A critique of all things related to functional fitness
I’ve received some emails asking for me to elaborate. So, here goes. Low Back Pain is not hard to find. It’s in your back. The culprit is hidden a tad better. Try to squat and notice what happens at your feet. Do they turn in/out. Does your heel lift off the ground. Next, what about your hips. Do your legs rotate in/out. Unless the foot/ankle and hips are working your back doesn’t have a chance.
It seems EVERYONE has a couple of episodes of back pain per year. Why? It’s a lack of total body postural awareness. The low back does not exist in isolation. Relearn how to move (proper function), restore your posture, and relieve pain.
A few years ago I took a slightly different direction to LBP; essentially, look at what “works” via total body approaches. For example, I’ve personally seen Rolfing work wonders for people and change their structural alignment and alleviate back pain. It’s by no means a cure for back pain, but it can work by reconnecting the body from head to toe and breaking up adhesions to allow for proper movement to be expressed. My point being the body has a homeostatic base, and is FAR more intelligent than anything we can devise, and it will largely reintroduce proper muscle timing if the obstacles are removed. The key is finding the obstacles and using your preferred method to facilitate change and then it’s time to get out of the way. Of course, there are variables and each person is different, but the general paradigm stays the same….
