Back Pain Relief 4 Life 2.0 PDF eBook by Ian Hart
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Transcript of Back Pain Relief 4 Life 2.0 PDF eBook by Ian Hart
The Natural Back Pain Solution
EXCLUSIVE REPORT!
http://www.BackPainRelief4Life.com
Disclaimer
The statements in this book have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration. This e-book does not intend in any way to provide medical
advice. The information here does not represent medical advice. If you are
seeking medical advice contact a licensed medical practitioner. All
information provided is for informational purposes only and represents an
expression of opinion of the author(s). The products and information in this
book are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you
have a severe medical condition, see a physician of your choice.
While every effort has been made to ensure the information provided is
accurate, the author and publisher make no warranties with respect to the
accuracy or completeness of the contents of the book.
Neither the publisher or author shall be liable for any loss or damages.
Contents
Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................... 2
Contents ............................................................................................................................... 3
Preface.................................................................................................................................. 6
1. Congratulations On Making It This Far! .................................................................... 6
2. This Information in This Book Is For Cumulative Not Acute Back Pain and
Injuries ............................................................................................................................. 6
3. What Does This Mean? .................................................................................................. 6
4. The Commitment Required From You to Heal Yourself ......................................... 6
5. The Benefits of Self Education and Taking Responsibility ............................................... 7
6. One More Thing… .......................................................................................................... 8
Part 1 – The Story of Why You Have Back Pain....................................................................... 9
1. The Influence of Western Society .................................................................................. 9
Why Do Less Westernized Societies Have Lower Rates of Back Pain? ........................ 9
Why Are Western Societies’ Back Pain Rates Getting Worse?.................................... 9
The Story behind our Cumulative Damage From Childhood ..................................... 10
What Causes the Cumulative Damage? ................................................................... 11
2. Environmental ............................................................................................................. 13
Lack of squatting ..................................................................................................... 13
Soft Surfaces With No Feedback ............................................................................. 14
Chairs and Beds of Poor Design ............................................................................... 14
Sitting All Day ......................................................................................................... 15
Isolated Strength Training ....................................................................................... 15
Cardio Training ....................................................................................................... 16
Diet......................................................................................................................... 16
3. Emotional Factors ........................................................................................................ 17
Stress and Fight or Flight syndrome ........................................................................ 17
Lack of relaxation .................................................................................................... 18
4. Poor Body Use ............................................................................................................. 18
5. Initial Damage to Spinal Structure ................................................................................ 18
6. Initial Damage to Muscles ............................................................................................ 19
7. Longer Term Damage .................................................................................................. 20
Part 2- Why common medical treatments fail us ................................................................. 21
Surgery ............................................................................................................................ 23
Back Support Braces ........................................................................................................ 23
Inversion Therapy ............................................................................................................ 24
Osteopath and Chiropractic Manipulation and adjustment .............................................. 24
Muscle strengthening programs ...................................................................................... 24
Massage .......................................................................................................................... 25
Acupuncture ................................................................................................................... 25
Physiotherapy ................................................................................................................. 25
Effective treatment must address the root cause ............................................................ 26
Part 3- How to Get Long Lasting Relief ................................................................................. 27
1. Stop the Damage Occurring & Train your Body for Optimal Use ................................... 29
Identify Poor Use Patterns and excessive tension .................................................... 30
Identify excessive Muscle Tension........................................................................... 32
The Fundamental Directions and Techniques for Good Use..................................... 33
Learn correct movements and positions ................................................................. 35
Semi supine to learn neutral position ...................................................................... 44
Manage stress in life to avoid tensing of muscles and overuse ................................ 46
Avoid bad positions and movements....................................................................... 46
2. Treat the Damage ........................................................................................................ 47
1. Repair of the muscles .......................................................................................... 47
2. Repair of the spinal structure .............................................................................. 55
3. Repair of the whole body .................................................................................... 55
3. Strengthen the supporting muscles ............................................................................. 58
Beginner Exercises .................................................................................................. 58
Medium Difficulty Exercises .................................................................................... 62
Advanced exercises ................................................................................................. 65
Summary............................................................................................................................. 66
Preface
1. Congratulations On Making It This Far!
You have taken a great step towards getting permanent relief for your back
pain!
First a couple of important points…
2. The Information in This Book Is For Cumulative Not Acute Back Pain
and Injuries
Most back injuries result from the cumulative effects of months and years of
poor posture, faulty body mechanics and the subsequent stress on the body.
Cumulative back pain is not usually the result of only one specific injury event.
