Last year in the months of October and November, Olympic coaches from 15 nations around the world came to Life University to participate in the Coaching Excellence Program. The month-long seminar was funded through Olympic Solidarity, a division of the International Olympic Committee. Life’s program held the distinction of being the only training program for coaches in the Western Hemisphere funded under the aegis of the International Olympic Committee. The coaches participated in a diverse series of over 30, cutting-edge training modules ranging from Tai Chi—taught by a seventh-degree black belt from China—to sports nutrition.
At the completion of the training camp, the coaches rated the modules. Surprisingly, Life University’s own unique spinal hygiene program a tied for the highest rating. Performance of the exercises promotes an immediate sense of spinal and neurological wellness.
What is now known as the BackSavors spinal hygiene program began approximately eight years ago with the formation of a multidisciplinary work group of health care professionals at Life University. After sorting out and refining the basic concepts of spinal health, the work group explored and then consolidated best practice activities which patients could perform on a regular basis to improve their spinal and neurological health.
After several months of study and weekly meetings, the work group developed the following set of definitions in congruence with the World Health Organization’s definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.”It stated:
Spinal hygiene is the science of maintaining a healthy spinal column and nervous system through personal, patient-active empowerment. Spinal hygiene includes the study and practice of proper postural habits, exercises to promote spinal flexibility, strength and resiliency, goal setting, stress management, proper spinal ergonomic habits and nutrition for optimal spinal health. Spinal hygiene is a natural complement to the practice of chiropractic.
Shortly after these definitions were created, and best practices were consolidated from physical cultural traditions from around the world, an elective course in spinal hygiene was developed. Soon after initiation of the course, controlled research was conducted at Life University that confirmed significant quality of life improvements in individuals performing spinal hygiene activities on a regular basis.
Over a period of several years, both this research and the spinal hygiene program were presented at annual conferences of the World Health Organization, the American Public Health Association, the World Federation of Chiropractic and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC). Spinal hygiene was formally incorporated in the ACC Chiropractic Paradigm.
Since
its inception, the spinal hygiene program and initiative developed by Life University
has received numerous commendations. Derek Yach, the executive director of the
Noncommunicable Disease and Mental Health cluster of the World Health Organization,
has applauded Life University’s efforts in the spinal hygiene initiative.
Eric Ram, former president of the NGO Forum for Health affiliated with the World
Health Organization, has praised this program and its potential for improving
the lives of individuals around the world. The ACC presidents have commended
Life University for its contribution to health around the world through its
spinal hygiene program.In March 2003 Life University made its spinal hygiene program available to doctors of chiropractic and their patients on a broad basis as BackSavors videos. Proceeds garnered through the videos are used to fund Leadership Through Service scholarships. BackSavors are designed to empower individuals to achieve optimal health and wellness. Each individual program of SpineTuning, StrongCore and StructureStretches lasts approximately one half hour, which is the amount of moderate daily activity recommended in Healthy People 2010. This initiative of the United States’ Health and Human Services Department includes physical activity, obesity and overweight as leading health indicators.
There are many well-documented reasons for becoming more physically active. As noted by the Healthy People 2010 initiative, increasing physical activity and fitness reduces the risk for heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain forms of cancer. These are some of the major “killing” and disabling disorders of the 21st century. In an age of “techno-tension” and “keyboard calisthenics,” many fitness and health experts have recognized that we need more physical activity to revitalize the quality of our lives. Life University designed the BackSavors spinal hygiene workouts to fit this need for physical activity, by designing the workouts to simultaneously improve posture, flexibility, coordination, core strength and spinal stability, while remaining enjoyable
The health choices we make daily, our personal health habits and our lifestyles ultimately have a huge impact on our wellness and health destiny as individuals and as a culture. To learn more about the BackSavors program, call (800) 543-3203 or email alumni@life.edu.
To learn more about the Healthy People 2010 initiative, visit www.health.gov/healthypeople. This site gives a glimpse of the larger vision of increasing the quality and years of healthy life in our culture.
About the author: Ron Kirk, M.A., D.C., has presented patient-active, health empowerment practicums and related quality of life research in venues worldwide. The former dean of the College of Chiropractic at Life University, he currently teaches health empowerment and spinal hygiene courses at Life University and serves on the board of the Georgia Governor’s Council on Fitness and Sport.