Relieve Low Back Pain | Reduce Low Back Pain | Canada's Leading Authority in Human Movement | Dev Chengkalath

In my last post I listed 7 reasons why I believe New Year’s Resolutions fail.

Over the next little while I’m going to explore each of those reasons and relate it back to movement, injury rehab, fitness and health.

First on the docket is accountability.

What does accountability really mean and why does it even matter?

The definition above is taken from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and I think it encompasses the main idea quite well.

Are we really willing to accept responsibility for our actions or lack thereof? Are we ready to admit that our results are based on what we have done or not done? That these results are based on what we’ve chosen to do or chosen not to do?

Are we willing to put the blame from lack of results squarely on our own shoulders? Are we willing to accept that our achievements were our very own?

Basically, as stated by Merriam-Webster, are we in a position to accept absolute responsibility?

At this point you’re probably scratching your head and wondering how this ties in with movement, injury rehab, fitness or health?

If you want to lose weight, it’s simple. If you want to gain muscle, it’s simple. If you want to rehab your injury, it’s usually quite simple. If you want to improve your health, avoid diabetes, obesity, heart disease or any other life-altering ailment, it’s definitely simple.

(For the record, simple DOES NOT mean easy).

But are we willing to say no to the extra serving of pasta and increase our activity levels regularly? Are we willing to slam down those extra 2000 calories a day and hit the gym when we just want to crawl into bed and sleep? Are we willing to take the appropriate recovery breaks or practice the same “boring” rehab exercises over and over again to retrain our faulty movement patterns or fix our mobility issues when we know there is something more “interesting” on the TV? Are we willing to take charge of what we put into our bodies, eschewing the toxins, the chemicals, the processed crap we call food? Are we ready to take responsibility for what we subject our bodies to, or how we treat them every day?

Then we have to ask ourselves, who are we responsible to?

Who would we be letting down if we fail?

Is it ourselves? Our friends and families? Our parents? Our children? Our neighbours? Society? The healthcare system?

Is is to all of them? Some of them? None of them?

In the end, I guess I’ve asked more questions than I’ve answered and they’re questions that only you can answer.

Just realize that if there is no built in accountability to your health and fitness goals or resolutions, the odds that you’ll follow through on them diminish dramatically and all you’ll end up with is a written wish list which will leave you in the same place you were in yesterday.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

As you’ll often notice, I tend to write a lot about the backside.

Call it what you want (glutes, hips, posterior chain, derriere …), but always remember how important hip function is for not only protecting or fixing your back, but also for numerous other joints and tissues in your body.

Since I’ve already written at length about how the hips impact spine health, today I want to branch out a bit into hip function and knee health.

Over the course of the last little while I’ve had quite a few clients come into the clinic with fairly sudden onset of atraumatic knee pain. Basically, the pain came on without any falls or trauma to the knee itself.

I tend to see injuries in bunches. I’ll have periods of  people with neck pain, a week of ankle sprains or a week where everyone is suffering from low back pain.

In this case, I wanted to figure out the commonality between all these people and their knee pain.

Sure enough, they were all runners.

Enjoy your run, pain free.

As I’ve written before and as I’ll write again, people should get fit to run and not the other way around.

That is GET FIT TO RUN, DON’T RUN TO GET FIT.

What’s the problem with running to get fit?

There are huge numbers of issues with the above.

The most concerning is that running is a highly repetitive, extremely high volume, high impact activity.

Think of it this way: how many foot-falls or foot strikes will you have in a 10 minute run? In a 30 minute run? In a half-marathon? Marathon?

Now think of each of those steps as a repetition.

Now add in the fact that an individual may have been completely sedentary prior to starting to run.Or may have some bio-mechanical fault or compensation.

To me, that just seems like a dangerous mix.

High volume, high impact activity with an often poorly coordinated (lacking motor control) and de-conditioned body.

That, my friends, is a sure recipe for disaster, pain and injury.

The human body is an incredible marvel of engineering. It will adapt to almost any condition or stress placed upon it, with one major caveat: only if given the opportunity to adapt.

Runners, unfortunately, tend not to take heed.

Above all else, they will keep running.

Now, if you build a strong, sturdy foundation, there’s no problem with going out for a run.

In part 2 of this blog post,  I’ll discuss why the hips and glutes are so important for runners and how just a few simple exercises can protect your knees and spine at the same time.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

…for an A$$ kicking workout can be found in your own home. 