3. What Does This Mean?
This information is designed for people with back problems that have occurred
over a period of time. If you have a specific injury that you think caused your
back pain such as a car accident then I recommend consulting your doctor.
However the information may still be of value to you, as the more educated
you are the better you will be able to make more informed decisions about
looking after your back.
4. The Commitment Required From You to Heal Yourself
The common medical treatments for back pain only treat the symptoms of the
problems - for example taking pain killers, chiropractic adjustments or even
surgery. None of these methods treat what caused the damage in the first
place.
However to treat the damage before it occurs requires you to make changes
in the way you treat your body – the way you move, sit and stand. It also
involves taking a holistic approach to treating your back pain and treating it
from many angles of approach – all of these are explained in this book.
This system will take more involvement from you than simply taking a
painkiller or getting the chiropractor to „crack‟ your back. The more
involvement required from you means that not many people are prepared to
put the effort in to get the results.
If you are prepared to put the effort in and apply the learnings from this
system you will get far longer lasting results.
5. The Benefits of Self Education and Taking
Responsibility
Research has found that the attitude, beliefs and health
literacy of people about their back pain directly affects how
successful and long-lasting their relief will be.
To get long lasting results, a recent study found that you
need to have:
A positive attitude about the pain and not focus all
your attention on worrying about it getting worse
A positive belief that permanent relief from back pain
is possible
Been well educated in the causes of back pain
and be able to direct your own treatment.
6. One More Thing…
The book is laid out with a lot of information on the cause behind back pain at
the start, which will take a while to read through. It is important though, so
please read it BEFORE getting to the treatment instructions later on…
Part 1 – The Story of Why You Have Back Pain
1. The Influence of Western Society
Why Do Less Westernized Societies Have Lower Rates of Back Pain?
It is an interesting fact to note that those people living in less industrialized
and westernized countries, such as those in South-East Asia and Africa, have
much lower rates of back pain than people in western countries.
Why is this? It stems from the fact that the people in these countries live in a
more „traditional way‟ and do not do the same damage to their bodies as we
do. They use their bodies in the way it was designed; we explain what this
means later on.
Why Are Western Societies’ Back Pain Rates Getting Worse?
Up to 80% of people in western societies will experience back pain in some
part of their life. Rates of back pain are also increasing. Countries becoming
more industrialized and westernized such as India and China are starting to
report more and more cases of back pain.
We will show why there is a link between western and industrialized society
and back pain. We then will explain how this relates to you, and how
understanding the reasons for this link will help you permanently resolve your
back pain.
The Story behind our Cumulative Damage From Childhood
When we were born we had no back pain and our bodies were in good
working order. What happened between then and now?
If we look at the following diagram it shows that the damage to your back
occurs well before you feel any pain. Since your back was in optimal
condition since you were born, most of us have been doing gradual damage
to our back. This is called cumulative damage. Cumulative means the total
damage successively builds up over time from many individual damage
events. Often we first experience back pain early on in life and it goes away,
causing us to think it has been fixed. But the damage is still occurring, and it
often returns later in life, often for good.
Figure 1- The Cumulative Damage Occurring to your Back is Hidden Until it reaches the pain threshold
However this is not known to us because the damage is hidden until it gets to
the level at which we feel pain. This is why we can hurt our back bending
Chronic
back pain
Condition
or health
of our Back
Cumulative damage
occurring from our habitual
poor body use
Back pain goes
away temporarily.
But damage is still
occurring
First experience
of back pain
over to tie our shoelaces or reaching for a book on a high shelf. It wasn‟t that
one simple movement that actually caused our back to „pop out‟. It was the
years of damage accumulating, and that one movement just put it over the
pain threshold.
What Causes the Cumulative Damage?
We will show in detail the reasons behind the cause of the cumulative
damage to our backs. We will show in this book that the root cause for any
damage occurring is a result of using the body in a way it was not designed
for. This happens because of poor body use patterns.
The diagram below shows this and where pain can arise at different points of
the damage occurring.
