"Should I Feel This In My Back?"

Have you ever gone to pick something up and then got a shot of fear when you felt something in your lower back?

That’s how we’ve been trained to think, with most professionals telling us to avoid any sort of lifting or feeling in that area.

I remember when I injured my back years ago, and I was told to always keep a neutral spine and brace my core to keep my spine from moving. What this implies is that your lower back isn't built to withstand force of any kind, and this thinking leads to the negative belief that our backs are fragile.

In a way, it’s understandable. Lower back pain is one of the most common ailments that the large majority of the population deals with or will deal with in their lifetime.

But this mentality is holding us back.

Would we think of any other part of our body in the same way? If we feel our glutes working, or our biceps, should we feel the same level of fear that something is going to give?

Clearly not. We understand that in order to train a muscle or joint to make it stronger, we need to apply stress for it to adapt. But for whatever reason, we throw this out the window for our lower backs and treat them like they're made of glass.

There are muscles and other tissues in our lower backs that respond to stress and adapt just like your biceps and your glutes.

And just like any other place, if we avoid using it, we lose it.

In other words, we leave ourselves vulnerable. The advice we're given to protect our backs, in theory at least, is the exact thing that's directly contributing to our back pain.

It’s the equivalent of signing up for a marathon, not training for it and being surprised that when you show up for it, you get injured.

Instead, you should actively seek out ways to train your spine and make it more resilient. This way, you’ll be more prepared for any demands that life brings you (be it lifting in the gym or lifting some boxes at home).

Here's an example of a workout I built entirely around training my spine.

To your good health,

Coach Stephen

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 Thanks for reading.

P.S.

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