Everyday Habits That Keep Your Back Feeling Young
Small daily choices add up to a stronger, freer-moving back.
As renowned German physical trainer Joseph Pilates once said: “You are only as young as your spine is flexible.”
Anybody who’s suffered from debilitating back and spinal problems knows the truth of those words. Indeed, the pain, tightness, and ensuing lack of mobility make you feel old before your time! A 25-year old with a tight, unbending back will lack the vitality of a 70-year old whose spine has stayed supple.
The good news is that we can all enjoy spinal health and wellness! With the proper insight and approach, you can gain strength, flexibility, and freedom of movement in your spine that many people would have never thought possible.
Want to experience it for yourself? Let us help! Check out these seven essential practices for enhancing your spinal health, and visit the Exercise & Spine Alignment hub for the routines and equipment that put them into daily practice.
Improving your spinal health and wellness shares many similarities to enhancing your general wellbeing. Case in point? The need to exercise!
A central component of a healthy lifestyle, exercising makes you stronger, fitter, suppler, and more flexible and balanced to boot. Take walking, for instance. A low-impact physical activity, it offers each of the aforementioned advantages while keeping you upright and fortifying your core at the same time.
That last bit’s important.
Trust us, core strength is key to a happy back! Assuming you aren’t in too much pain, try doing things like sit-ups, crunches, planks, and glute bridges. They’ll strengthen your abs and lower back muscles, offering extra spinal support in the process. Gentle mobility work on the Complete Foam Roller Set pairs well with these moves, easing tight muscles between strength sessions.
Eating your way to spinal health and wellness might sound fanciful. But you’d be surprised at the significant role diet plays in this domain. By regulating your caloric intake and consuming enough vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, you’ll:
With those incentives in mind, try eating a balanced diet that’s free from unhealthy processed foods and excessive amounts of sugar. Consume plenty of nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables too, with complex carbohydrates and legumes on your plate. In time, you’re sure to recognize a positive difference in your back (not to mention your overall wellbeing).
Everybody loves the relaxing, stress-relieving effects of getting a massage, right?
For someone with back problems, though, it’s altogether more liberating! A popular adjunct to lower back treatments, massages can reduce pain and tension in the affected areas. As you’d expect, professional massages deliver the best results, but even massage chairs and devices can offer some much-needed relief. At home, contoured tools like the Neck Shaper Foam Roller Set give tight spots along the neck and upper back the same kind of attention.
Exercise caution though. Intense, deep-tissue massages may do more harm than good for someone with severe chronic back issues. If you fit that description, we recommend starting with a light-to-moderate massage before attempting anything stronger.
When your spine’s already suffering, slouching in your seat only makes matters worse. Even if your back’s in good condition right now, maintaining poor posture can speed up its demise over time. Why?
Because sitting down places added pressure on the discs in your lower spine! Combine that fact with a posture that doesn’t support its natural arches and you’re in for trouble.
Wherever you are, then, strive to sit upright with your shoulders back. At work, lobby your boss for an ergonomic chair and adjust it to fit the curves of your spine. And, more importantly, try to limit how much time you spend in a seated position by standing up, stretching, and going for walks on a regular basis.
A good night’s sleep is another essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Among other things, it’s linked to improved focus and better all-around performance. As far as your spine’s concerned, though, sleep’s also an excellent opportunity for your back to recover from the strain it’s been under all day!
That’s where your mattress comes into play. Wherever possible, try to sleep on a medium-firm spinal health mattress. Softer ones might feel divine to sink into at night, but they don’t offer your back the support it really needs.
Your mattress isn’t the only factor that impacts your spine throughout the night. The way you position your body does as well!
As you probably know, different people sleep in different positions. Some lay on their back, others on their side, and some on their front. What you may not have heard is that certain sleep positions are better than others when it comes to your back.
In general, front sleeping’s best-avoided for the impact it puts on your neck. Sleeping on your side is a step up, although you could consider using a thicker pillow to keep your head and spine aligned. And the king of all positions is lying flat on your back with a pillow beneath your knees to keep your spine neutral.
Few things are worse for your spine than improper lifting technique! Huge numbers of people put their backs out like this and end up at the spinal health center each year. They bend forward from the hips, keep their legs straight, grab hold of the item and explode upward in a bid to pick it up.
The correct way to lift items from the ground is to:
Bad backs and spinal injuries have a profound and debilitating impact on life. That’s why it’s so important to protect them at all costs! With any luck, these spinal health and wellness practices will help you do exactly that.
Of course, anybody with spinal issues and injuries should always consult their doctor before attempting these practices! Get the go-ahead from them first to ensure you won’t inadvertently make matters worse.
Ready to invest in your health and wellness? Let us help! See all of our innovative spinal fitness products and restore your levels of vitality and fitness today.
Flexibility practice does not have to swallow your day — that is the biggest lesson my own spine has taught me. I had been doing near infrared sauna therapy daily, and when I got my portable hot yoga studio at home, I began doing, not 45 minutes, but only 10 minutes of stretching.
Ten focused minutes, done consistently in that warm space, fit into real life in a way a 45-minute block never did. When a practice is easy to keep, you actually keep it — and your spine responds to what you do daily, far more than to what you plan to do someday.
That is why I encourage people to start small with these practices.
Walking is a low-impact activity that keeps you upright and fortifies your core, and core moves such as sit-ups, crunches, planks, and glute bridges strengthen the abs and lower back muscles that give the spine extra support.
Massage is a popular adjunct to lower back care and can reduce pain and tension in the affected areas. Professional massages deliver the best results, and starting with light-to-moderate pressure is the wise first step, especially for anyone with severe chronic back issues.
Lying flat on your back with a pillow beneath your knees keeps the spine neutral and is the king of all positions. Side sleeping also works well when a thicker pillow keeps the head and spine aligned.
A medium-firm mattress gives the back the support it needs while it recovers overnight from the strain of the day.
Keep your back straight at all times, lower yourself into a squat position by bending your knees, and stand back up in a controlled manner — engaging your glutes and leading from the hips instead of your shoulders.
Published July 13, 2022 • Updated August 27, 2026
By Eileen Durfee, Nationally Certified Spinal Fitness Specialist, NASM-CPT, and inventor of the Creatrix Solutions spinal fitness equipment line.
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