Today, I’m going to outline a very basic program that I’ve used with quite a few of my clients in the past to help them get their back, back on track.

Part one: Warm Up

Before any exercise program it’s probably a good idea to get warmed up.

This is no different in principle for low back pain sufferers or high performance athletes.

The difference in method , however, is that the warm up for back pain relief isn’t the traditional warm up you’re probably thinking about.

There’s no jumping, pushing, pulling or throwing involved. There are no calisthenics.The pace is more controlled and the purpose is a little different.

You probably won’t be huffing and puffing.

Unlike the current dynamic warm up protocols, which are a bit more involved, the low back warm up is more focused on increasing your body awareness and prepping your body for movement precision.

With this type of warm up, we’re not necessarily as interested in breaking a sweat or ramping you up for high intensity exercise. Rather, it’s all about turning the right body bits on and grooving the right movement patterns.

Cat & Camel:

1 set of 6-8 reps

Quadruped Rocking:

2 sets of 6-8 reps

Clamshell

2 sets of 8-12 reps/side

Part 2: The Program

This is where you really start to work the core.

These movements may seem a lot less isolated than the traditional “core” or “abdominal” exercises that were typically prescribed for low back pain resolution. These are designed to engage your core in a coordinated manner while taking into account both core functions of resisting movement and transferring energy.

Don’t be fooled by their simplicity.

When executed correctly, these movements, for most people, will actually be quite challenging. You might just find yourself finally breaking that sweat!

Birddog variations

2 sets of 8-12 reps side x 8-10 s holds

Plank variations

2 sets of 8-12 reps side x 9-10 s holds

Suitcase Carry

2 sets of 30 sec per side

Sit to Stand

2 sets of 8-12 reps

For those of you looking for video on how these exercises should be done, you can check them out on my youtube channel here:

Dev’s YouTube Channel.

I’ve had my clients complete this type of program 1-3 times a day for 2 weeks and many have reported significant changes in their low back pain status in that short period of time.

Remember, while the above is considered a very basic core rehab program, some of these movements may not be suitable for every type of low back pain: too hard, too easy or just plain contraindicated.

Always, ALWAYS do your due diligence and seek the guidance of your healthcare professional before you try out something you found on the internet.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

Is the core more than abs?

This post series is NOT going to be a treatise on the definition of the core.

Suffice to say that there are many different interpretations about that subject.

Some consider only the abdominal musculature to be the core.

Others would consider pretty much everything in the torso and midsection to be integral to core function.

In fact, with more research going into fascial lines and connections, I bet we’ll see even more complex core models come in to play in the near future!

That being said, in this post series I’m just going to discuss WHY a functioning core (no matter what your definition) is fundamental for avoiding or resolving low back pain and many other musculoskeletal aches and pains.

As I’ve written before, I believe the core has two main functions. These are:

1. To resist movement. This can be further broken down into resisting flexion (forward bending), extension (bending backwards), side flexion (bending to the side) or any combination of these (rotations).

2. To transfer energy. This includes creating the ability to run, jump, throw, or do pretty much any activity that requires movement in a gravity rich environment.

So why are these two core functions important?

As discussed previously here (causes of low back pain), one of the common elements that often appears is motor control issues. A malfunctioning core falls into this category.

Keeping in mind the first of the two core functions, we can see that resisting movement is a stability function. And that’s what the core should be doing.

Our bodies are constantly under attack by all sorts of forces, many of these which are directly or indirectly influenced by gravity. They are referenced by many titles and go by many different names: shear, torsion, pressure, traction, compression, distraction and so on.

These forces, whether big or small, are constantly wearing down our bodies like water erodes rock and stone over time. These forces will eventually cause enough damage that something will give and we end up in pain or injured.

Eroding Forces

If our core is properly functioning, our bodies are better able to tolerate and dissipate these forces. Our bodies are better able to ward off the negative effects.

Let’s dig a little deeper and see just how a properly functioning core can spare your spine.

When all systems are working properly, the core muscles function to stabilize the many spinal components. If there is less movement through the spine, then there is less potential for wear, tear and damage. The spine is buffered against these eroding forces.

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying that your spine shouldn’t move at all!

Quite the opposite.

There should be a SMALL amount of movement that takes place between the joints of the spinal column.

This is normal and required.

However, in my experience, most people move way TOO MUCH through their lower back thus putting all sorts of body parts at risk for injury, including the discs, joints, and ligaments.

Now moving on to the second core function of transferring energy.

The typical problem here is the potential for inefficient transfer of energy.

This faulty transfer can occur between our bodies and the environment (e.g. loss of energy between the ground and our feet when running) or even between body segments (e.g. loss of power from hips to shoulder to arm to hand when throwing a baseball).

Over time, these energy leaks lead to compensatory movements. These “cheating” ways of movement don’t allow our body to properly buffer against those daily forces, which then puts of muscles, tendons, joints and discs at risk for pain or injury.

So how do you fix these?

In my next post, I’ll outline a short, basic core training program that I’ve used to help clients better understand and apply proper core function to resist movement, to transfer energy and get them back to enjoying a pain free life.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

And because I’ve been inspired by Shakira and her masterful hip mobility, today I’m going to make a case for why you should really take heed of her deep insight on the honesty of this often overlooked joint.

For all of my desk jockey readers out there, pay special attention.

I could go into a lengthy description of the hip joint and all the associated musculature and potential compensations that can occur.

But I won’t.

I tried that many years ago with my clients and soon realized that the look that settled on on their faces was not actually interest, or even feigned interest, but rather the intricate contortion of the small facial muscles into a very purposeful look of “I don’t give a shit”.

Mentally, I suspect that this was probably their first out of body experience. They were making their grocery lists, reviewing their emails or possibly even replaying the latest episode of American Idol from their memory banks.