Root Causes
Symptoms
4. Poor Body Use
Poor use vs how the body is designed to be used optimally
Spinal Structure and support muscles in poor positions for long periods
Tensing muscles for long periods
6. Initial Damage to Muscles
Support muscles overworked, fatigued & weakening OR
Support muscles adopt long term tightness and new incorrect position
Muscle „Imbalances‟
5. Initial Damage
to Spinal Structure
Initial Damage to Spinal Structure
Temporary Posture Dysfunctions
Compressed discs
2. Environmental:
Sitting on chairs
Lack of squatting, other
poor body use situations
3. Emotional/Mental:
Constant Stress
Lack of relaxation
7. Longer Term Damage
Long Term Posture dysfunctions (eg Scoliosis, Kyphosis)
Nerve Impingement and Pain (Spinal stenosis, Sciatica)
Lumbar Disc Herniation, Spondylolisthesis
Discetomies, Laminectomies Surgeries
Spinal Fusion Surgery
No Pain Felt
(The damage
being done is
“hidden”)
1. Western Society Influences
Changes in the way we use our bodies
Back Pain
from
muscles,
nerves or
spinal
structure
Back Pain
from
muscles
Back Pain
from
Spinal
Structure
The evolution of back pain from the root cause to the symptoms and points that back pain can arise at
2. Environmental
Lack of squatting
One of the important factors that impacts on our ability to move, sit and stand
in a way that does not harm our body is the lack of squatting we now do in
daily life. Squatting is important because it maintains flexibility in the hips and
hamstrings. This helps us sit without doing damage to our spine. It also
allows us to bend down to pick things up and lift heavy things without doing
damage to our back. We no longer squat often enough to maintain this
flexibility.
In the past, over thousands of years, humans squatted when they needed to
stop and rest, or sat on their lower legs with their feet bent under them. This
maintained the length, freedom and space in the spine. By squatting often,
humans naturally had great technique for lifting. This is something only seen
in the best weightlifters today. They could lift heavy objects without injuring
their back.
Note this person can squat with her
heels flat on the ground and keep
length in her spine, without her
lumbar curve collapsing outwards.
Note modern humans have tight
hamstrings and poor hip mobility. Hence
when they squat their lumbar curve
collapses outwards, putting pressure on
the invertebrate discs.
People that still live in the traditional way can still squat all the way to the
ground with their spine in a neutral position whilst keeping their heels on the
ground. They also have more flexible hamstrings which allow them to bend
down and do many other activities whilst keeping a neutral spine position.
Most people in western countries cannot do this. Try this and see how far
your lower back collapses out when you squat with your heels on the ground.
Soft Surfaces With No Feedback
Nowadays we often sit on very soft and heavily cushioned seats, chairs and
beds. What happens when we sit or lie on such surfaces is the body
collapses into the surface. This is because it does not receive firm and
accurate feedback from the surface it is resting on. The body needs firm
surfaces and feedback to activate its supporting muscles for the back and
spine such as the transverse abdominal muscles (T/A).
Sitting on seats with backrests also has this affect. We collapse into the
backrest and don‟t use our core muscles to support ourselves. Hence our
core muscles weaken and aren‟t able to provide support when we need them
to protect our spine from damage.
Chairs and Beds of Poor Design
The chairs that we sit on in our daily life also often have a poor ergonomic
design. Normally the chairs slope backwards. This causes our lumbar curve
to collapse outwards as our core muscles cannot hold our spine in its neutral
position. Good chairs should slope forward so our hips are higher than our
knees.
Sleeping on beds that are too soft and collapse inwards also have a
detrimental effect on our muscles. This can cause our lumbar curve to
collapse outwards when sleeping and our muscles adapt to this new
shortened position. Consequently our spine then changes its shape to this
new, damaging orientation.
Sitting All Day
In the modern way of life, people are often required to sit in the one position
for great lengths of time for their work or to carry out other tasks. This may be
office work, truck driving, farming or other sitting type situations like sewing or
sorting goods. Modern ways of standing and other poor habits also have
effects on your back, but we will discuss these later.
The sitting position places the spine under at least 35% more stress than
standing. Sitting for work, such as the driving of motor vehicles, has been
found in studies to increase the risk of an acute herniated lumbar inter-
vertebral disc.
The effect of not squatting very often and hence having tight hips and
hamstrings means sitting with good posture is difficult for most people. This is
further aggravated by the soft seats and chairs of poor design that we sit on.
Hence our lumbar curve collapses when we sit, putting a lot of pressure on
the invertebral discs and support muscles. This results in compressed discs
that are at risk of herniations, as well as muscle fatigue and tightening.
Isolated Strength Training
Nowadays any strength training we do is commonly working on one muscle in
isolation. For example, using any weights machine at the gym. However to
develop our core stability strength our strength training needs to be full body
functional, dynamic and instability training. What this means is training with
our body weight or Swiss balls so that our core muscles activate and we do
not only work on one muscle. This has the effect of training all our muscles to
be equally strong, perfectly balanced and working together.
Cardio Training
The common way to train nowadays is to do endurance training which
exhausts the muscles and does not give them time to repair and build
strength. Often this is done every day or many times a week. Training to
failure (which means strength training until muscle exhaustion and you can do
no more) once a week has been shown to be a far more effective way to build
muscle strength.
Diet
The common diet that most people consume nowadays has an added effect
on back pain. Often the diet is much higher in sugar and carbohydrates than
the body is designed for. This has the effect of most people carrying extra
weight than their optimal body weight. This puts additional stress on the spine
and increases back pain.
The common western diet also inhibits healing with many foods that cause
inflammation or restricts healing, such as sugars, dairy and other
inflammation-causing food. This all has a worsening effect on back pain.
Digestive problems, kidney and liver problems can also be caused by poor
diet and this has been shown to contribute to back pain.
3. Emotional Factors
Stress and Fight or Flight Syndrome
Stress increases respiration, pulse rates, blood pressure and often muscle
tension. When this stress reaction is turned on it is called the “fight or flight”
effect. This is designed for humans to help them either fight or evade danger
in their environment.
Stress can be both a good and bad thing. It is only a problem when we are
under stress for too long.
In a modern environment, we are bombarded with stimuli all day long in the
form of deadlines, noisy environments and stressful actions (i.e. driving). In
this case we don‟t fight or flee but we endure this stress and the body‟s
response is activated again and again for long periods of time.
Under stress the body‟s muscles also shorten, especially the head and neck
which is pulled down and back. This interferes with the natural movement of
the body which affects the back.
Where it also relates to back pain is in people holding excess tension in their
muscles for long periods of time which fatigues the muscles.
Emotional stress can also have an impact on the health of the entire body and
hence can contribute to back pain. People undergoing stress and changes in
their life often hold tension around the pelvic region which affects the lower
back as the muscles become fatigued and do not provide support for the
spine.
Lack of relaxation
Another effect of the busyness of modern society is that we rarely take
sufficient downtime to relax. We are always rushing off to somewhere else to
do some other job that is next on the list. Activating the relaxation response is
important because it has the opposite effect to stress and instead it reduces
muscle tension in the body and promotes healing.
4. Poor Body Use
5. Initial Damage to Spinal Structure
One effect of these poor body use habits is placing the body in damaging
structural positions for long periods of time. It is important to note that the
body can handle positions to the extremes of its movements, but it cannot
handle these for long periods of time or under load.
The overriding effect of all the western society influences on us
is that we exhibit poor body use. In fact using the body in ways
it was not designed has become a habit for us, so we have poor
movement and postural habits.
By poor we mean using the body in a way that damages it. In
part 3 of this book, we show how to retrain your body with good
habits that are optimal to avoid damage.
The initial damage to the spinal structure comes in the form of accelerated
disc degeneration; this is now seen in most people over 30 years of age in
western countries. The back wall of the disc will start to weaken at this time,
putting it at risk of herniation.
The facet joints which connect the vertebrae together at the back can also be
irritated at this time causing pain.
6. Initial Damage to Muscles
The initial damage to our muscles can occur from elevated muscle tension for
long periods. Muscle tension is needed to hold good posture and move in
daily life, it is only a problem when we hold more tension in the muscles than
needed for long periods.
Elevated muscle tension can occur from 2 causes: habitual tension or injury.
Habitual tension is when we tense our muscles continuously, usually because
we are stressed. The elevated tension can become a habitual feedback loop
between the muscle fibers and the nervous system. This means it becomes
elevated all the time without us even being aware of it anymore.
The other cause of elevated muscle tension is from injury. This can be an
acute injury such as when we put our back muscles outside their normal
range of movement or put them under too much load. It can also be a
cumulative injury from overuse by trying to hold good posture with the wrong
muscles. If we used muscles that are designed to move us, not stabilize the
spine then they become fatigued and suffer overuse damage.
The muscles surrounding the injured area will then go into elevated tension or
spasm to protect the injured area.
The long held tension in the muscle can then cause changes at the cellular
level. Collagen will be deposited in the area and fibrosis and mineralization
can result. This is what we often call a “knot” in our muscle. This can be very
hard to repair and results in reduced range of movement, usually
permanently.
7. Longer Term Damage
The elevated muscle tension described above and reduced range of
movement can cause postural dysfunctions that are very hard to reverse.
Examples of these are scoliosis –a curve in the spine from side to side, or
kyphosis – a hunchback type curve of the upper spine.
