Curving spines the other way

 I am on my phone each morning doing NYT puzzles in bed. I realized this morning that it is a great opportunity to bend my spine the other direction. 

We spend so much time hunching forward, there is not much backward bending in our daily routines. 

So starting today, my phone time, in the wee hours of the morning, is on my belly, up on my elbows like a toddler. 

I started PT yesterday, proactive, for my posture. Some of the positions are passive stretching, others are active movements. 

My spine is still flexible, it moves full range. At some point people hunching forward loose their strength and flexibility and are stuck forward. It is important to take action early.

Rollers

Foam rollers and stick rollers.

Foam Roller

 You might have caught my note that Middle is currently doing preventive knee physical therapy.

This is with a quality sports physical therapist.

If you have not heard me say this in the past, here it is again. Physical therapists come in different levels. There are those who are geared toward people getting on and off the toilet and in and out of the car. Then there are those who are athletes themselves and work toward that end with their patients. The same way I would never go to an over weight nutritionist, I would also not go to an out of shape physical therapist with poor posture.

Middle's therapist has her doing high level, effective, training type work.

He has her using a foam roller and ankle weights for some of her moves.

We bought both at Walmart. They actually had a very good selection.

I believe her foam roller was 18". There were larger sizes available.

Her ankle weights were 3 lb. 5 lb were also available.

I am attaching a full copy of the sheet that came with the roller, because when it is all in the package at the store, you can't see the moves.

ADDED LATER - this is a very thick, short, pool noodle I have used in a foam roller type of way. In comparison to middle's (green, below) it is not as good. Hers is thicker. Her shorter length is easier to roll. Hers is ram rod straight and mine has a natural curve to it.