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Dr. Rich Davis, whose lifestyle has repeatedly placed him at risk for back injury, describes a simple, fun little exercise that he developed to relieve his pain and prevent future injury.   This treatment and prevention option may astound you in its effectiveness.

Is it possible Davis has discovered the fountain of youth?  Well, he won't go as far as to say that.  But he will say that if you do The 8-Minute Wonder, you may feel like a kid again!

The 8-Minute Wonder

I have had a lifetime of back problems stemming from exercise (running, golf, bowling, yoga--yes, yoga!), from driving long distances with infrequent stops along the way, and from sitting at a desk interminable hours at a time working on creative projects.

Having not taken good care of my back, it decided to take care of me!  Several years ago life, and Ben Franklin, came to a screeching halt while I dealt with an incredibly painful and debilitating injury caused, as near as I can tell, by doing an extreme yoga posture after working ten hours straight sitting at a desk.

I ended up sleeping on the floor for several weeks, canceling the first few weeks of my travel schedule, getting an MRI and epidural shots in my lower back.  My diagnosis was herniated disk, nerve tear, and arthritis.  Oooo.  The sciatic nerve in my left leg was the thing that was killing me.  The shots, thankfully, pretty much knocked out the pain, but in the course of rehabilitating myself I realized, by several close calls of relapse, that if I did not have a plan one day my injury would rear up its ugly head again and put Ben out of action, maybe forever this time!

My solution came, oddly enough, while I was thinking about something else.  I had renewed my acquaintance with golf, after a hiatus of many years, as part of my rehabilitation process.

I had noticed that many older golfers often don't hit the ball very far because they don't bring the club back very far, and they don't follow through very far.  One morning while I was about to do some exercises I said to myself, “If they would just practice swinging an imaginary golf club back and following through, going back a little further, and following through a little further each time, pretty soon they will have a long, fluid swing like a kid again.”

I made the motion with my hands.  Then I did it again and again and again, going back a little further each time, following through a little further each time.

Then a wonderful thing happened.  I started  moving my hands in motion like someone swimming.  Then, I started moving my arms like someone swimming backward.  After a while of doing that, I started swishing my arms back and forth like I was sweeping the floor with both hands.  I started putting my feet and body into it.  Pretty soon I was doing all kinds of exercises with my arms, back, shoulders, feet, legs.  The one thing all these actions had in common was the fact that the motions were fluid.  I didn't do anything herky-jerky.  I didn't do anything that was high impact, high stress.  I didn't repeat any actions over 10 or 12 repetitions.

In subsequent days I found that a couple of additional tools enhanced my exercise experience.  First, I used 1970s rock and roll music and sort of kept time with the music.  Second, I added some weight occasionally to my hands in the form of one pound juggling pins.  I liked the little extra weight these gave.

Neither music or weights, however, are essential to the exercise.   

Later I tried using hand grips while doing the exercises.  I liked this so I continued doing it.  You could also squeeze rubber balls or hold light weights in your hands or just keep your hands free.  Other items I have used are a wooden baseball bat and a hula hoop!

I have written a brand new book that just might be exactly what you are looking for!

Take back control of your life.  Look forward to a future that does not include back pain and injury!