Health & Fitness

6 moves to start making today

Move around more Stand up to take phone calls or to break up meetings; sitting puts three times the pressure on your disks as standing. Physical therapists have a neat trick to illustrate back pain: Push one of your fingers back as far as is comfortable. Doesn't hurt, right? Now hold it there for a minute. That ache is what happens when your spine stays in the wrong position for too long.

Stretch your hamstrings Peter F. Ullrich Jr., M.D., a back surgeon in Wisconsin, suffered 10 years of intermittent back pain. He's been painless for 15 years, since he began stretching his hams twice a day, morning and night. "If hamstrings are tight, it locks the pelvis in a position and doesn't allow it to rotate—move back and forth," he says. "All the motion of daily living goes through the bottom disks. If you get them loosened up, it reverses that process. We don't see anyone for surgery who has nice loose hamstrings."

Stay in shape and don't smoke Staying fit means your back and abdominal muscles will be in reasonable shape and getting the oxygen they need to stay healthy, says Christopher M. Bono, M.D., a back surgeon in Boston. Smoking may impede the blood flow your spine needs.

Maintain the natural inward curve of your lower back, whatever you're doing This means having lumbar support for your office chair (or a support pillow) or a pillow behind you when sitting on the couch or in cars or planes. When picking up something heavy, the old "bend your knees" isn't enough. You need to stick your butt out—as in a shortstop's crouch—keeping your back in the correct neutral position, with the lower back curved.

Go biking Hybrid bikes—half mountain, half road—allow you to sit upright and maintain the neutral curve of your back. You'll get in shape and build those crucial glutes.

Do crunches or curlups in the afternoon or evening Your disks are full of fluid in the early morning, and your risk of injury is higher.