Great Tip For Back Health Part 2

If you missed part 1, don’t worry, you can read it below J

“Your back has a finite number of bends.” – Dr. Stuart McGill

I’ve heard some great advice during my years in the fitness business.  That line is in the top three, easy.

It was spoken by Dr. Stuart McGill, who is generally considered a leading researcher and practitioner in the field of low back performance and injury prevention.  Keyword: “Practitioner”.   He actually applies his research to real people to see if it holds up.

In addition to reading two of his books, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him speak in person on two occasions.  If you’ve ever trained with me or even if you’ve only followed my advice, you’ve been heavily influenced by Dr. Mcgill, as well.

And his quote above and that point in general, is a great one.

Your lower back is not supposed to bend.  It only can – very slightly – as a defense mechanism, similar to how a skyscraper bends slightly in the wind to prevent cracking.  But if you keep doing it over and over, eventually it will crack.

We all have a number of bends in us that our backs can handle.  Some of us, not many perhaps.  Maybe we’ll have back issues early in life.  

Some of us may be lucky and get tens of thousands of bends before tells us “No More.”

But make no mistake about it:  At some point, your back will bend and your body will say “No more” and it will be an unpleasant experience.  It may be when you’re 18 it may be when you’re 80.

It doesn’t really matter.  

What matters is that you realize that you didn’t hurt your back when you picked up your kid, were gardening, playing with your dog etc. – you set it up to fail with thousands of bends prior to the event and that action was the final straw.

So keep this in mind as you lean, slouch and bend over to pick things up.

Keep this in mind when you exercise.  When you squat and lunge and push up.

Does your spine bend when you do those things?

Do your best to prevent it.  There are countless ways to do this through exercise.  If you have questions about how to do so, let me know – we’re here to help.

Jon