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- Oct 14, 2012
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Nagging pains suck.
They drain your physical and - for me - mental energy.
Attacking your daily goals while wrestling thoughts like:
"Why the hell does my back hurt when bending over to tie my shoelaces? Is something wrong with me?GAAARRRRR! I'm not even 40 yet."
Isn't exactly optimal.
Sure you can ignore your pain...
But pain is your body's way of alerting you to a deeper problem. How long can you dismiss it before problems snowball into permanent damage and pain?
Stop ignoring and start addressing your issues. Here are basic steps I've taken to reduce back/shoulder problems, for myself and personal training clients.
Disclaimer: I speak to a lot of practitioners and read on the subject - but I'm not a qualified physiotherapist. If you haven't already, find a good one - preferably one who coaches the local sports team or has a rigorous sports hobby. They're worth every dollar.
In the meantime, subscribe to Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean X on Youtube. Why?
Aside from building an amazing fastlane fitness biz, he was the strength and physio coach for the New York Mets. His clients include Antonio Brown, WWE superstars and Bollywood actors like Amir Khan. Jeff is the real deal, the granddaddy of online health and fitness IMO. If you don't read or take anything from this point on, WATCH THIS MANS YOUTUBE CHANNEL and follow his advice. You'll thank me later.
Moving on to the matter of musculoskeletal pains:
Walk to a mirror (or reflective surface to see yourself) and turn to your side.
Pay attention to your body from this angle, and relax everything. Let your muscles go limp.
If you're paying attention, you'll find that your upper back/neck caves in, your shoulders roll inwards to your chest, and your lower back rounds a little.
Now staying in the same position, eyes on your body, flex your glutes. Like really try and (imagine) cracking a walnut with your cheeks.
If you squeeze hard enough, you'll instantly experience the benefit of upright posture, and less stress on your back and shoulder area.
Not all, but the majority of acute/chronic pain boils down to weak neglected postural muscles and their antagonists - tight opposing overactive muscles from overuse or poor posture.
At the very least, these imbalances contribute towards pain and subpar biomechanics.
This is a lengthy subject, and I don't want to bore you guys/gals. My aim is to point you in the direction towards understanding and hopefully fixing your own issues. We want to be healthy and wealthy, right?
So here's where to start:
1. Work Your Butt Off.
Yes I'm not kidding. There's even a scientific term for it now. "Gluteal amnesia" or" glute death": we sit on our butts so much that we lose the mind-muscle connection.
Resulting in weak, non-firing glutes and very little back/hip support. This increases your risk of back pain and injury, as your glutes are responsible for lending a LOT of support to your back and hips. An important posture and power muscle, they even play a role in knee pain, explosive strength, speed, and stability.
Weak glutes mean your body borrows strength and support from your lower back and hips, paving the way for strains and sprains.
Work on activation exercises like the glute bridge, hip thrusts, and side leg raises. Here are Jeff's best videos on glute training for lower back pain.
-Weak glute signs and exercises to fix them
-Glutes role in back pain
2. Work your core, not just your abs.
Ever wonder how a weightlifting belt works?
It increases intra-abdominal pressure around your midsection. More pressure around your spine equals more stability when moving - or under load.
It's not the belt per se, but your body's response to the belt that creates this spine-saving pressure.
A soda can is another example. Squeeze an empty can, it crumbles. Squeeze a sealed one, and it won't cave in due to internal pressure that resists an external force.
Your body's own natural weight belt is your core. Which includes the glutes, pelvic muscles, and abdominal muscles, one of which - the Transverse Abodominis (TA) - wraps around your spine in a similar fashion to a weightlifting belt.
For strong stable spine, you MUST train these muscles:
-Multifidus, which lies on the back of your spine, connecting vertebrae. Most people don't even know they have a muscle like this.
-Spinal erectors
-Transverse abdominis.
-Rectus abdmonis
-Obliques
Endless crunches won't cut it, and will probably exacerbate your back pain.
Here's a solid video from Jeff covering all core muscles:
-Identifying weak abs and which exercises to start
-An anatomical science-based approach to training abs
3. Work your rotator cuffs and lower traps
Your lower traps are located beneath the bony part of your shoulder blades. They are often neglected muscles and contribute heavily towards neck and shoulder dysfunction. Together, the lower traps work to depress and retract your upper back area, while the rotator cuffs keep your shoulders neutral and in a healthy position.
Basically, they reverse this nerd-neck caveman posture:
It's important to activate and strengthen them. Especially if you have a tight or painful neck/shoulders and sit at a desk all day.
Jeff covers neck and shoulder issues extensively in this video here:
Get rid of forward head posture and neck/shoulder pain
Work the 3 muscles above a little every day, create a routine and you'll thank yourself within a couple of weeks. You'll move and feel better, and it only takes minutes. I often feel better throughout the day when I work these muscles every morning.
A final assortment of tips:
I hope this helps somebody here!
Thanks for reading,
Haych
They drain your physical and - for me - mental energy.
Attacking your daily goals while wrestling thoughts like:
"Why the hell does my back hurt when bending over to tie my shoelaces? Is something wrong with me?GAAARRRRR! I'm not even 40 yet."
Isn't exactly optimal.
Sure you can ignore your pain...
But pain is your body's way of alerting you to a deeper problem. How long can you dismiss it before problems snowball into permanent damage and pain?
