Ten Ways To Help Alleive Low Back Pain

1. Improve Hip Mobility - If your hips are stiffer than your lower back, movement will occur at the lower back. Improve hip mobility and you'll be able to bend over without to much forward flexing at the lower back.

2. Improve Thoracic Mobility - Forward flexing and rotation shouldn't be made at the lower back. The more movement and mobility at the mid or thoracic vertebrae the less movement that will occur at the lower or lumbar vertebrae.

3. Strengthen Your Core - A strong core (glutes, abdominals, low back) will help stabilize the lower back and keep movement at the low back to a minimum. There are much better ways to strengthen your core than a crunch. Crunches can end up putting more stress on the lower back. Use planks, dead bugs, and roll outs to name a few.

4. Use Hips To Bend Over - In most cases bending over at the lower is not advised. Learn to use your hips to bend over. Stay in a neutral position at the lower back and the chance of lower back injury will greatly decrease. Some bending will occur from time to time but learn to use your legs as much as possible.

5. Stop Using Machines - Machines don't have much carryover into the real world and aren't "functional". When you use free weights you force your body to stabilize not only at the core but you also receive more activation from every other joint and area of the body. How often is your range of motion set, like when using a machine?

6. Stop Stretching Your Lower Back - And hamstrings for that matter. They may feel tight but look on the other side of your body. In most cases tight hip flexors pull the pelvis into anterior tilt forcing the low back and hamstrings to be under constant stretch or tension. It may feel good at the time to stretch these areas but when hip flexor flexibility improves you'll have lengthened musculature on the backside.

7. Improve Resting Posture - Or stop resting so much. The move movement the better. Make it a goal to never sit down longer then 20 minutes.

8. Lose Body Fat - Ever wonder why a pregnant ladies back always hurts? That weight they are carrying on the front side is making the low back work overtime to keep your body upright.

9. Change The Way You Sleep - Stop sleeping on your stomach. Sleep on your side or back.

10. Improve Glute Activation - Guess whats right below the low back? The glutes. I see terrible glute activation when people start training. The glutes are a very powerful thing and when they are learned to be used much less stress will be put on the low back and hamstrings. This will also help pull the pelvis out of anterior tilt along with many other problems that can occur down and up the chain.

Random Thoughts

1. I love group classes. You can learn so much in a group class just because of the simple fact of you have so many situations to "deal" with or just plain do your job as a trainer. I've had people with ankle replacements where their ankles are immovable to people who first start doing a squat look like they are going to fall forward onto their face. Should people like this be in a group class, no but you can only do get so many people to see the benefits of individual training. Situations like this make you be "quick on your feet" and really helps you become a better trainer by coming up with modifications for certain individuals.

Then I have group classes back in my home town, which I explain to people as a little hole in the wall gym. Not that isn't not nice (it's actually very nice for a small town) but I'm spoiled with all the equipment I have to choose from where I do most of my work. It really makes you appreciate body weight training and how affective it can be if used correctly.

2. I hate snow and cold weather.

Nice weather come back

3. The snatch grip deadlift is great. My upper back and glutes haven't been this sore in a while.

4. I heard a guy talking about how his shoulder was bothering him the other day. Now this guy has some of the worst internally rotated shoulders not to mention the true problem down the chain at the hips that gives him a limp when he walks. Makes me wonder if some people buy one shoe at a time from all the pounding the one shoe gets from the limping. Anyway, I just hear this guy tell someone how his shoulder hurts when proceeds to complete a set of cable crossover flies. The kicker, about 1o minutes later he is pounding out some dumbbell flies. In between sets you would think he trying to rub a whole through his shirt with all the rubbing he is doing on his shoulder.

Please stop doing an exercise if it there is pain! There's a reason the movement hurts. Find a professional such as a Physical Therapist or Personal Trainer who can help get you back to pain free movement. Not to mention recommendations on contraindicated movements to your condition.

5.I love canned pumpkin.

Oh So Good

6. Do NOT stop eating healthy fat if you are trying to loose fat. There's a reason it's a macro nutrient. Your body needs it! It's more then likely that cake you've had for "dessert" for the past 10 years. If anything the macro nutrient carbohydrate is making you fat.

Good Carb

"But it has nuts, they're good for you aren't they?"