As the height of the invertebral discs decreases due to the degeneration, this
has an effect on the amount of space available for the various structures in
the spine. When the space available for the ligaments and the spinal cord
sheath decreases, pressure is applied to the segmental nerves causing pain
(at either that location of referred pain in another area).
Sciatica can also appear at this time. It is commonly thought that sciatica
occurs from disc material impinging (compressing) on the sciatic nerve,
however it is important to note there is muscular causes for this condition as
well.
The worst case result if the postural dysfunctions and poor use continues is
permanent spinal structure damage. For example conditions such as
ruptured and herniated discs.
Part 2- Why common medical treatments fail us
There are many treatments available for back pain. The question is why don‟t
they produce long term relief? Commonly they only produce short term
results, by treating the symptoms only such as the pain.
The diagram below shows that to get effective treatment that results in
permanent relief it must begin at the root cause. Unless the root cause of the
damage is treated, the damage will continue to occur over and over again.
However most mainstream medical treatments only address the symptoms as
shown below.
Common medical treatments address only the symptoms of back pain, not the root cause
Root Causes
Symptoms
4. Poor Body Use
Poor use vs how the body is designed to be used optimally
Spinal Structure and support muscles in poor positions for long periods
Tensing muscles for long periods
6. Initial Damage to Muscles
Support muscles overworked, fatigued & weakening OR
Support muscles adopt long term tightness and new incorrect position
Muscle „Imbalances‟
5. Initial Damage
to Spinal Structure
Initial Damage to Spinal Structure
Temporary Posture Dysfunctions
Compressed discs
2. Environmental:
Sitting on chairs
Lack of squatting, other
poor body use situations
3. Emotional/Mental:
Constant Stress
Lack of relaxation
7. Longer Term Damage
Long Term Posture dysfunctions (eg Scoliosis, Kyphosis)
Nerve Impingement and Pain (Spinal stenosis, Sciatica)
Lumbar Disc Herniation, Spondylolisthesis
1. Western Society Influences
Changes in the way we use our bodies
Scoliosis Braces
Surgery Spinal
Fusions Discetomies Laminectomies
Massage Physiotherapy
Acupuncture Muscle
strengthening
programs
Chiropractic Adjustments
Osteopath Manipulation
Inversion Therapy
Surgery
For some people the first stage of their back pain treatment begins at the end
of the line - surgery. The vertebral column has long been thought of by
doctors as the sole cause of back pain hence the reason for surgery. However
this is not the case, it can arise from muscle and nerve pain as well.
The results of surgery are less than satisfactory for many people. They have
complications and side effects. The root cause of the problem has not been
treated, so by still using the body in a poor way it continues to be damaged.
Surgery makes rehabilitation harder as once the deep supporting muscles
have been cut though, it is much harder for them to repair and strengthen
satisfactorily.
Recent studies on the use of MRIs showed that some disc degeneration is
evident even in people that do not currently have back pain. Often such disc
degeneration is used to justify surgery, even though now it has been shown
that the degeneration itself is often not the cause of the pain and hence
surgery will not have a beneficial effect.
Disc degeneration was once thought to be irreversible, but recent studies
have also shown that disc degeneration can be reversed.
Back Support Braces
Back braces are often used to provide support for back pain sufferers to
support the spine in a more neutral position. Whilst providing temporary
support, these braces do not of course address the root cause of the problem,
and the body can become even weaker by relying on them.
Bracing is also often used for scoliosis and other conditions to try to hold the
curve from progressing further. For scoliosis that has developed after birth
however, a much more effective approach is to address the root cause of the
problem.
Inversion Therapy
Inversion therapy is used to reduce the pressure on the invertebral discs and
allow the discs to return to height. This can also help the spinal column
realign itself somewhat. Inversion therapy is a useful tool to reduce the
damage done to the discs. It can however be too aggressive a position for
some people and can induce greater muscle spasm if they have tight muscles
that connect to the spine. It also does not address the cause of the discs
becoming compressed in the first place. In part 3 of this book, we show an
inversion treatment therapy that is much more gentle on the body.
Osteopath and Chiropractic Manipulation and Adjustment
Chiropractic and osteopathy focus on a lesion or disturbance in the spine as a
cause for a person‟s lower back pain. Chiropractors manipulate this back into
place with short, fast adjustments (“cracking your back”), whereas osteopaths
are more focused on slower, soft tissue adjustments. Neither treatment
however addresses what caused the disturbance in the first place.
