#1 Best Exercise For Back Pain - The Cat Camel!
So what is the #1 best exercise for back pain? There are many exercises I give to my patients depending on what I find in my exam however there is certainly no other that I give more often for back pain than the cat camel or otherwise known as the cat cow.
Why? There are over 100 joints within your spine and joints are designed to move. When they stop moving they start to wear out causing dysfunction and pain. The primary job of the Chiropractor is to locate what we call a “Subluxation” (a restricted, misaligned dysfunctional joint) and restore their function to improve the way the spine moves as a unit. The Cat Camel is a great way of encouraging this movement in the spine, keeping the joints mobile and making it less likely you will develop an issue in the future, if this is done regularly.
How Is The Cat Camel Done?
Go onto your all fours with your shoulders and hips at 90 degrees. The lower your stomach to the floor (extending the spine) whilst at the same time looking upwards. Then do the exact opposite, arch your spine upwards whilst looking down to create a C shape with your spine.
This is also a very popular exercise especially within Pilates and Yoga (for very good reason) and thus many people have done this before. However most people don’t tend to do it as often as I would recommend. I normally recommend 8 repetitions up and down and then between 3-5 times per day or more if you are in a lot of pain and find it helpful. Of course, if you makes the pain worse in any way, either modify the exercise by reducing the range of motion or repetitions.
To Find out how to do the Cat Camel, watch my YouTube video below: