As the old statistic say, 80% of the population has expired some type of low back pain at some point in their life. And then there is the 20% who lied about it.
Low back issues will plague just about everyone at some point in their life. Whether mild or chronic, this is something that no one wants to experience. While we can never eliminate the risk of an injury, there are a few simple things you can do to reduce your risk dramatically.
You often hear someone say they need to strengthen their core, in order to improve their lower back condition. While there is some truth to that, it isn’t typically that simple. Planks are a great exercise, but they can only help so much for really reducing your risk of issues.
A strong core is important and a great place to start, but the real solution is using that core in bigger movement patterns. Planks are used to give you some strength and endurance in your spine stabilizing muscles. But what happens when you are upright and moving.
I have seen people hold planks for minutes but when the reach down tot pick something up, all of that strength and stability just disappears. The key is learning how to use that strong core to create better movement.
Have you ever heard of someone throwing out their back picking up something like a pencil or a piece of paper? Maybe this has happened to you. How could such a light weight do so much damage.
In reality, it was not the pencil that threw the back out. It was just the straw that broke the camels back. It was repeated improper movement over the last few decades that led you to that moment. Our bodies can handle quite a beating, but at some point it will tell you enough is enough.
So what can you do to better protect yourself from these annoying back injuries? The first thing you must absolutely do is treat every weight seriously. Sometimes this might sound silly, but if you just do this one thing you significantly improve your movement and reduce your injury risk.
What I mean by this is, anytime you reach down to pick something up or put something down you do it with purpose. Treat every weight you pick up like it was heavy weight for you. So pick up that pencil like it was a 30lb pencil, or lower the toilet seat like it had some serious weight behind it.
Sounds silly I know, but if you truly want to protect you back your need to watch it every time you use it. Not just when you are lifting something heavy. These little “insignficiant” movements add up and tend to do the most damage.
Now, you can also use a few different methods for picking things up as well. If you are exercising, especially with SDPT, these should look familiar. We don’t pick these exercises to torture you. There is always a purpose behind it.
1. The golfers lift or single leg deadlift
This move gets it’s name from how a golfer will typically grab a ball from the hole. It is best used for lighter objects to pick up all of the floor. Here you will reach down with one arm as you lift the same side leg off the ground. The leg moves backwards as your trunk moves forward, acting as a counter weight.
This move significantly takes the load off your back and puts it on the muscles of your hips where the movement should be coming from. Yes, this takes a level of balance, but if you can’t stand on one leg you have some other issues that you need to worry about as well. But if you can’t balance you can always use a sturdy object for extra support.
2. Deadlifting or Hip Hinging
Ok so you got the golfer’s lift down for your lighter objects, but what if you need to grab something a bit heavier. Deadifting is a great option if you understand the mechanic behind it.
The key to picking something up this way is to understand what it means to hinge at the hips, while maintain a stable shoulder joint and core.
To check this out you can try a simple drill. You hold a dowel or stick behind your back so it touches the back of your head, between your shoulder blades, and your butt. You should be able to bend forward with the stick maintaining all points of contact. If it doesn’t you are losing your core stability. This is often due to tightness in the hips, but could just be from poor stability and control.
A good drill to learn this move is to stand about a foot from a wall. Then you will reach your hips back and try and “kiss” the wall with your butt. When you do this you are usually in the perfect position for the deadlift. Once you get that feeling down, you start reaching down to pick up something.
3. Lunging or Split Squat
You may not think of a lunge as a way to pick something up, but dropping down to one knee is a great way to get lower to the ground to pick up something heavy. This becomes very important when you are lifting heavier object AND you have hip tightness that does not allow you to get low enough for your hip hinge.
With this movement you lunge down and either take a knee or get as low as needed to pick an item up. This split stance makes it much more easier to get lower for items you may not be able to hip hinge for.
The biggest issue with lunging down to grab something, is very similar to the hip hinge. Often times you get down to the ground with the legs, but then lose that stable core to pick up something. So you may start in a good position, but you don’t finish with one and you may end up hurting your back still.
So just like out last example, you can practice lunging down using a dowel rod to make sure you can move adequately with the lower body without involving the upper body. This way you learn to use the legs to drive the movement and not your back.
Now you can see they why behind some of the common exercises you will see in a workout at SDPT. Every workout we try and include a deadlift, a single leg deadlift, and a lunge movement. And we make sure you are performing it properly so you protect yourself from injury AND see better results from the workouts.
Give these a try in your routine and see how much it will help you protect your back.
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS, SGX
San Diego Premier Training
PS. You ready to work on your health and fitness with a professional coach for the next 28 Days? Click Here To Apply for our next 28 Day Challenge to see what you can do in just 4 weeks.