The Power of Adult Tummy Time: Strengthening Your Neck and Back

In our increasingly sedentary world, many adults struggle with neck and back pain. Hours spent hunched over computers and staring down at smartphones have taken a toll on our postural health.

One simple yet effective solution gaining attention is "adult tummy time." Borrowing a term from infant care, adult tummy time involves lying on your stomach for short periods each day to alleviate back and neck pain and strengthen your neck and back muscles.

This blog explores the benefits of adult tummy time, how it works, and its connection to neurologically-based chiropractic care.

The Concept of Adult Tummy Time

As silly as it may sound, adult tummy time is a quick, effective way to help improve your back and neck pain and posture. Adult tummy time is a straightforward practice where you lie on your stomach, propped up on your elbows, or flat on the floor, to encourage proper spinal alignment and muscle engagement. This position helps counteract the effects of prolonged sitting and poor posture, offering several key benefits:

1. Strengthening Neck and Back Muscles: When you lie on your stomach, you naturally engage the muscles along your spine, including those in your neck and upper back. This gentle activation helps build strength and endurance, which can alleviate pain and improve posture over time.
2. Improving Posture: By promoting spinal extension and discouraging the rounded shoulders and forward head posture common with sitting, tummy time helps realign the spine. This can reduce strain on the muscles and ligaments supporting the neck and back.
3. Relieving Pressure on the Spine: Prolonged sitting compresses the spine and can lead to disc degeneration. Lying on your stomach takes the pressure off your spine, allowing the discs to rehydrate and recover.
4. Enhancing Mobility: Regularly practicing tummy time can improve the flexibility of your spine and surrounding muscles, making it easier to maintain good posture and reducing the risk of injury.

How to Practice Adult Tummy Time

Integrating tummy time into your daily routine is simple and requires no special equipment. Here’s how to get started:

1. Find a Comfortable Space: Choose a flat, comfortable surface, such as a yoga mat or carpeted floor. You can use a pillow to support your head if needed, but try tummy time without a pillow, first.
2. Position Yourself: Lie on your stomach with your arms bent and elbows directly under your shoulders. Your forearms should be flat on the ground, and your head should be in a neutral position, looking straight ahead.
3. Start Slow: Begin with just a few minutes of tummy time each day, gradually increasing the duration as your muscles adapt. Aim for 10-15 minutes at a time, several times a day.
4. Engage Your Core: To maximize the benefits, gently engage your core muscles by pulling your belly button toward your spine. This helps stabilize your lower back and ensures proper alignment.
5. Breathe Deeply: Focus on deep, even breaths to relax your muscles and maintain a steady, comfortable position.

When we first gave adult tummy time a go, we found it was easy for our mind to wander and boredom to creep in during those ten to fifteen minutes. So now, we listen to an audiobook or place a laptop on the floor in front of us to watch an episode of our favorite TV show. It’s like a little reward for practicing a healthy habit.

If you do decide to use a laptop to watch TV while you practice, it’s critical that you set the screen in a place where you can still achieve proper head alignment and not strain your neck. Your head needs to remain in a neutral position or looking straight ahead.

Incorporating Stretches and Exercises

To enhance the benefits of tummy time, consider incorporating some gentle stretches and exercises:

1. Neck Stretches: While lying on your stomach, gently turn your head from side to side to stretch the muscles in your neck.
2. Cobra Pose: From the tummy time position, press into your hands and lift your chest off the ground, extending your spine into a gentle backbend. Hold for a few breaths before lowering back down.
3. Superman Exercise: Extend your arms straight out in front of you and lift your arms, chest, and legs off the ground simultaneously. Hold for a few seconds, then lower back down. This exercise strengthens your lower back and glutes.

Neurologically-Based Chiropractic Care and Tummy Time

Neurologically-based chiropractic care focuses on the relationship between the spine and the nervous system. Chiropractors in this field use specific techniques to correct spinal misalignments, known as subluxations, which can interfere with nerve function and overall health.

Adult tummy time complements neurologically-based chiropractic care by promoting proper spinal alignment and muscle strength, which are essential for maintaining the benefits of chiropractic adjustments. Here’s how the two practices work together:

1. Supporting Spinal Health: Regular tummy time helps maintain the spinal adjustments made by your chiropractor, ensuring that your spine stays in its optimal position for longer periods.
2. Enhancing Nerve Function: By improving spinal alignment and reducing pressure on the nerves, tummy time can enhance the effectiveness of chiropractic care, promoting better communication between your brain and body.
3. Preventing Re-injury: Strengthening the muscles that support your spine through tummy time can prevent the reoccurrence of subluxations and other spinal issues, reducing the need for frequent adjustments.
4. Holistic Approach: Combining tummy time with neurologically-based chiropractic care provides a holistic approach to managing neck and back pain, addressing both the structural and functional aspects of spinal health.

Conclusion

Adult tummy time is a simple, accessible practice with significant benefits for your neck and back health. By strengthening your muscles, improving posture, relieving spinal pressure, and enhancing mobility, tummy time can be a valuable addition to your daily routine. When combined with neurologically-based chiropractic care, it offers a comprehensive approach to spinal health, helping you achieve and maintain optimal well-being.

Incorporate tummy time into your daily routine, and consider consulting a neurologically-based chiropractor to maximize the benefits. Your neck and back will thank you for the extra care and attention, leading to a healthier, pain-free life.

If you’re ready to start your health journey with neurologically-based chiropractic care, visit our Riverton, Utah office and schedule an appointment today.