3 Non-Negotiables You Can Do Daily To Maintain Spine Health

Your spine is arguably the most important structure of your entire body, it protects the spinal cord, that highway of communication between your brain and every single function of your body. We all know an issue with the spine and spinal cord has the potential to cause a catastrophic change in the health of your body, so we should really be doing daily habits to help it.

Just like you clean your teeth, you should take care of your spine. And for the majority of us, cleaning our teeth every day is a non-negotiable task. Even when we are exhausted and just want to fall into bed, what do we do? Yep, we take the time to clean our teeth.

So, I encourage you to consider your spine in the same way, regardless of where you are in the world, how much time you do or don’t have, and no matter how tired you are.

Here are 3 non-negotiables that you can do daily to maintain your spine health:

1. Movement
When your spine stops moving degeneration starts. Degeneration causes arthritic changes that can irritate or damage the nerves in your spine. So, to move each day I want you to take your spine through 4 deliberate motions. Do this for your neck and then for your back.

- Bend forward (towards the floor).
- Bend backward (towards the sky).
- Twist to the right.
- Twist to the left.

Do these motions slow and controlled, moving into each of the directions 3 or 4 times.

2. Hydrate
Compression in the spine is not just from sitting or injury, a lot of it can happen from dehydration. So, this one is an easy non-negotiable. Drink one pint within the first hour of the morning and one pint within the first hour of the afternoon. Then drink your extra water on top of that throughout the day.

3. Walking
Your body is designed to move, regardless of your ability and the distance you can currently cover. If you sit still too long, it can have a dramatic impact on the health of your spine. Therefore, take time to walk daily. Ideally 30 minutes per day to give your body the best chance.

I know you may be thinking that this is a lot more time and effort than just cleaning your teeth, but my question is, if you must choose between keeping your teeth or your spine for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

With love,
Tom