While we have all heard about someone who hurt their back due to lifting something too heavy, like a deadlift in the gym, or moving furniture in the home and like to blame that last movement as the reason for the injury. This is very rarely the underlying cause. For how do you explain the person who blows the discs in their lower back out from lifting a pencil off the floor, or tying their shoelaces? Most back pain episodes are the result of everyday activities, postures, sports movements, anything involving repetition and small to moderate forces. The little habits we think nothing of that create muscle imbalance, postural deviations, weakness, and ultimately compensatory movement are the root cause of pain. In this article, I will explain in great detail what some of these daily habits we think nothing of are, and how they contribute to ruin our movement and spinal health.
Why Having A Strong Core Is Not Enough To Prevent Back Pain
There is no doubting back pain is a big problem in the modern world. It is not limited to people who don’t exercise and can cut down even the fittest people. The good news is I believe many people recognize that exercise is invaluable for treating back pain and also preventing it. Unfortunately the understanding of what type of exercise is best is where it all goes wrong. For many years now we have been convinced to believe that strong abs means a strong core, and will prevent back pain. Even therapists and Doctors have been known to prescribe planks and abdominal exercises to treat back pain with this same type of thinking. We must realize that strength of the abdominal muscles WILL NOT change the faulty movement that leads to injury and pain. Your body will instantly sacrifice any strength if it only knows how to move with the same dysfunctional movement it has always used. You must identify and change the faulty movement patterns linked to the injury to have any chance. In this article we will explain why learning to move better is more important to you than strength of your abdominal muscles if you have back pain.
Are Manual Handling Instructions Creating More Back Problems?
This article was inspired by conversations I held with several people over the last few months who came to see me for help with a chronic back problem that was hindering their job. During their assessment I could see in each case how poorly they would complete a bending action using their spine instead of their hips. This is not unusual and a very common problem to most back pain sufferers, especially those with a bulging disc. However, as I got to know these people I discovered this was not their natural way to move. They told me that they had spent considerable time learning how to lift a certain way at work where they use their knees and keep their back straight. It was this poor method that they had been taught that was to blame for their pain. Unfortunately, it was not a simple task to reset their movement to a more efficient and safer technique as their body had developed a lot of compensation and stiffness in the meantime. If they had been shown a better way in the beginning I believe they would have avoided a lot of pain and suffering.
How Good Is The Dead Hang Exercise For Spine & Shoulder Health?
This is a question I have been asked several times in recent months on You Tube and also via email as there has been a lot of discussion around the potential benefits of this exercise for your spine and shoulder. To me, this question reminds me about the benefits of backwards walking for knee pain that I discussed in a previous article in that there are undoubtedly some obvious benefits to using an exercise like this, but the overall impact it can have is usually well and truly overstated. In some cases this can even be detrimental to the overall health and stability of the body defeating the purpose of using it in the first place. In this article, I will go into detail about how to do this correctly, and analyze the pros and cons of using the dead hang to rehabilitate a back or shoulder problem to help you determine if it is something that will benefit your body.
Is Swimming Good For Getting Rid Of Back Pain?
Many people report that their back feels much better when they swim, and it is often prescribed as a treatment plan by many health professionals. However, this is not always the case and like most things to do with health the answer is not that simple for not all types of back pain are the same. What might help one type of back pain may hurt the next so you need to be certain as to what type of injury you are dealing with. Secondly, and more importantly even if swimming helps to manage your pain it does not address the reason for it or change the faulty movement you are continually using when you are standing up. Swimming may help some people to counter the damage of their dysfunctional movement but it will not be able to change it and this is where you efforts must be placed if you want a successful long term treatment.
