Professor Sergei Bubnovsky: “Push-ups, squats, abs - the three best exercises for health”

— Sergei Mikhailovich, it is known that age-related diseases are not acquired in one day. How does a person develop a whole bunch of diseases of the joints, spine, ligaments, and muscles by middle age? What is the reason?

— The reason is simple: we forgot about physical education. “Phys-ra” - as the children call it - is available in schools, but there is no physical education in the country. There is not a single professional institution that teaches health. In 1954, the USSR had the Institute of a Healthy Lifestyle. Then he was gone. And in America, for example, there is the Institute of Alternative Methods of Natural Treatment. There they teach you not to take pills, but to breathe correctly, move, and do gymnastics. Our people are “dark” in matters of maintaining physical, and then mental health. To see a doctor, our person must first become so ill that he is no longer able to move. But we have an arrogant attitude towards gymnastics and physical education. Now, fortunately, many street sports have begun to appear. Young people, although still a small part of them, have broken away from gadgets and began to train on the horizontal bar and on the uneven bars. It makes me very happy. Perhaps those who do not give up their sports hobbies will have a different old age, different from the one that their grandparents and their parents “earned.”

— It turns out that a generation has grown up “weaned” on physical education, and they have not been able to instill it in their children?

“Moreover: my colleagues and I bring to school a physical education program approved by the Department of Education, but parents are opposed: “Why do children need such stress, why do they need exercise equipment?” They don’t even understand that the load is their own body weight, not provided by muscles. That is, the weaker you are, the harder it is for you to carry yourself. And in the end, people who are not yet old die in the bathroom, getting up from the toilet! Their muscles are so weak that blood does not have time to flow to the heart and brain.

“In 1954, there was an Institute of Healthy Lifestyles in the USSR. Then he was gone. And in America, for example, there is the Institute of Alternative Methods of Natural Treatment,” notes Bubnov.

— That is, over the course of our lives, we bring ourselves to a state where we cannot lift ourselves from the sofa, chair, or even the toilet?

- Exactly! Moreover, we have growing entire cities of pensioners who are unable to care for themselves. It seems that the average life expectancy has increased. But at the expense of whom? At the expense of sick people!

— What are the main mistakes people make in the process of life?

— The very first mistake, as I already said, is that they don’t know what to give to children first. As a result, they give what is fashionable - foreign languages, music education, but not physical activity. And they rush around with children as if they were carrying a bag, protecting them from everything in the world. Meanwhile, a child under the age of one year, according to the laws of age-related physiology, is more resilient than an adult. And he can more easily endure stress such as hunger, cold, heat, and lack of water. Nature made him a “universal soldier” so that he could survive. Of course, you need to treat it correctly, take care of it. But the adherents of our pedagogy said this: until the child is seven years old, you need to deal only with physical education, and then invest in it the necessary knowledge, instill culture. The main thing is that by these years he should be healthy. This increases his chances of growing up to be a healthy adult.

— What is “ill health” in childhood?

- This is poor blood flow, weak muscles, back pain, spine pain, headaches. The brain has no muscles, but it consumes 25 percent of the oxygen that enters the body through the work of the muscles of the arms, legs and back. And they are weak, undeveloped. And now there is pressure at school age, and chronic fatigue syndrome, and early strokes, and dementia. And all because the muscles do not pump blood! But it is the muscles that “feed” the body. They deliver as much nutrition to one or another organ as needed. And they remove metabolic products from the body. That is, metabolism is entirely muscle work! Pills that restore metabolism are a myth.

Photo: Andrey Ilyinsky

“But people don’t prescribe pills for themselves, they are prescribed by doctors for some reason...

— First, people themselves bring themselves to a state where, at the age of 40, they need antihypertensive drugs to lower blood pressure and prevent heart failure. These pills are prescribed by a cardiologist. Your blood pressure starts to rise frequently - take your medicine! And also, take care of yourself, don’t overexert yourself physically. What is load? With a minus sign - this is when you cannot walk, you have constant shortness of breath. And the load with a plus sign is when you have done exercises, “pumped up” yourself and it’s easy for you to run and jump. And without such a regular load it is impossible to ensure the normal functioning of the body, that’s the thing! And if you don’t constantly strain yourself, from childhood, and don’t engage in physical exercise, an unhealthy child will grow into a sick adult who has diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and, as a result, dementia...

— Nowadays, a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition are quite actively promoted, and they talk about the benefits of running, walking, and physical exercise. For example, you also hosted an interesting program - “Traffic Rules” with Anna Semenovich. That is, there are no secrets - go and study. And the majority continue to lie on the sofas... Why do you think?

