Just a quick video clip of a more advanced physical therapy core exercise to help relieve low back pain: The Cross Over Plank.
Yours in movement.
Dev Chengkalath
Just wanted to mix things up a bit and try out a new method (at least for me!) of getting the information out there.
I put together this short clip discussing the major causes of lower back pain.
Let me know what you think!
Yours in movement,
Dev Chengkalath
On this frigid Friday morning, many people braved the cold to get a glimpse of the Olympic torch as it made its way through Toronto.
I had the good fortune to have realized that the torch was actually going to pass right by where I live.
I was able to get the following short video clip from my balcony.
Even from that distance, there was something spectacular about the passing of the flame and the magical essence of the human spirit as expressed through sport.
It took me back 21 years ago to when I was a small child in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, watching that same fire burn as it was passed from torch bearer to torch bearer for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
Yours in the Olympic Spirit.
Dev Chengkalath
Well my friends, I know I said that I would write about strategies to improve hip mobility and spine stability in order to buffer against the deadly effects of low back pain.
However, I would like to switch gears a little bit just because I’ve had a pretty incredible weekend and wanted to share it with you.
The old dog in the title of the post is me. And boy did I learn some new tricks this weekend!
Here’s the background story:
I’ve never been a big winter sports kinda guy. For most of my life, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen, and many who didn’t want to listen, that I’m allergic to the cold. It’s more than likely that this is the reason that I have only skied once in my life, on a school ski trip about 16 years ago.
Now fast forward to this past weekend:
It all changed!
I hit the slopes as an adult beginner trying to learn a sport that has at its foundation some of the things I most detest: ice, snow, cold.
For the record, this is NOT me
Would I be willing to deal with those frigid elements to learn how to balance precariously on a two, incredibly thin, parabolic boards strapped to my feet, while hurtling down the side of a mountain in the name of fun?
My weekend at Mont Tremblant started with a beginner skiing lesson with a very patient, and understanding gentleman by the name of Jean Landry, on a hill that at best had a max altitude of 40 feet with a kind and forgiving slope. He started with the basics: how to balance, how to stop, how to turn, and most importantly, how to get up when you fall.
And that was probably the most important lesson.
Because in life, there will be falls.
There will be tumbles.
Some worse than others. Some a little softer.
Some, like the ones I experienced at Mont Tremblant, which gently kicked up clouds of fluffy white snow. Some, like the ones that my body aches remind me of, which had enough force to smack my helmeted noggin into the icy hillside.
But after every fall, I learned to awkwardly shuffle, twist, turn and twitch until I was standing again. I would stumble robotically towards my skis which were designed to liberate themselves well before the point where my ankles snapped. I would clip them back on to my feet, and then dust off the snow that had made its way through my four or five clothing layers.
And before I would start down the hill again, I would take a quick, wide-eyed peek up the busy ski hill and see the other skiers coming down towards me with the control akin to a rally car that missed a turn and at speeds that I’m sure the human body is not designed to experience outside of rocket-ship travel. When the coast was clear, I would point my skis back to the bottom of the abyss and start my journey over again.
And that’s when something amazing happened.
I learned to ski.
This old dog, learned a new trick.
Yours in movement.
Dev Chengkalath
In the last blog post, mobility, stability and flexibility were defined in the context that I will be using them.
This is important to keep in mind as they have very different applications when it comes to relieving low back pain issues.
Quick Recap:
Mobility refers to the available motion at a joint, generally taking into consideration the amount of control exerted through that range.
Stability is on the same continuum as mobility but refers more specifically to the ability to resist excess motion and maintain joint integrity under neuromuscular control.
Flexibility (which falls under the broad expanse that is mobility) for our purpose will refer to the total range of motion available at a joint, whether or not it is under neuromuscular control
Mobility, stability and flexibility on low back pain:
As stated before, most people with mechanical low back pain have decreased mobility (are hypomobile) at their hips (think of the hours you spend sitting in a flexed hip position!) and have excessive movement through their lumbar spines (hypermobile or flexible lumbar spines; think of those poor, slouched postures you sit or stand in for long periods of time!).
This becomes a problem because the body will do what it needs to do to create the movements you want it to create.
In many of these low back pain cases, this means that the hips won’t extend far back enough. The body just can’t get enough movement through the hips.
The body’s solution: find the next best place to achieve that extension in order to execute the desired movement pattern.
Unfortunately, this almost always means excessive movement through the flexible (hypermobile) lumbar spine.
Hypermobile Lumbar Spine
What does this mean for you?
Well, if you now have too much movement going through an area that is supposed to be stable, various tissues will get irritated and injured.
For most people, this won’t happen right away.
In fact, for most people, this happens over a longer period of time because they repeat those same injury-causing faulty movements over and over again, day in-day out, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Remember repeated flexion and extension through the lumbar spine is the primary stimulus for the creation of bulging or herniated discs.
Now imagine what happens to those poor lumbar discs if you repeatedly flex then extend through the lumbar spine to make up for your loss of hip mobility…Not a very pretty picture at all!
One day, the last straw is placed on the camel’s back, and it breaks.
So how do you save the camel’s back?
Well my friends, in the next post, I’ll go over some specific strategies that you can put in place to stabilize your spine and mobilize your hips.
Just remember this equation and many of your back troubles will disappear:
Stable Spine + Mobile Hips = Healthy Back