There’s a long held myth that our levels of low back pain are directly attributable to western culture and sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. Suggesting manual workers, farmers for example, are better off. Even medics, tend to assume that staying active in this way – bending, lifting, carrying - is better for muscular skeletal or low back health. But is it? I’m not so sure.

In this video I’m taking a look at some of the studies done of people in Africa and Asia, who carry huge loads on their back or perform work bending over from the hip in the paddy fields for hours a day. And the impact this has on their spinal health and the incidence of low back pain. After all, they don’t have ergonomic advice given to them, they just stand or lift how they’ve been taught by the generations before them.

So are they really better off, simply because they’re moving all day and not sedentary?

Are you struggling with low back pain? Click Here to join our How to Overcome Low Back Pain Workshop...

Have you been told you should be doing strengthening exercises for your weak lower back?

Before you do, read on to find out why strengthening lower back muscles in the traditional way should be avoided, and why there’s a better way when it comes to choosing exercises for low back strength.

Often when we talk about rehabilitation and muscle strength, we look at individual muscles and what we can do to put force through them to build them up. But it’s time we took a wider perspective on it.

I came across this quote from Gray Cook’s book, Movement:

“It's common to seek stabilisation programs that attempt to train stabilisers like prime movers, using concentric and eccentric movements. This assumes that strengthening the stabilisers will cause them to stabilise more effectively.  Common strengthening programs are applied to muscles with a stabilisation role which will increase the concentric strength but have little impact on the timing and recruitment which are the essence of stabilis...

Do you worry that your lower back is in pain simply because you're getting older? While this is partly true because more time has passed, there will still be specific reasons causing the discomfort.

We’ve talked, previously, about sciatica, disk bulging and herniation and various other conditions or disorders that can affect the lower back. Now, in this tutorial, I talk about how these injuries can occur. So you can understand better, and identify quicker, any movements or postures that might be causing damage to your low back. Making it easier to rehabilitate.

Are you struggling with low back pain? Click Here to join our How to Overcome Low Back Pain Workshop

What causes lower back injury?

Firstly, it’s important to note there may be genetic factors at play here. Things that have impacted parents or other relatives could give you a clue as to what’s going on. Alternatively, there might have been one traumatic event or injury that has taken place. Something like a car accident or ...

The McGill Big 3 are a set of exercises I talk about a lot. But they are often misunderstood. Sometimes what I see people using them for is a little different to what I believe they should be used for.

 Let me explain...

What are the McGill Big 3?

I run through these with a demo in the video above. But in summary: 

1. Arguably the most well known ‘Big 3’ exercise is the bird dog: getting onto all fours and raising alternate arms and legs. This position and movement acts mainly on the posterior chain of muscles - the glutes, the lats, the longissimus, iliocostalis, thoracal lumber etc. 

2. Second is the side plank, which works more on the lateral musculature, as well as the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus - particularly when you hold this position.
3. Finally, the modified curl up. Laying on the back, this is a simplified version of a curl up, where we maintain position of the lower back, lifting only the shoulder blades. We then hold this position so we feel the abdominals. This
...

If you, like many of my clients, suffer from low back pain, but still want to be able to develop core strength, stability and endurance, then Bird Dog could be an important addition to your routine. In the tutorial above I talk about why it’s so important as well as some of the ways I see people getting it wrong.

Why is Bird Dog important for low back rehab?

Bird Dog is useful and important for 3 reasons: 

1. It's helping you develop something I call joint awareness.
2. It's a high stability exercise – developing good quality stability.
3. It's a low compression exercise - so it doesn’t put a huge amount of stress on the spine.

 Are you struggling with low back pain? Click Here to join our How to Overcome Low Back Pain Workshop

What do we mean by joint awareness?

If you want to be technical, we should be calling this proprioception, but I just want to keep it simple here. That’s why I’m calling it joint awareness. This means what is your body doing when you ask it to perform specif...

Opinions differ when it comes to the subject of whether back extensions are a good exercise for strengthening the lower back. In fact, I don’t often prescribe the back extension as I feel there are usually other exercises that can get you a better result.

But I’m aware there are people who don’t agree with me, so for the sake of balance, let’s look at the positives and negatives.

Do you want to build core strength & stability? Click Here to start my How to Build Core Strength & Stability 12-Week Online Program

Performing back extensions – what are we actually trying to do

There are lots of ways of doing the back extension. One being on the floor, another with a machine. You’ll see in the tutorial video, that I demonstrate using a piece of equipment that allows me to hinge at the hips and then extend back up. This helps to activate and strengthen the lower back muscles.

In short, what we’re aiming to do with back extensions is to get the longissimus and the iliocostalis, along with...

Are you looking for a package or product that’s going to fix your lower back pain? A specific exercise perhaps? A few rules to follow? A magic wand to wave?

There are plenty of people around who will try to give you the answer. “Do this stretch,” they’ll say. “Try that technique.” And while these may be things that have worked from some people in some circumstances, and while they may be science-backed, to some extent at least, the suggested exercises will often be generalised. And just because a certain technique is better for lower back pain than another, does not necessarily mean that it’s the right thing to do for your lower back pain.

Are you struggling with low back pain? Click Here to join our How to Overcome Low Back Pain Workshop

How to know what will work for you?

As there are so many different suggestions floating around, it can be hard to really set up a routine that works over time. Simply trying different things here and there is unlikely to help. And even if it does ...

This might not necessarily be something you think is important. But it is. It’s something that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. That’s why in this tutorial I wanted to go back to basics and  show you why, if you are struggling with lower back pain, you should be rethinking everything you do. 

So, what is this untold secret? 

It's small movement errors, the things that happen when we lift or twist, when we’re in a rush or not thinking. It’s the fact that just a little more concentration on the way we perform these everyday adjustments could make a very real difference on the recovery or recurrence of our lower back pain. 

Let’s get more specific: 

• Rounding the lower back  

When we get ready to lift something, we naturally round the back. Particularly when it’s something we don’t view as ‘heavy’. The problem is this rounding puts extra stress on the discs of the lower back. And whether we’re lifting from a sitting position or a standing position, this extra stress can lea...

When I speak to people struggling with lower back pain, they often ask the same questions: should I continue to exercise? What exercises should I do? And how do I make sure I don’t make it worse? 

In this tutorial I want to set out the journey you’ll go on and what you should be doing. As well as how I can help you to implement lots of positive changes, step by step without aggravating your lower back pain.

The importance of understanding lower back pain

The first thing I want to say here, is that your lower back pain is specific to you, you will have your own triggers. There will be specific postures, and scenarios that make it better or worse. The first step is to get to know and understand your own lower back. Because that’s the only way you’ll be able to learn how to do the right thing for it. 

When you join one of my online programmes, or work with me face-to-face, the first step will always be an assessment of your lower back pain. This will involve you answering some ques...

In this tutorial we’ll look at what is a butt wink or what is a hip wink then we'll look at why it's a problem. Finally we’ll cover four ways we can prevent it happening if you’re struggling with lower back pain.

What is a butt wink or hip wink?

A hip or butt wink is when the pelvis tucks underneath as you go down into a squat or into hip flexion. It's only a small movement but just tucks under as you get to the lowest part of the movement. We don't want this to happen as it’s a problem when it comes to muscle activation, as well as contributing to lower back pain because it's irritating one specific part of the joint. 

How can you tell if what you’re feeling is a hip wink? 

A hip wink is actually a very subtle movement that might be confused with your shorts being pulled tight. You can tell if it’s the hip winking by putting your hand across your back. Place your little finger on your pelvis and your thumb on your lower back and the back of your hand in between. As you go down you...