Low Back Pain Its a real mother. Over 80% of ALL people (Americans) will experience Low Back Pain (LBP) in their lifetime. LBP is the #2 cause of disability and the most common reason for work days lost. There are about a bazillion causes for low back pain. Those reasons range from genetic to catastrophic injury to many people just do consistently stupid things (myself included) that aggravates their back. The worst part is, they rarely even realize what they're doing is the root cause of their pain. Fundamentally, people with low back pain tend to share a few movement strategies, TOO MUCH low back movement. Lack of Gluteal Activation/ Reliance/ … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Bench Thoracic Mobilizations
October 23, 2019 by
Your Thoracic Mobility Probably Sucks. I don't care if you have the worlds most ergonomic chair, desk setup, a standing desk and one of those bra looking posture things. Your thoracic mobility probably sucks. We sit, slouched over, Stand, slouched over, And generally live life, slouched over. And since, "tissues respond and adapt along the lines of stress applied" We end up....slouched over. But there's good news. We can make it better. Why's Thoracic Mobility Matter Anyway? Welp, this guy, subscribes to the joint-by- joint approach. The short version of which is: the joints of the body alternate needing mobility and … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: 90/90 Hip Stretch
December 24, 2018 by
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: … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Plate Resisted Dead Bug
November 1, 2017 by
"Roll the belt buckle to the chin.." "Push the bottom rib into the abs...." I say those about 50 times a day. Why? It's all about the Open Scissor position. It's no good. But its the default for lots of people. Instead of using the "core" to brace against the forces, this default makes you Instagram famous uses the lumbar spine and pelvis, driving into each other, to buttress forces. In a perfect world we want a neutral scissor position. The neutral scissor is just the "Pillar" or "Cylinder" position, nothing new. Core Control: You don't want excessive lumbar movement, flexion (rounding) or arching (extension). We need to be able to put the … [Read more...]
On Weight Belts and How Not to Blow out Your Back
February 10, 2015 by
Weight Belts, they're Totally Misunderstood. Some research says: Weight Belts Don't Work. <----but this is mostly in occupational settings and has, for reasons I can't understand been extrapolated to the athletic performance arena. Some, most, research says: Yes, They Do. Here's a really nice research review, kinda old, but still pretty good. And that dude at the gym, the guy with the jorts and sweet rat-tail, he's always wearing one. But he's a total tool, The HUGE guy who deadlifts 5 plates for reps, he uses one too. And he's the strongest guy there.... So what's the deal? The deal is: [Tweet "Weight Belts are Used Wrong 99% of the … [Read more...]
10 Random Thoughts on the Deadlift
January 23, 2015 by
#1: No, The Deadlift Doesn't Blow Out Backs: People are generally really scared of this lift and it's because this is, "deadlifts destroy your back" mind virus has permeated the culture for, since forever. It needs to stop. That sh@t YOU did, that blew out your back, it wasn't even a deadlift to begin with. [Tweet "Don't blame an exercise for your sh@tty technique."] #2: When I started this whole creating disciples to one day take over the world Training People Thing, no one Except me Deadlifted. I'm dead serious about this. <-----see what I did there? In college at (The) Towson University the ONLY people I ever saw deadlifting were with me or in the … [Read more...]
Ribs Down! How Not to Hang Off the Low Back
June 20, 2013 by
"Ribs Down!" Back pain: Virtually Everyone has it in Some Form at Some Time Everyone. My upper back around the base of my neck hurts if I sit here and work on this blog for too long. My Lower back hurts if I stand for too long or sit (especially in my car) for a few consecutive hours. I know what you're thinking, "Holy Sh@t, Yoda hurts Too?" Yes, we ALL have default patterns and compensation patterns that have formed from them. One of mine is I "hang off the low back" sometimes, and when I do it for long enough, I get pain. Look, when you're training people, you're standing....A LOT, and it's easy to get into an "Extension" position and really crank on that … [Read more...]
