Three simple, therapeutic Yoga routines, from 22 minutes to 41 minutes long, meant to enhance and improve the health of your back and hips. Included is a lecture on back pain and a detailed technique workshop. Gary Kraftsow instructs.

Anyone who wants to improve back health, strength and spinal mobility. Those with acute back pain or injury or anyone with chronic back pain should ask for their doctor's advice before using this DVD. If your back's in good shape, this DVD will help keep it that way. If you are very inflexible or out of shape, these routines may be difficult. You will need a mat — no props are used.

I'm one of those fortunate, rare people who rarely suffers back pain. A lot of this has to do with prevention, caution, and building core strength — plus luck (in other words, no rear-enders while driving). But there are a handful of times I've strained my back a bit, and I've always wanted a healing workout routine that addresses that. Recently, when a couple of not-so-great exercise DVDs left me sore all over and my back achy, I was glad to have Gary Kraftsow's very thorough disc on hand.

 

There are three workouts, plus a technique workshop in which Kraftsow gives detailed instruction on each pose (even though the poses are really quite simple). The first workout is 23 minutes long and focuses on the low back and sacrum; the second, half-hour routine targets your hips; the third is the longest at 41 minutes, and while the cover info claims that it's an "integrated practice for sustained low back strength and stability," I found it to be much more than that, as it gently stretched and flexed my spine from stem to stern and even enhanced my shoulder mobility. One of the keys to these routines is that the poses are not static — each one flows and moves, which helps gets the kinks out and enhances functional back fitness. The presentation is simple — no floaty, New Age-y music or breathtaking scenery. It's just one student on a mat, with Kraftsow instructing in voiceover. If you're in need of a therapeutic Yoga routine, however, you should be looking for substance, not show. Kraftsow also has a lecture on understanding back pain, and if back pain is an issue for you, it's really recommended viewing.

 

Using this DVD instead of my regular workouts for a couple of days made my back feel better almost instantly. That said, your mileage may vary — those who are really out of shape or very inflexible may find these poses a little difficult, and even a little fast-paced. On the other hand, those who are really fit may be a little impatient with the slow pace. If you have chronic back pain, or back pain from an injury, you absolutely must talk to your doctor before trying this or any other workout. I wouldn't do this DVD every single day, but I felt so beat up from those bad workouts that I was grateful for an active break. And I got enough out of these routines that I'll probably do one or another of them maybe once a week to keep my spine in good shape.

 

 

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