— I spent more than 20 years of my life on crutches. And he restored himself with the help of a system of exercises. I had a goal: to become a healthy person. And I went to her. Unfortunately, when I started working with others, I realized one sad thing: the average patient is lazy, cowardly and weak. Most people think that their time has not yet come - they can still lie on the couch. But sometimes it’s too late to study...

- In which cases?

- There are processes that require consciousness, which a person no longer has - for example, with dementia, Alzheimer's disease. Exercises and physical activity are ineffective in severe forms of osteoporosis, when the body practically falls apart. Many people come to me after 80 years. That is, they have already tried everything in life: all the pills, all the procedures - and finally decided to take up gymnastics and physical exercise. But more often than not, even they are satisfied with the result.

— Will the effect of playing sports be at any age?

- The effect will be colossal! I have patients that I am proud of. For example, a front-line soldier, a doctor, an operating surgeon, at 84 years old, came to me with 30 years of headaches and high blood pressure, with osteochondrosis, osteoporosis of the spine. She said that she started studying from my books because she was afraid that I myself, having learned about her “sores,” would abandon her. At first the blood pressure returned to normal. Then the headaches went away. As a doctor, she understood what beneficial processes were occurring in her body and continued to practice. There was also an 82-year-old woman with osteoporosis. Sneeze - broken ribs; pull up - broken spine. Severe demineralization of bone tissue! But she was so cheerful and cheerful - she won me over with her optimism. At first I did the exercises while lying on the floor. A month later - already standing. When her condition was satisfactory, I gave her a set of exercises, and she did them at home... I always encourage older people: understand your body, learn the rules of prevention, and exercise even when you already feel good! There was also an illustrative case when I worked in a nursing home; elderly people from their families ended up there. For most it was a terrible stress, and everyone dreamed of returning home.

Photo: n-tv.de

One woman was nearly 80 years old. Very intelligent, reasonable, she cried because she ended up in a nursing home. She could not move around the room independently even on crutches, and she was sent to a boarding school by children who were constantly on the move and could not care for her. I diagnosed her and found the cause of the pain. And he started doing gymnastics with her. She was thin - bones and skin, and could no longer walk. And so, lying on the floor, the woman did exercises. When the children arrived a few months later, she met them in the hallway. I got there myself, without crutches. Of course they took her home. And she left with her head held high. It was her feat - I can’t say it any other way. Therefore, I never tire of repeating: load your muscles at any age! This is the first guarantee of health!

— Where to start for those who have been too lenient on themselves for many years?

— To begin with, I would advise you to look at some of my books - I talk about many important points in detail in them. For example, the book “Osteochondrosis is not a death sentence” contains simple exercises that can be done at home. Now a wider version has been released - “60 irreplaceable exercises”. By the way, I talked about them in the “Traffic Rules” program on the “Russia” channel. But in general, I recommend the so-called health triad. These are push-ups, squats, and abs. But I want to draw your attention: older people can only squat with an emphasis on a fixed support if there is definitely no arthrosis of the knee and hip joint. Therefore, before you start exercising, you need to go to the doctor and take a picture of your joints.

— Why are these three exercises a priority?

— Squats improve the return of blood to the heart, to the brain - this is a kind of pump. And even hypertension can be gradually eliminated with just squats. They are also useful for organs located in the pelvis: in women it is the prevention of fibroids, in men - prostatitis. Push-ups are good for the heart, lungs, and for women they prevent mastopathy. If you want to save yourself from this problem, start doing push-ups. Ten times, twenty, a hundred - after all, it’s just ten times ten. From the floor, from your knees, from the sofa - whatever you want, as long as the muscles of the thoracic region work. Abdominal exercises - with their help we use the intestines, liver, kidneys. And when we work on the floor, we raise our legs and lower them - we improve the peristalsis of the intestines, the gallbladder, and the functioning of the kidneys.

— How many times should you do these exercises optimally?

- You can start with 5-10 times for each exercise. After two or three days, if there are no changes, do two times five, three times five, or even ten times five. This is actually not much - it’s 20-30 minutes of training. There is no need to go for a record from the first day. Important note: all exercises are done while exhaling; at the moment of tension you need to say: “Ha!” - and then there will be no increase in intracranial, intrathoracic and intra-abdominal pressure. After finishing classes, you need to take a cold shower or rub yourself with a cold wet towel. But just don't get warm! And then rub the body dry, this will increase blood flow and tissue nutrition. Agree, everything is very simple!

I spent more than 20 years of my life on crutches. And he restored himself with the help of a system of exercises.

— Some honestly admit that they have weak willpower and cannot force themselves to do exercises regularly. What advice can you give to such people?

— Willpower is a passive concept. She obeys reason. If you don’t want to study, lie down. Bedsores, constipation, hemorrhoids will not let you die in peace. Or start practicing right in bed - spin the “bicycle”, raise and lower your legs. The main thing is to turn on the hormonal zone so that you want to move. And now you’re already up. Walk around the room, do a few push-ups, do some squats. Made it to the gym? Well done! Walk on a treadmill, spin the pedals, and you will feel how “the appetite comes while eating.” Adrenaline is produced - and you can no longer leave without working out until you sweat. I worked out for an hour and started to respect myself! And somehow I don’t want to disrespect...

Photo: n-tv.de

“Many people can’t start classes because something hurts all the time—either their back or their legs.” What should such people do?

“First you need to stop stuffing yourself with painkillers. I have not seen a single person whom they have cured. It relieves pain for a while, it’s true. But what is pain? This is our friend who reports that problems have appeared in the body and need to be solved. Does your back hurt and you can't bend over? Get on all fours and walk around the apartment like a cat. And now it doesn’t hurt so much, and at the same time I wiped away the dust on the baseboards... You always need to make only the first move - towards health.

— Describe the ideal elderly person from your point of view.

“It’s very simple: this is a person who does not suffer from pain. He doesn’t take handfuls of pills and leads a fairly active physical and mental life. It’s nice to communicate with such a person; he will go hiking for company, take a steam bath, and drink a little. I generally respect mature people, they are very interesting conversationalists! Old age is a wonderful state if it is not decrepitude, but wisdom.

— How to independently assess your health?

— There are simple tests. If a man can do 30 push-ups with a straight body on the floor, if a man or woman can squat 30 times with a straight back and not have shortness of breath, if sitting on the floor with straight legs they reach the tips of their toes without bending their knees - they can count feeling more or less healthy. If a person cannot do push-ups, sit down, or bend, even if nothing hurts, he can no longer be considered healthy. Old age is not age, it is the loss of muscle tissue. For some, this process begins after 20 years. Therefore, it depends only on each of us until what age we remain strong, healthy and independent.

Age category of materials: 18+

• Larisa Zelinskaya
• Amurskaya Pravda from 04/20/2017

Description of the technique

Like any treatment method, this one consists of several stages, which must be completed gradually and sequentially.

Table. Stages of gymnastic treatment.

Bubnovsky’s gymnastics are safe and can be used both for medicinal purposes, for diseases of the musculoskeletal system of a chronic nature, and for recovery after surgery. And most importantly, it can be used by all people who want to maintain a healthy back, make the vertebrae and joints stronger, strengthen the muscles and give themselves many years without pain and limited movement.

What is special about this type of charging?

Firstly, exercise in bed after sleep is valuable because it requires a minimum of effort and conditions from a person. Agree, in order to do a full set of exercises, even the shortest ones, you need many conditions. For example, you need to put on appropriate comfortable clothes, pick up dumbbells, and lay a mat on the floor. And the main thing is to find at least 20 minutes for all this, in the end! But the “bed” version of gymnastics does not require any of the above!

Secondly, it is very important that such gymnastics is extremely safe. The fact is that after sleep, in the morning in bed, you are still very “warm” and relaxed. Your muscles are warmed up, which reduces the risk of stretching and damage to almost zero.

Thirdly, after waking up, you often don’t want to get out of bed. And there is even a temptation to take a nap a little more. Each of us knows how it ends.

So, gymnastics in bed for the lazy is an excellent way to get out of bed on time and the first time. And the secret here is simple: when we start to move, even making simple movements with our toes, blood flow increases. As a result, our body awakens faster.

In fact, doing exercises in bed in the morning according to Bubnovsky is a real life hack on how to easily force yourself to get out of bed in the morning!

And you don’t need to force yourself to get up, you just need to start doing the first exercise for your feet.

Exercise according to the method of Bubnovsky S.M. No. 1

To work with the upper limb girdle within the framework of therapeutic gymnastics by Bubnovsky S.M. push-ups are used. This exercise, as Sergei Mikhailovich himself says, allows you to restore blood circulation in the vertebral arteries, get rid of headaches, depression, vegetative-vascular dystonia, lower back pain, fatigue and build muscle mass in the shoulder girdle.

Attention is drawn to the quality of these exercises and their quantity.

