Health, Strength And Conditioning
Welcome and thanks for visiting...
Lower Back Pain?
Is lower back pain becoming a PAIN?
How many times have you woken up with back pain yet can’t place where you injured yourself or attempted to stand up from your couch and aborted the mission due to hip pain?
The human body is one complex machine that needs lots of detail and attention when prescribing exercise for both elite and general wellness purposes.
We often lay too much emphasis on a few of the bio-motor abilities--strength, speed, and endurance-- but go ahead and neglect one of the most important components therein, which is flexibility-mobility.
Where does back pain come from?
Hip, back, and knee pains can be traced to a host of issues, all related to poor mobility/flexibility, muscle imbalances, weak glutes, and, by extension, posterior chain muscles.
For the general population, sitting for long periods can lead to shortening/tightening of the psoas, and hamstrings muscles which ultimately leads to anterior pelvic tilt, and with it comes back pain!
For elite athletes, the respective event that you engage in repeatedly can also lead to the above-mentioned issues if the alternate muscles aren't strengthened, stretched, or released!
This in turn leads to many issues, for example, trouble activating the glutes, stiff &; overactive hip flexors, weak abdominal muscles, and compensations that lead to the dominance of the quadriceps muscles in some movements hence shutting out the glutes which in turn makes the lower-back compensate for this.
When left unchecked, the issues transfer to your hips and knees, ultimately shutting you down due to injury.
How do we fix back pain?
By incorporating good flexibility and mobility exercises for the affected muscles and strengthening the opposing ones.
By improving your gait and posture, sitting, standing, and running with proper technique.
By perfect lifting, pulling, and hinging techniques in the weight room and by always maintaining a neutral spine position.
The biggest and strongest muscles in our bodies are the glutes which help initiate powerful movement, keeping the trunk stable. Individuals with back pain tend to have trouble firing the glutes and compensate by overusing the lower back muscles…
Learn how to activate these muscles so that they fire effectively.
Here are some of the exercises that you can incorporate into your training regimen:
Glute bridges, hip thrusts, and hip/adductor stretch, both dynamic and static.
In a nutshell, stretch what needs to be stretched. Release what needs to be eased and strengthen both the agonist and antagonist muscles.
