So you have just embarked on a fitness journey. Got all the kit and have joined the hottest fitness craze on the block. Three weeks down the line you are feeling great but there is something niggling in your back. The next morning you wake up to brush your teeth and your back locks! This is an all too familiar scenario I see in my practice.
If your routine includes lots of forwards bending (think loading a dishwasher or washing machine or lifting heavy boxes off the floor) or exercise such as crunches/situps/jackknives etc…. you might be setting yourself up for trouble.
These commonly performed exercises have been shown in studies by the foremost lower back expert Dr Stuart McGill to cause high shear loads through your spine and its soft parts (Disk, ligaments and cartilage surrounding the vertebra).
Dr Mcgill went on to develop 3 fundamental core exercises to help keep your spine stable, healthy and pain free. He describes the practice of these exercises like regular dental hygiene in that they should be done on a daily bases. It is important to note that these can be done in the absence of pain and will ensure a bulletproof lower back.
The 1st is the Mcgill situp and is designed to create a feeling of stability and safety in an achy spine.
The 2nd is the Mcgill side bridge. It helps connect the pelvis and the lower back and allows the lower back to move robustly in sideways movements.
The 3rd is the bird dog and it is a great way to get good core activation and fires up your Glutes. It also helps connect opposite sides of the body which is fundamental to human movement. Click here to see how they are performed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_e4I-brfqs)
Last but not least and probably the best “Magic Bullet” in combating lower back pain is a simple 20 minute flat walk at a brisk pace.
The three exercises above should be dosed appropriately and should be done in accordance with your pain threshold. This means that if 5 reps is the most you can do without the exercise hurting you then that is the baseline for the number of reps you start with and eventually build up to ten reps on each side. Ideally in people who are in pain these exercises can be repeated 3 times per day.