Stop ignoring and start addressing your issues. Here are basic steps I've taken to reduce back/shoulder problems, for myself and personal training clients.
Disclaimer: I speak to a lot of practitioners and read on the subject - but I'm not a qualified physiotherapist. If you haven't already, find a good one - preferably one who coaches the local sports team or has a rigorous sports hobby. They're worth every dollar.
In the meantime, subscribe to Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean X on Youtube. Why?
Aside from building an amazing fastlane fitness biz, he was the strength and physio coach for the New York Mets. His clients include Antonio Brown, WWE superstars and Bollywood actors like Amir Khan. Jeff is the real deal, the granddaddy of online health and fitness IMO. If you don't read or take anything from this point on, WATCH THIS MANS YOUTUBE CHANNEL and follow his advice. You'll thank me later.
Moving on to the matter of musculoskeletal pains:
Walk to a mirror (or reflective surface to see yourself) and turn to your side.
Pay attention to your body from this angle, and relax everything. Let your muscles go limp.
If you're paying attention, you'll find that your upper back/neck caves in, your shoulders roll inwards to your chest, and your lower back rounds a little.
Now staying in the same position, eyes on your body, flex your glutes. Like really try and (imagine) cracking a walnut with your cheeks.
If you squeeze hard enough, you'll instantly experience the benefit of upright posture, and less stress on your back and shoulder area.
Not all, but the majority of acute/chronic pain boils down to weak neglected postural muscles and their antagonists - tight opposing overactive muscles from overuse or poor posture.
At the very least, these imbalances contribute towards pain and subpar biomechanics.
This is a lengthy subject, and I don't want to bore you guys/gals. My aim is to point you in the direction towards understanding and hopefully fixing your own issues. We want to be healthy and wealthy, right?
So here's where to start:
1. Work Your Butt Off.
Yes I'm not kidding. There's even a scientific term for it now. "Gluteal amnesia" or" glute death": we sit on our butts so much that we lose the mind-muscle connection.
Resulting in weak, non-firing glutes and very little back/hip support. This increases your risk of back pain and injury, as your glutes are responsible for lending a LOT of support to your back and hips. An important posture and power muscle, they even play a role in knee pain, explosive strength, speed, and stability.
Weak glutes mean your body borrows strength and support from your lower back and hips, paving the way for strains and sprains.
Work on activation exercises like the glute bridge, hip thrusts, and side leg raises. Here are Jeff's best videos on glute training for lower back pain.
-Weak glute signs and exercises to fix them
-Glutes role in back pain
2. Work your core, not just your abs.
Ever wonder how a weightlifting belt works?
It increases intra-abdominal pressure around your midsection. More pressure around your spine equals more stability when moving - or under load.
It's not the belt per se, but your body's response to the belt that creates this spine-saving pressure.
A soda can is another example. Squeeze an empty can, it crumbles. Squeeze a sealed one, and it won't cave in due to internal pressure that resists an external force.
Your body's own natural weight belt is your core. Which includes the glutes, pelvic muscles, and abdominal muscles, one of which - the Transverse Abodominis (TA) - wraps around your spine in a similar fashion to a weightlifting belt.
For strong stable spine, you MUST train these muscles:
-Multifidus, which lies on the back of your spine, connecting vertebrae. Most people don't even know they have a muscle like this.
-Spinal erectors
-Transverse abdominis.
-Rectus abdmonis
-Obliques
Endless crunches won't cut it, and will probably exacerbate your back pain.
Here's a solid video from Jeff covering all core muscles:
-Identifying weak abs and which exercises to start
-An anatomical science-based approach to training abs
3. Work your rotator cuffs and lower traps
Your lower traps are located beneath the bony part of your shoulder blades. They are often neglected muscles and contribute heavily towards neck and shoulder dysfunction. Together, the lower traps work to depress and retract your upper back area, while the rotator cuffs keep your shoulders neutral and in a healthy position.
Basically, they reverse this nerd-neck caveman posture:
It's important to activate and strengthen them. Especially if you have a tight or painful neck/shoulders and sit at a desk all day.
Jeff covers neck and shoulder issues extensively in this video here:
Get rid of forward head posture and neck/shoulder pain
Work the 3 muscles above a little every day, create a routine and you'll thank yourself within a couple of weeks. You'll move and feel better, and it only takes minutes. I often feel better throughout the day when I work these muscles every morning.
A final assortment of tips:
- Again, see a GOOD physio. I went through 4 to find an amazing practitioner (who coaches the local rugby team).
- Get a massage. Stop putting it off. Go for a deep tissue massage when you feel tight.
- Stretch and foam roll. Foam rolling is one of the best ways to learn your body and self-massage. It is painful at first, and avoid your lower back area when rolling. See Jeff's vid here for more info. Stretching is pretty important too. Spending all your time sitting at a desk focused on a screen will lead to tight shoulders and pecks, which contribute towards internally rotating your shoulders and screwing with your neck and back. Stretch them out safely.
- Get up every 20-40 minutes, move regularly.
- Get a frikkin blood test. This will help step up your nutrition game. Get enough omega 3s, B vitamins, Iron, and vitamin D.
- Watch ATHLEAN X. COM
I hope this helps somebody here!
Thanks for reading,
Haych
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