Now for some of you out there, you may prefer the gym.

The atmosphere. The sights. The sounds. The smells. 

I know I do.

I love the sound of iron clanging against iron. I love the feel of deep knurling ripping into the tender flesh of my palms (yes, I do have soft hands!). I love the look and feel of heavy plates and heavy dumbbells. The grunts and groans of effort (or attention seeking-look at me, look at me!).

I do admit however, the smells I could usually do without. I understand the deep human need to form habits, but seriously, after working out in a certain outfit, WASH IT! I don’t care if you wear the same baby blue T and Addidas shorts ever single day, just make sure you’ve killed the fungus that’s been growing on them.

Okay, now that my rant is over, here’s the point of this whole post. 

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to get to the gym as often as I do.

But…

If you can’t get to a gym, you have everything you need at home to get in phenomenal shape. 

A while back I talked about the ultimate home workout weight set.

If you didn’t catch that post, you can check it out HERE.  

I won’t rehash what’s been hashed (if I can even say that), but I will say that with the proper progression of bodyweight exercises, you can push yourself and achieve amazing results.

Using your body, and perhaps some household items, or even a few pieces of easily purchased equipment, you can create any number of workouts (limited only by your imagination!) that will help you burn body fat, build muscle and get in awesome shape.

All in the comfort of your own home.  

Stay tuned as I open your eyes to the incredible options available for bodyweight training over the next couple weeks.

There are big things coming your way…

 
Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

P.S. Keep your eyes open for a big anouncement coming soon…

LARGE BREASTS.

Warning: May cause severe back pain

“Where the heck is he going with this one?!?”

I am going to assume that’s what you’re thinking.

And rightly so. 

Read on to find out how big breasts are related to back pain… 

While I’ve discussed many learned or habitual causes of back pain, there is an area that I haven’t spent much time talking about. 

Structural causes. 

Now these types of causes are many and can include bone related issues as scoliosis (curvatures of the spine), leg length discrepancies (one leg shorter than the other), or a number of other problems related to the structural make up of various human tissues (bones, joints, tendons, ligaments etc). 

One such structural issue that is fairly common, but not often discussed, is the case of the massive mammaries. 

Being a male physical therapist working under the auspices of the Regulated Health Professions Act, I’ve had to broach this subject with my clients with significant caution.

You can’t just tell someone that their boobs are causing their back pain. Even if that’s really the case.

That being said, this problem is very real for those that suffer from it and must be addressed.

For this problem, there are a few solutions I’d like to suggest:

1. Proper bra fitting: Obviously, not being a bra expert myself, I’ve had to reach into my extended network of colleagues and experts for information (no matter what industry you’re in, you MUST have a network you can access for things you don’t know!-but that’s for another post!) This includes the correct size, style, support and structure. Even a small change such as a wider shoulder strap can make a HUGE difference. So for all you women out there, have your brassieres professionally fitted. 
2. Fix your posture. ‘Nuff said. 
3. Lose excess body weight: This is not only important for back pain issues but also for health issues. My good buddy Rocco has a program that can help you out. You can check it out HERE.
4. Get in shape: If you have a heavy chest that collapses you forward, you need strong, resilient muscles to defy gravity and keep you upright. Get strong. Get fit. 
5. Breast reduction surgery: Sometimes, it’s gotta be done. Your health is probably worth more than having cleavage. 

So there you have it. Big breasts and back pain.

The silence has ended.

Dev Chengkalath

As you all know, I’m a huge proponent for movement as a safe, effective and dangerous-side-effect-free “cure” for many of the health issues faced by a large percentage of the population. This includes relieving low back pain, treating diabetes, lowering cholesterol and conquering obesity and its related deadly disorders. 

In this post, I’m going to be switching gears a bit from discussing low back pain to discussing body fat.

Don’t get me wrong. The two are still intimately related and that’s why, if you’re carrying extra body fat, you need to get rid of it. 

Potentially Fatal Body Fat

 As I subscribe to dozens of physical therapy, health and fitness newsletters, I’m always looking to pass along information that will benefit you in relieving your low back pain or just getting you in the best shape possible (which is one of the best ways to avoid low back pain!). 

Here is one such newsletter I recently received that caught my attention:

[ Editor's Note:  Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

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I agree with Jon. You can keep waiting on the sidelines or you can suit up, take action and take charge of your health and fitness. 

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath