Intro to back pain
Everyone has experienced, currently has, or will experience back pain of some type.
The purpose of this article is to educate you on what back pain is, how to recognize the causes, and how to alleviate and hopefully cut back pain out forever. It’s important to note that most injuries can be classified in one of two ways: acute or chronic. An example of an acute injury would be a football player gets tackled hard and the impact causes an ACL sprain. An example of a chronic injury would be… Chronic back pain! Most chronic injuries are caused by overuse. Now to the nitty gritty.
When you get up from your desk, do you wince in pain and grab your lower back? Do you have to sit down to tie your shoes? How about when you get out of the car after a long drive, do you feel like your hamstrings are super stiff and feel pain radiating down your lower back?
These are some common everyday situations showcasing the symptoms of lower back pain. Muscle ache, stabbing pain, pain shooting or radiating down the leg, and limited flexibility are the most common symptoms.
But what exactly causes these symptoms?
In some cases, it’s not your fault. An abnormal curvature of the spine, osteoporosis, and arthritis are pretty common examples of lower back pain that are not self-inflicted. For most people though, it boils down to bad posture, improper lifting, or *gasp* your own body weight.
Ask yourself these questions:
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When I’m standing, how do I look?
Take a look at this chart. Where do you fall on the chart?
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When I’m working out, do I round my back on most exercises?
Deadlifting is the number one exercise causing back problems. Whenever I’m in the gym, I like to look at the members who are deadlifting. The majority of them have atrocious form while doing a deadlift of any kind, and most of them have way too much weight on the bar.
The second and third exercises causing back pain in the population are the barbell squat OR any variation of a barbell bent over row. Set your phone up or have someone record you while performing these movements and take a look at your overall posture. You could also reach out to a friendly certified personal trainer to take a look at your form or recording of you doing the lift.
One of the reasons we got into this industry was to educate and help people, so feel free to ask!
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Finally, are you overweight? If so, how much?
Back pain can be caused by several different things in the back, but almost all of them require some type of abnormal compression or rotation of the spine. Being overweight doesn’t help, as it puts more compression on the disks in the spine. This puts you at a larger risk for back pain and problems.
Thankfully, fixing back pain is pretty simple.
There are a ton of corrective exercises you can do to fix forward head, kyphosis, lordosis, and sway back, but that requires an assessment by a qualified personal trainer or physical therapist. IF you notice you have one of these conditions, email me and I’ll send you some info on what to do.
In a more general sense, the solutions for fixing back pain are as follows:
1. Plain and simple
How strong is your core (abdominal AND lower back)? How in tune are you with your pelvis? Do you understand what a pelvic tilt is? If not, you need to learn.
Most people have some type of pelvic tilt, preventing a neutral standing position. Take that tilt out and voila, you too can enjoy doing crunches and sit ups the way they were meant to be done. Focusing on doing core workouts 2-3 times a week will help strengthen the muscles that help protect the spine.
Also, working on some of the postural upper back muscles (traps, rear delts) can help open up the chest, helping you stand up straighter. For my gentlemen, giving chest 3 days of love during the week and neglecting your back and traps is a recipe for tight shoulders and pecs, causing rounded/internal shoulder rotation while standing.
2. Day to day reminders
Do you sit a desk all day? If so, how is your posture. Are you hunched over, slouched in your chair, staring up at your computer or down at a notebook all day?
These are surefire ways to cause back pain. Every so often get up and walk around. Sit up straight, chest up, shoulders back, core tight. Don’t pinch the shoulder blades. Replace your chair with a better one, or sub out the chair for an exercise ball for 10 minutes every hour. If your computer monitor isn’t at eye level lower/raise it so that it is. This will prevent any kinks happening in your neck or cervical spine.
3. Lastly, STRETCH!!!
I cannot stress this enough. The more mobile and flexible you are, the less prone to injury you are. Take a yoga class or buy a book on yoga, stretching, or myofascial release. Massages will help with this as well. Whatever you decide to do stick with it consistently. Stretching should be an integral part of your life, ESPECIALLY if you exercise.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, if you have any questions or comments please email me and I’ll be happy to answer them for you! Feel free to share this with anyone that you think could benefit from this.
