Back Pain is an Epidemic 

But it’s not the back who is to blame.

It’s often the thoracic spine and/ or the hips.

In general, people with bad backs, have strong backs with too much motion occurring at the lumbar region

“those who have more motion in their backs have a greater risk of having future back troubles  people with troubled backs use their backs more. Generally, they walk, sit, stand and lift using mechanics that increase back loads. Many of them have stronger backs but are less endurable than matched asymptomatic controls (McGill et al, 2003). They tend to have more motion in their backs and less motion and load in their hips.” – Designing Back Exercise: from Rehabilitation to Enhancing Performance

But they also tend to have weak glutes and tight hips.

If you can’t “open” the hips, the pelvis can’t move around the femur, hip hinging can’t occur and the lumbar spine is forced to pick up the slack.

“Open Your Taint”

The G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time), Ed Coan says that, and it is, quite honestly, the single greatest squat cue I’ve ever heard.

“Opening the Taint” or external rotation of the femur at the hip-joint not only “wind’s up” the glute up creating a stable pelvis and more powerful squat.

External rotation of the femur, gets the femur out-of-the-way, allowing for YOUR best squat depth. <—-best may not be maximal.

90/90 Hip Stretch

Checklist:

• Both legs at or as close to 90 degrees as possible, ankles too.
• Pelvis neutral, rounding the pelvis into posterior pelvic tilt (belt buckle to the chin) negates the movement.
• Chest up, slight arch in the low back.
• FROM THE HIP, not the lumbar, hinge forward over the front side knee IF YOU CAN DO THIS WITHOUT ROUNDING.
• DO NOT TWIST. Keep the spine straight…

Bro Tips:

• Take the “inside” hand and put some pressure on the front side leg, gently helping to press the knee down and open the hip more.
• If you’re super tight, sit on a mat or a airex pad to decrease the amount of ER and IR at the hips. Over time, as flexibility increases, decrease the height.
• Pretty flexible already? Shove something under the front side knee/ shine to raise the lower leg essentially dropping the hips lower increasing the stretch in the hips.
• Super tight? Foam roll the glutes before you drop into this stretch.