Stance #3: Healthy Spine Curvature

Being able to understand and appreciate the meaning of beauty is not only the privilege of artists. What makes sculpture, a piece, of music a piece of old furniture or a sunset beautiful is, in many cases, a matter of opinion. The beauty of the human body though in most cases is, at its core, connected with physiological harmony and health. When we say a person is “beautiful” we might be imagining a body with smooth, flowing curves, but someone with an excessive spinal curvature, like a hump, seems ugly to us.

Think of all the witches portrayed in your childhood fairytale books. Didn’t they all have hunchbacks and warts? The reverse side of this is that flat backs also appear unattractive to us. Opinions of beauty can be explained by understanding what constitutes health: a healthy spine (one with the normal curvatures) can easily stand the vibration caused by walking. This is because the spinal curves absorb the vibration. It is hard to even imagine the shocks and blows that would be transmitted to our spinal cord and brain if our spine were not shaped like it is! Your brain would bounce around inside your skull each time you took a single step! We would all be victims of brain damage the minute we learned to walk.

Healthy intervertebral discs can only survive in a spine with normal curves. An intervertebral disc is a complicated structure with a very flexible gel-like core

Like a tennis ball, the disc springs and cushions the spine when we’re moving. The core is situated in the center of the disc. If a spine has normal curves, then the pressure inside the disc is equally distributed, and the core remains in the center. But if a spinal curvature is abnormal (for example, if we bend over suddenly or jerk) then disc tension will be unequal. One of the disc parts will become overloaded and can even crack, so the disk core will protrude or bulge out. This bulging out is called a disc herniation, and it is here that osteochondrosis of the spine begins, along with back pain.

Now you can see why it is harmful and uncomfortable to sleep on a mattress that’s too hard. Some people even try to sleep on the floor or on boards! After sleeping on surfaces like that, you’ll feel like the princess from “The Princess and the Pea.” You will wake up, that is if you’ve managed to sleep at all, broken and tired. The reason is that your normal spinal curves have been “straightened” into abnormal spinal curvatures by a bed that was too hard and straight.

That is why doing isometric static gymnastics supports normal, natural, physiologic spinal curvatures. At the same time, isometric exercises do not overload your spine or make it bend too much, which would lead to early deterioration of spinal discs and joints.

Advice

To keep spinal curvatures normal while doing isometric static gymnastics, use special devices. For instance, put a support under your neck or lower back. It can be either your own hand or a tight roll made from a towel. You can also use these tricks to prevent back pain in your everyday routines. For example, while sitting in your car during rush hour traffic, on the bus, or at work while sitting at your desk for long periods. To support normal spinal curvature, exercises in special starting positions, such as “Lower back protection” and “Lower back training” were elaborated on in the isometric gymnastics course (see exercise description).

Summary

1. The isometric position-static exercise system develops and protects the natural spinal curvatures and strengthens the stability of your spine.

2. In order to have a healthy back or neck, normal cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures are necessary.

3. Isometric static gymnastics does not alter the natural physiologic spinal curvatures.

4. Isometric gymnastics is directed toward natural and normal spinal form and position training.

Read about which muscles keep your spine healthy Here.