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Hey Team, A whopping 80% of Americans are estimated to experience a form of low back pain at some point in their lifetime, with 39% of adults having it in the past three months. Each year alone there are over one million spinal operations performed in the U.S. with over 200,000 of them being deemed “low value” i.e. potentially unnecessary. This week, we’re going over how to limit the risk of back injury in the gym. Come back next week to learn about possible steps to take should you experience pain or injury. When it comes to protecting the spine, we can break things down into three categories. - Stabilize: Before any lift, though especially compound moves like deadlift, squats, etc. it’s important to brace your core to activate deep stabilizing muscles such as the transverse abdominis (TA) and the multifidus. The best way to activate? Pretend you’re about to be punched, really. Turning on the anterior portion of your core will protect the posterior portion (spine included), and avoid excess strain on the vertebrae. Taking this action puts you at less risk for bulging and herniated discs, a common injury associated with heavy deadlifts and squats when poor form and improper bracing is present.
- Alignment: Our spines love neutrality. It becomes susceptible to injury with excess rounding (flexion) or arching (extension), and with added load, shear forces are increased. While the spine is broken into three areas of distinction; lumbar (lower), thoracic (mid), and cervical (neck), the entire spine acts as a single instrument. When you’re deadlifting, your lumbar and thoracic spine may be aligned but where’s your neck? Are you looking up at the ceiling while yanking 200lbs off the floor? Is the answer yes? You’re now increasing your risk of injury. Lower back rounded when you first lift the weight off the ground? Risk goes up again. Stabilization and alignment are of the utmost importance before you begin the rep, all the way through completion and re-racking of the rep.
- Recovery: Despite my fear mongering last paragraph, injuries from a single rep are low compared to injuries stemming from systemic fatigue. Skipping rest days and not giving your body, or in this case, your spine, proper time to recover becomes the perfect recipe for injury. Prioritize mobility and spinal decompression work like cat-cows, thread-the-needle, and throw in some birddogs for extra stabilizing work at ease. 📢Psst..mobility isn’t just for off days! 📢 Morning, midday or night mobility snacks of five minutes or less add up over time.
My final tip: cross train. It’s the old advice that ages like wine. My healthiest fitness stints have been times where my weekly mix includes strength, yoga, running, walking and a weekly sport. Our bodies were designed to move multiplanar. By combining movements from the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes, we better prepare the body for real-life and achieve overall athleticism. Train and treat your body like an athlete, because if you’re reading this, you are an athlete.
Until next time. 👋 |
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| | Danielle Bitts
VP of Brand, Bodybuilding.com | | |
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