Hello, and welcome to tip number one. We need to identify why does my back hurt? And where do I start? So maybe this is the first time that you've experienced back pain, or perhaps you've had a relapse. The first thing that we need to do is identify the type of back disorder. So some samples might be maybe you fell over and you hurt your back that way.

It's an acute injury. Maybe you played sports and you did a type of maneuver that jammed your back. Perhaps you sit too long during the day, maybe poor posture, tight muscles, compensating in the way that you stand, walk or move in the day. Even some medical conditions and spinal degeneration can cause back discomfort. So there's a lot of reasons why back pain could be happening. for you right now.

So the number one thing that we always suggest is to get a proper diagnosis. see a specialist or a doctor who has extensive experience in dealing with back conditions. So that might be your medical doctor. If as I trust a physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor, rheumatologist, neurologist, movement, specialist, kinesiologist there are many different professions of people that can help you when identical, you need to identify the type of back condition that's there. Now, once you know what it is, then we need to manage the condition and this program is going to help you do that. So the first thing that we want to focus on is how to improve our posture.

So let's look at that now. Pay attention to your posture. Posture refers to the way we stand the way We sit the way we move, the way we lift things. It's how we use our body day to day. And when the bones of our spine are correctly aligned, it puts less strain on the spine. So we'll show you the power posture exercise that really only takes 60 seconds out of your day.

Let's try this power posture exercise together. You can either use a mirror to look at your front and your side profile, or you can have somebody take a picture of you from the front, the side and the back so you can see how you stand. I'll stand to the side. Let's begin with our feet hip distance apart. And you want to notice first am I standing more on my toes or on my heels and see if you can balance your weight out between the toes and the heels so that you're well centered. Same thing on the right side and the left side.

Balance out your weight evenly on both seats. Sometimes we compensate to have too much weight on one leg more than the other which can put strain on the spine. Work up through your legs, soft lock in the knees, which means our knees are never locked out. They're not overly bent, just unlocked. As you work your way up your thighs, find your pelvis in what we call a neutral position. So your pelvis is not tilting forward in anterior rotation, or it's not tilting too far backwards or posterior, okay, which also then puts the spine out of alignment.

Generally speaking, when the pubic bone and the hip bones are even, we create a triangular form and there's a natural curve in the lumbar spine. Once we move through there, lengthen the side body. Roll the upper arm bones back as opposed to just trying to pull the shoulders back. Think about ruling the upper arm bones towards the back so that the palms are facing forward. Notice how that expands the clavicle or your collarbone area. As the shoulders move down, we're creating space between the ears and the shoulders.

Then imagine an imaginary line drawing straight up from the crown of your head towards the ceiling. So this is also what we call our anatomical position or power posture. So notice how your breath changes when you stand tall in this position. Now we don't go through life in power posture walking this way, but it gives us a sense of when we align the bones in our spine. There's less strain that's placed on those joints.