7 Common Myths About Back Pain That Prevent People From Improving
If there is one thing that frustrates me more than anything it is seeing people remain in pain from following a plan that is based on poor information and doomed to fail. I regularly see clients who on the first visit tell me the things they have been doing to help their problem in the belief it was the right thing to do. Some had made this decision themselves, whereas others were given advice from someone else, or found a video on You Tube. Back pain is by far the most common injury with statistics showing 85% of the population will suffer with this at some point in their life and it does not discriminate who it affects. As it can greatly impact inactive people, fit people, young kids, sporting athletes, and older adults. Most of the strategies people adopt thinking it is helping are merely treating the symptoms and based on information that is never going to work and in some cases make it much worse! Most of these methods neglect the reason WHY the pain is there in the first place which leads to gradual progression of the problem and eventually more severe pain. In this article, I am going to discuss what the common myths relating to back pain are and what you can do to avoid making these mistakes and get rid of your pain for good.
How Sitting Poorly For Long Periods Potentially Ruins Your Spine & Knees
In recent years the dangers of sitting to our health has attracted a great deal of attention as researchers have proven there is a link between lack of movement and injury/disease. All this attention has prompted many great improvements in the workplace to overcome the fact we have many jobs that require us to be seated and computer bound. From workplace exercise programs, to the amazing evolution of the stand-up desk which is one of the best things to be invented in recent times we are becoming much smarter and more aware of the need to move. However, there are many who remain oblivious to the danger this repetitive movement causes to your body and in particular the neck, lower back and knees. In this article I will explain exactly what this danger is and how it can very easily create a vicious cycle of ongoing pain if you do nothing to recognize the warnings early on.
Why Quadratus Lumborum Back Pain Is A Reaction To Weakness Of Other Muscles
I must admit I have thought about writing an article about the Quadratus Lumborum (QL) and Psoas muscles for a long time but have avoided it for I was afraid it would take me too far down the rabbit hole of confusion and contradictory conclusions that make absolutely no sense. However, I have come across problems with this muscle several times recently with people suffering with hip problems and also when people tried to execute the complex multi-joint exercises I have been using a lot, so I thought it would be a good idea to try to explain why this happens and more importantly what you can do about it. To make this easier to understand and also minimize the length of the article I have split this into two parts with part one about the QL and part two about the Psoas major. They really work together to create stability of the spine during movement although they are often misunderstood and trained as prime moving muscles.The QL helps form the lateral stabilizing system needed for walking and single leg stance whereas the psoas allows the hip to flex without damaging the spine. There is no doubting they are very unique muscles and when you understand their purpose it is easier to determine what exercises work best and how to prevent problems from occurring.
Big Lessons I Learned About Back Pain From Dr Stuart McGill
When it comes to talking about back pain, and more specifically what causes it and what are the best exercise strategies to treat it there is nobody better than Dr Stuart McGill. His books and endless research into this chronic condition are referred to by experts in all fields from all over the world and rated as best practice for helping people find long term solutions to their pain. I first read his books “Low Back Disorders” and “Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance” back in 2007 and was blown away by his approach and this changed the way I trained clients and my entire training philosophy. In 2016 I read his latest book “Back Pain Mechanic” and lastly in 2018 I read “Gift Of Injury” and also completed a two day training course on how to implement this with clients. Even though I was using most of his methods and philosophies in our back pain rehabilitation programs, it is not until you spend time hands on with this that you “really learn” some of the finer things and gain a greater understanding of the reason behind his methods. This article I am going to share with you what I found to be some of the best lessons I learned from him.
Why Walking Is Great For Back Pain And Improving Core Stability
Walking is one of the most under-rated forms of exercise and we really take for granted how vital maintaining it is to the health of our body. In many ways it is similar to the heart and lungs and something we barely pay attention to until something goes wrong. It is then that we realize just how important it is to look after. Without a doubt walking is one of the most difficult movements to correct or rehabilitate after an accident, injury, or illness for the human gait cycle is such a complex series of movements with many moving parts all occurring within a split second. I am not going to spend too much time talking about how to improve walking in today’s article as we will need about 3000 more words to explain this. Instead, I want to relate this movement to how it can help with back pain and even hip pain which is something I come across a lot. One of the first things I tell many clients I see with back pain is to make “fast walking” a part of their training program for as you are about to see there is some amazing things that happen to your body from this type of movement.