the deep muscles spasm and do not relax. The point of treatment with Bubnovsky is to relax the deep muscles. Relaxation and normalization of their work means normalization of nutrition of the spine and nerve roots and the disappearance of pain and reduction of the hernia (special cells - phagocytes - remove tissues unnecessary for the body), however, a large hernia will not completely disappear, you can count on a halving. However, this does not matter much, since the hernia itself does not cause any pain.

http://spinet.ru/conference/topic95.html

Having thought for a long time on the topic of osteochondrosis using the example of friends and myself, I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to develop criteria for healing in the case of osteochondrosis. For example, can the disappearance of pain be considered as such? Or achieving success in certain movements? Osteochondrosis is characterized by a cyclic course. In the vast majority of osteochondrosis patients I know, it “went away” on its own, without any manipulation, but this does not mean that it will not return. It will probably return, and in a much more acute form. Therefore, it is, of course, very difficult to judge a methodology based on isolated facts without statistics, especially in the absence of strict criteria.

http://spinet.ru/conference/topic95–255.html

Therapeutic gymnastics is an excellent method of eliminating neck pain, based on activating the body’s own internal forces. With regular and correct exercise, negative manifestations will recede or disappear entirely, and the body will be filled with vigor. Before choosing any of the many exercise therapy techniques, you must visit a rehabilitation doctor.

A complex of morning exercises for the back and spine promotes excellent development of the main muscle groups and gives the body vitality and energy, in just 15 minutes without leaving home!

The exercises in this article are borrowed from yoga practice and included in many different sets of exercises for the spine. By performing these movements, you will literally feel their positive effect on the body from the first time.

A complex of 7 exercises for the spine

Completing this set of exercises will help improve or even restore the health of the spine. The charging system is focused on gentle stretching and strengthening of the muscles of the back, spine and neck. An important part of it is relaxation of the back and relaxation of the body, which has a beneficial effect on the health and general condition of the human body.

The relaxation stage cannot be neglected - it is better to do fewer exercises, but with complete relaxation in accordance with the technique! Correctly performed workouts can improve blood supply to the spinal muscles, correct posture, reduce the curvature of the spinal column, etc. This therapeutic exercise in the morning has no age restrictions– even older people can do it. It is highly recommended for sedentary work.