| Get up and at 'em. British researchers analyzed | | | | Enroll in a tai chi class. If you're looking for a |
| the results of 10 studies in which a total of 3,222 | | | | no-impact, no-sweat way to work out while your |
| people with back pain were advised to either get | | | | back gets better, try tai chi. In one study, |
| bed rest or stay active. None of the studies | | | | researchers instructed 51 people with chronic |
| found any benefit in bed rest. In fact, the people | | | | lower-back pain to either practice tai chi or |
| who stayed in bed recovered more slowly than | | | | continue their usual back-care programs. After 6 |
| those who didn't. After a back injury, your best | | | | weeks, the people doing tai chi reported significant |
| bet is to return to your normal routine as soon as | | | | reductions in pain. |
| you can, says Wilbert E. Fordyce, Ph.D., professor | | | | Yoga |
| emeritus at the University of Washington School | | | | Strike a pose against pain. When Nashville |
| of Medicine in Seattle. | | | | pathologist Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D., developed |
| Be gentle to your back. Most experts recommend | | | | chronic lower-back pain, she tried almost |
| resuming exercise within 2 to 3 days of the onset | | | | everything for relief. Nothing helped. Then just as |
| of pain. | | | | she was about to agree to surgery, she decided |
| For his patients with back problems, Brian Shiple, | | | | to give yoga a shot. She felt better, so she kept |
| D.O., director of primary-care sports medicine for | | | | it up. The more yoga classes she took, the less |
| Crozer-Keystone Health System in Springfield, | | | | pain she had. |
| Pennsylvania, prescribes a combination of gentle | | | | Dr. Schatz was so pleased with the results of her |
| stretching and walking, swimming, or cycling. He | | | | yoga therapy that she eventually became a |
| recommends working out for about 1/2 hour, 3 | | | | certified Iyengar yoga instructor. She also wrote |
| to 5 days a week. | | | | Back Care Basics, a yoga-based guide to back |
| "Just make sure that your exercise program is | | | | self-care. "Yoga cured my bad back;' she says. |
| moderate and doesn't reinjure your back;" says | | | | "It's a gentle activity that builds strength and |
| physical therapist Eileen Vollowitz, founder of Back | | | | promotes flexibility." |
| Designs, a store in Berkeley, California, that | | | | Among the various yoga styles, Iyengar yoga is |
| specializes in backcare products. "Anything | | | | the best choice for back pain. Certified Iyengar |
| that pounds, jars, or suddenly twists your back | | | | instructors learn how to adapt yoga postures to |
| isn't appropriate. So forget high-impact aerobics, | | | | provide maximum benefit and minimum harm to |
| racquet sports, and most team sports." | | | | people with lowerback problems. |
| Tai Chi | | | | |