The hip bone is connected to the leg bone..

Lesson learned…Most of my clients don’t really care to know a whole lot about the anatomy behind their pain. They just want to know the bare minimum to enable them to do what they have to do to fix their problems.

So here’s the gist of why happy hips equal happy spine.

The body, in all its elegance, simply executes the directives sent by the brain. If the brain wants a certain movement done, the body will do everything it can to make it happen.

Even if said movement happens to be damaging.

If the hips don’t move, the required movement will come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, in most cases, this happens to be from the vulnerable lumbar spine.

Many people with low back pain have tight or restricted hip mobility.

Some aren’t able to extend their legs backward through the hip joints properly. So their bodies will help create that extension by moving excessively through the lower spine.

Others aren’t able to flex their hips up, so their bodies compensate by flexing through the low back instead in order to achieve the desired range of motion.

Both of these compensations override the built in protective mechanism that is key to our back health: the ability to activate our built in corset to brace against both internal and external forces.

Over time and with repeated flexion and extension compensation movements, the tissues of the back are slowly worn down. Until something breaks, something gives or something hurts.

So if you don’t like hurting, take care of your hips and keep them mobile.

In the next post I’ll go over a couple of my favourite hip mobility drills.

And remember, your hips don’t lie.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

Morning has broken and it’s time to start your day.

You slowly rub the sleep from your eyes, fling the warm, enveloping covers off your body and allow the frigid air of your bedroom to jolt you further from your reverie.

“Why does my back feel so stiff?” is your first fleeting thought as you hunch forward on the edge of your bed, pawing for your fuzzy slippers with your feet. Your sleep-drunk legs have trouble locating their targets so you bend farther forward through your back to add some visual assistance.

You pull yourself to a somewhat upright position, stumble to the bathroom, turn on the tap, bend down to the sink and splash the last vestiges of sleep from your being…

So maybe you don’t dream of saving the world, and perhaps you don’t have fuzzy slippers. Heck, you might not even wash your face.

But if you’re like most people, you likely go through some of the same movement patterns I’ve just described.

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that your intervertebral discs (yup, the same ones that are involved in “slipped discs“), according to Dr. Stuart McGill’s research, are actually in a more hydrated state after a night of slumber, which puts them at higher risk for injury (disc herniations, disc bulges etc) with certain types of movements, most notably flexion.

Why do the discs “inflate”?

After having spent six to ten hours in a horizontal position while sleeping, the effects of gravity are minimized through your spine. So instead of being compressed (as they are when you’re upright), your discs are unloaded to a certain degree and actually suck up fluid like a sponge. This is why you’re actually taller after waking.

What can you do about it?

This is the simple part. Avoid flexion (bending forward) through your spine until the discs have had a chance to lose some of that fluid.

See, I told you, simple.

McGill’s research suggests that it will take about an hour after waking for this to occur. After that golden hour, it’s safer to bend that way.

Now the hard part: avoiding flexion means you’ll have to modify how you get out of bed, how you sit on the edge of your bed, how you wash your face, brush your teeth and even sit on the toilet.

And depending on how fast you are at getting pretty in the morning, it would also mean you’ll have to avoid slouching at the breakfast table (you do eat breakfast right?).

These are all automatic habits you’ve been reinforcing for years. It’s not going to be easy to change them, but as a former low back pain sufferer, I can honestly say that I prefer dribbling toothpaste down my chin than having bolts of lightning shoot down my leg.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you plug in a google search for the causes of low back pain, you’re guaranteed to come across every type of reason that you might be suffering from this potentially debilitating condition.

Your search will no doubt return pages of results with slipped discs, weak cores, or scoliosis. Some pages may even make reference to stress, depression, fibromyalgia or other more esoteric manifestations.

While these may appear to be likely culprits, the’re often more representative of sources of pain, and not causes (go here to read more  about causes vs sources of pain).

Now at this point you’re quite possibly thinking that I have no idea what I’m talking about or that I’ve gone off my rocker.

Take a leap of faith and trust me.

I’ve worked with and learned from hundreds of people who have had every imaginable form of low back pain. I’ve spent countless hours studying the research, taking courses, attending seminars, talking to experts, and otherwise investing in my “low back pain” education.

Over this time, and as with almost everything in life, I’ve come to recognize that there are a few underlying patterns the pop up.

For lower back pain issues, the three items that keep showing up are:

1. The person suffering from the condition doesn’t know why her back hurts. Or she may have an idea, but not know what to do about it. If you don’t know what could be damaging your back or you don’t know how to change what’s hurting you, it’s pretty hard to get better, isn’t it?

This is the knowledge component.

2. The low back pain sufferer has some form of motor control issue. This can include postural faults, muscle imbalances, mobility restrictions (or it’s partner in crime, instability), and sub-optimal movement patterns.

3. Finally, there is almost always a component of de-conditioning. While this is often thought of as a lack of general fitness, this can also include a missing component of specific fitness. I’ve worked with professional athletes who were in prime physical condition, but lacked some very specific physical abilities that either put them at risk, hurt them or kept them in pain. Once this limiting step was fixed, their bodies were able to heal and performance improved.

And that, my friends, is the general recurring theme that kept showing up in the hundreds of cases of low back pain I have worked with over the years.

As with any problem, having a framework to work from helps in creating a solution. Low back pain is no different.

To this day, I don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all solution for every type of low back pain problem. There are too many variables and too many factors that can’t be controlled.

However, following the wise insight of Ralph Waldo Emerson, I do believe that the above described general framework and it’s underlying principles will help guide each individual towards his or her own unique “methods”.

These methods will form the foundation of a successful low back pain treatment program.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath