It’s not always about strength
If you suffer from low back pain, I’m willing to bet that you’ve been told to “strengthen your core” from someone, somewhere, at some point. Maybe your doctor, maybe your physical therapist, or maybe even from Uncle Johnny or Auntie Suzy.
While I do believe that having a strong core helps, I don’t believe it will protect you from low back injury or pain. Often, it won’t even help you relieve the pain you already have. And at worst, it could do you harm.
I’ve seen this first hand in my physiotherapy practice in Toronto. I’ve had clients come in who had taken this advice to heart, and for years, they had worked on their abs. This usually involved a whole routine of abdominal curls, crunches and twists, with hundreds or thousands of repetitions a week. Their abs did get strong, but they didn’t relieve their low back pain. Sometimes, they actually made it worse.
They went about it the wrong way.
So what should you do if you shouldn’t strengthen your core with curls, crunches and twists?
Improve your muscular endurance with stability exercises!
Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the world’s foremost spine researchers, discusses this concept in depth in his book Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance. He presents a strongly supported, evidence-based argument for the back-protective nature of improving muscular endurance as opposed to doing the same with muscular strength.
A must read for low back health.
So where does that leave you if you can’t get your daily fix of abdominal work?
Just give the following series of exercises a go to improve your core endurance and spinal stability.
Yours in movement,
Dev Chengkalath