Starting position - lying on the floor, hands lying at chest level next to the body, palms down. Legs are extended and brought together.

Doing the exercise.

Straighten your arms without arching your back or making it round. Look ahead. As you inhale, bend your arms and lower your torso. With a sharp exhalation “ha,” the arms extend and the torso rises.

At the initial stage of classes (for poorly trained people), this exercise is based on the method of Bubnovsky S.M. can be performed in a lighter version - leaning on your knees. In the future, the classic method is used - with support on the fingers and toes.

Performing the exercise with an uneven back or lowered head is considered a mistake. As Sergei Mikhailovich says, lowering the head contributes to the appearance of headaches. Only by controlling its position can you achieve the desired effect from performing this exercise.

The ideal option is when the whole body simultaneously lies on the floor and rises in the same plane.

When practicing this exercise according to the method of Sergei Mikhailovich Bubnovsky, you need to do push-ups from five to ten times in a row.

After this, you need to sit on your knees with support on your heels and perform a cleansing breathing exercise three times: while inhaling, raise your arms vertically up, rise on your knees. As you exhale, with a loud “ha” sound, sharply lower your arms and sit on your heels. A loud “ha” sound pronounced in a low voice indicates good quality of this exercise.

Sergei Mikhailovich Bubnovsky says that this exercise can be done in isolation from the rest.

At the initial stage of performing exercises according to the method of Bubnovsky S.M., you can perform as many push-ups as you can. Five to ten exercises, then three cleansing breaths. Ten series of such approaches of ten push-ups, as the author of this technique says, will be a good standard for a person who wants to feel healthy.

How to choose exercises

Many therapeutic, health-improving, and preventive exercise complexes have been developed. How to choose the one that suits you? It is worth listening to the opinions of doctors who are recognized experts and celebrities in this matter. Especially if they themselves had experience in overcoming any disease using their own methods.

One of these doctors is S.M. Bubnovsky.

Dr. S. M. Bubnovsky

Among the many health complexes, including the use of various auxiliary equipment and exercise equipment, he offers a simple set of home gymnastics that helps prevent spinal diseases and cope with them at an early stage.

Being a doctor of medical sciences, Bubnovsky began developing his technique by recovering from a serious accident. Since then, he believes that to cure all diseases of the spine, even those that are treated surgically today, the internal reserves of the human body are sufficient.

Dr. Bubnovsky has developed his own method for treating diseases of the musculoskeletal system

By the way. Understanding your body, working with it, developing and improving it is the main thing in treating the musculoskeletal system and bringing it to a healthy state. All this can be achieved with the help of gymnastics.

The direction in which Bubnovsky works is kinesitherapy (from Greek - movement treatment). In fact, this is a well-known physical therapy exercise, the exercises of which are performed on special simulators. Thanks to the technique, the doctor was able to literally put thousands of people on their feet, and he became famous not only in Russia, but also abroad. Today, more than a hundred medical centers are open and operating, treating people using Bubnovsky’s technique. Their training programs are compiled individually, taking into account the diagnosis, the patient’s condition and many factors.

Kinesitherapy from Dr. Bubnovsky

For gymnastic therapy to produce results, the following conditions must be met.

Possible contraindications

There are practically no contraindications for such gymnastics. This is what its author himself claims. But still, you shouldn’t do it if:

• you have a high temperature;
• severe weakness;
• very high or low blood pressure;
• there are acute inflammatory processes;
• there is an oncological tumor;
• you are recovering from strokes, injuries, heart attacks, after operations, childbirth, cesarean section.

In any case, it is highly advisable to consult a doctor if you have even the slightest doubt about your health.

What does daily exercise do?

A lot has been said about the benefits of morning exercises. Medical arguments and scientific evidence are given that moderate physical activity on a regular basis has a beneficial effect on the human body, preventing various diseases and helping to recover from existing ailments.

But most people still consider physical activity unnecessary and unnecessary. At least until the disease overtakes them. When a doctor prescribes exercise therapy, it’s too late to talk about prevention. The best option is to independently perform an adequate set of exercises every day as exercise.

Why do you need morning exercises?

Yes, especially for those who have neglected physical activity all their lives and have sedentary intellectual work, it is difficult to suddenly start doing exercises. But they are the ones who need it, since spinal pathologies in most cases arise due to a sedentary lifestyle.

Orthopedic chairs

Passive lifestyle

Advice. If you start doing a selected set of exercises and do it every day for sixty days, you will develop a habit that will make it easier in the future not to miss classes and to maintain their regularity.