Your spine is a highly dynamic series of bones, tendons and ligaments that are your structure backbone. If you have an injury to your spine or some other condition that causes it to be mis-aligned, you will experience back pain, trouble walking or even damage to nerves that control your arms, legs or bladder. Spinal-alignment exercises can help prevent injury or improve posture to reduce problems from existing injuries.
Neck and Upper Back
Your neck is a highly delicate area to stretch and strengthen. An injury to the cervical spine can lead to headaches, nerve issues in the upper and lower extremities and loss of mobility. To stretch the upper back and neck region, start with pulling your chin to your chest and then to the sky. These are chin flexions and extensions. Then do lateral flexions where you try to touch your ear to your shoulder. Finish with rotations (not circles). Rotation of the neck is looking over each shoulder with your chin parallel to the floor. If you want to do neck circles, make sure you do only forward half-circles to improve mobility. Full circles add more stress to the area. You can do any of these stretches with a hand pushing against the motion to create resistance and build strength.
Middle Back
If your middle back is strong and flexible, it can help create stability in the lower back and neck regions. Strengthen your middle back with abdominal crunches and sit-ups. You can also do back extensions over an exercise ball by lying on the ball, belly down, and holding a light weight in front of you. Extend at your hips, raising yourself to the point where your torso is parallel to the ground.
To stretch your middle back, use a broomstick or other long stick that you place behind your back just lower than you neck. Allow your arms to curl around the stick to keep it in place and rotate your torso from left to right. You can also do the "cobra" pose common in yoga, where you lie with your belly on the ground and raise your torso while looking up at the sky.
Lower Back
The lower back is probably the most common location for back pain and injury. This area can be injured from lifting an object, childbirth or herniated discs, to name a few. To help reduce pain and injury, perform stretches and strengthening exercises to offer this area more support. These include back extensions, which are stretches arching your back while on all fours. While on your hands and knees, do the "bird dog" pose by lifting one leg and extending it behind you while extending the opposite-side arm forward. Sit on the floor and reach for your toes--this gives a good stretch and does not strain the back with the weight of your torso as standing and touching your toes does. Do abdominal exercises and leg raises to increase the strength of the area.
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