Ease lower back pain with at-your-desk stretch

For most people, lower back pain is a cumulative process, creeping up on us through poor posture and bad habits when lifting and bending. Here is an easy exercise you can do throughout the day to help strengthen your back muscles while sitting for long periods of time.

-- Karen Voight

Step 1

Sit in a chair, raise your left arm above you and hold it just above the elbow with the right hand. Your forearm will come behind your head. Inhale, pulling your abdominals in toward your spine, moving your head slightly back to press gently against your right forearm.

Step 2

On an exhale, lean slightly to the right and slowly draw imaginary circles on the ceiling with your left hand. Keep your hips, thighs and knees motionless as you initiate the movement from your waist. After three circles, return to center and inhale; switch the position of your arms, then repeat the circles with the opposite hand.

Karen Voight can be reached at kvoightla@aol.com.