7 Best Exercises You Can Do for a Healthy Liver

A healthy liver is essential to your body. It helps to clear out many waste products and ensures that toxins are removed from your system every day.

If your liver is under-functioning, it might take longer for your body to eliminate toxins than usual, which in turn will build up. That can lead to irritation and pain in various parts of the body. Studies have shown that exercises that strengthen the back muscles can help improve your overall health and increase your life expectancy.

However, sometimes a healthy liver can be difficult to achieve. The following seven exercises are great to keep your liver fit and healthy:

Effective Exercises to Keep Your Liver Healthy

These seven exercises can help keep your liver healthy:

1) Qigong Arm Raises

One of the most important aspects of the qigong practice is arm raising, which is considered to purify and revitalise the entire body.

They are excellent, as they take little effort and time. Chinese medicine claims that between the hours 1 and 3 in the morning, the liver filters our blood. The optimum time to work out is first thing in the morning to prevent stagnant blood in the liver.

To do this exercise:

Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms relaxed along your body, begin this exercise.
Raise your arms to roughly shoulder height while inhaling, with palms facing upward.
Either maintain shoulder-width separation between your hands, or spread them widely like the woman in the illustration pic above.
Completely lower your arms as you breath.
Do as many raises as you can, and gradually increase the number.

2) Liver Massage

Through massage, often known as a 'liver shift', you can also remove blood that has become sluggish in your liver and help increase blood flow. You must learn where your liver is to know where to massage:

The two primary movement types are as follows:

Pressing - Start gently pressing upward with your finger tips under your ribs. Repeat around 20 times, and gradually increase to 100, or as long as your health allows.

Rub and press - Over the general area of your liver, place your left hand. To massage the liver, press under the ribcage, and move your finger or thumb's knuckle down and around. Keep going for a while.

3) Spinal Twists

After just a few days of repetition, you will notice enhanced mobility, thanks to this straightforward spinal twist, which is incredibly beginner-friendly. Twists serve to enhance the circulation in the abdominal organs, which benefits all the internal organs.

To do this move:

Start by sitting on the floor with your arms behind your back and your legs straight in front of you.
Your fingers should be pointed away from you when you place your hands on the ground behind you.
On the outside of your right knee, place your left foot flat on the ground. Take a breath, and extend your right arm.

4) Leg over Head

This practice, which is also known as the plow stance, originates from yoga.

It's typically the last pose in most beginner-to-intermediate yoga sequences. It's particularly crucial, as it's thought to strengthen and massage the internal organs.

To do the plow pose:

When doing the Plow Yoga Pose, you should be lying on your back with your arms beside you and your hands facing down.
To lift your feet off the ground and raise your legs to a 90-degree angle, use your abdominal muscles. Lift your hips and back off the ground by using your hands as support.
Till your toes hit the ground, let your legs swing 180 degrees over your head. Your back should be parallel to the ground. Bring your legs down slowly.

5) Deep Yogic Twist

The additional benefit of applying a little pressure to the liver can help drain and detoxify the organ even better. This twist is a little deeper than the other yoga poses, though.

To perform this move:

With your legs crossed, sit up straight. Set your right foot past your left knee by raising and bending your right leg at this point.
Once your left elbow crosses your right knee, turn your upper body to the right, and hold the position for 30 seconds.
Only then you should slowly bring your upper body back to the centre, and bring your right leg back to its starting position.

6) Kapalbhati Pranayam

The breathing technique known as pranayama is well-known for improving the health of the liver for those with liver cyrrhosis, jaundice, hepatitis and other disorders. The Kapalbhati Pranayama is a yoga exercise that stimulates the liver and efficiently addresses a number of liver issues.

The Kapalbhati pranayam stimulates your liver. (Image via Pexels / Nataliya Vaitkevich)

To do this exercise:

The ideal position for this exercise is cross-legged sitting on a level surface.
You must take a deep breath in, and exhale vigorously through your nostrils.
Concentrate on exhaling.
You must perform the workout for at least 15 minutes each day for it to be effective.

7) Bow Pose

People who have fatty liver conditions benefit greatly from this asana. It stretches, strengthens and stimulates the liver, which burns off its fat reserves to provide the body with energy.

To do this posture:

First, lie on your stomach while simultaneously lifting your legs and torso.
Then, with your hands holding your ankles, form your body into the shape of a bow, with your arms serving as the bow strings.
As long as you are able to, hold this position.
Repeat the exercise as many times as you can, and return to your resting posture.

Takeaway

It’s clear exercise is one of the best ways to keep your liver healthy and in optimal shape. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced athlete, you should find something in this list that fits your abilities, goals and overall fitness regimen.

Edited by Bhargav