Muscle strengthening programs
Muscle strengthening programs such as a series of exercises to strengthen
the „core‟ or supporting structure of the spine are practiced by personal
trainers and bodywork practitioners. If the proper exercises are given these
can provide tremendous benefits.
However often exercises are given to people who have very poor body use
patterns, lifting and movement techniques. Lifting weights with poor body use
and technique has the result of increasing the stress on the body, and
accelerates the damage done to the body. The poor body use and lifting
techniques must be addressed before undertaking a strengthening program.
Additionally, „ab crunches‟ or sit ups are often given as strengthening
exercises for people with back pain. These exercises do not strengthen the
corset shaped, multilayer abdominal muscles that wrap around the entire
body. Instead, ab crunches strengthen the hip flexors which are already often
overworked in people with back pain.
Massage
Massage is an excellent treatment for releasing tension in muscles and also
breaking up any fibrosis or mineralization that has occurred in the muscles. It
is important to find a skilled masseuse that does not focus on any muscles
that are already fatigued and inflamed as massaging these will cause more
inflammation and pain.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is another excellent technique for short-term relief, it releases
muscle tension as well as promotes blood flow which aids healing in the body.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists work on relieving muscle tension and strengthening the
supporting muscles (as opposed to chiropractors who work with the spinal
structure). They often are very effective at relieving pain in the short term, but
usually can‟t supply lasting results as they generally don‟t teach better body
use.
Physiotherapists can sometimes teach a form of good body use in the way of
ergonomics, such as appropriate sitting and workstation posture. Often
however they will encourage patients to „work‟ to pull their shoulders back etc
into good posture. This can often cause tightness in the shoulders and other
areas. We will show that good posture must be achieved by doing less (using
fewer muscles) not more, so as not to exhaust the muscles or hold excessive
tension.
They also often use the “Mackenzie method” which treats disc problems by
exerting reverse tension in the discs to attempt to return them to their normal
position. This is only a short term solution and is quite aggressive and a
dangerous way to return the disc to its normal position. This technique is also
often applied generally to all patients, when for some it is not at all suitable
and will aggravate their problem causing more pain and damage.
Effective treatment must address the root cause
People can gain significant relief from these methods, but
always find the treatment doesn’t last, as there is no focus on
what caused the disturbance in the spine’s alignment or the
muscles tension or exhaustion to begin with. If the
disturbance was due to a car accident or sporting injury, then
it is not necessary to treat this cause as it is unlikely it will
occur again.
However if the cause is poor body use and the damage
accumulates over time, then the issue of poor body use needs
to be addressed. We explain how to treat the root cause of
cumulative back pain – poor body use – below.
Part 3- How to Get Long Lasting Relief
For back pain treatment to be effective in the long term it must address the
root cause of the problem. But it also must address the symptoms as well, to
reduce pain and allow the back pain sufferer to undertake a strengthening
program to prevent further damage and pain.
The natural back pain solution addresses all 3 stages, as well as being an all
natural, holistic treatment that treats the body as a whole.
The Natural Back Pain System – 3 Steps to Long Term
Relief
1. Stop the Damage Occurring & Train your Body for
Optimal Use
2. Treat the Damage
3. Strengthen the supporting muscles
The natural back pain solution treats the problem at all stages including the root cause
Root Causes
Symptoms
4. Poor Body Use
Poor use vs how the body is designed to be used optimally
Spinal Structure and support muscles in poor positions for long periods
Tensing muscles for long periods
6. Initial Damage to Muscles
Support muscles overworked, fatigued & weakening OR
Support muscles adopt long term tightness and new incorrect position
Muscle „Imbalances‟
5. Initial Damage
to Spinal Structure
Initial Damage to Spinal Structure
Temporary Posture Dysfunctions
Compressed discs
2. Environmental:
Sitting on chairs
Lack of squatting, other
poor body use situations
3. Emotional/Mental:
Constant Stress
Lack of relaxation
7. Longer Term Damage
Long Term Posture dysfunctions (eg Scoliosis, Kyphosis)
Nerve Impingement and Pain (Spinal stenosis, Sciatica)
Lumbar Disc Herniation, Spondylolisthesis
1. Western Society Influences
Changes in the way we use our bodies
Effective Treatment Must Treat The Root Causes
Step 1: Stop the Damage Occurring & Re-train the body for optimal use
Step 2: Treat the Damage
Step 3: Strengthen the supporting muscles
1. Stop the Damage Occurring & Train your Body for Optimal Use
The first part of any effective back pain treatment program must be to stop
the damage that is occurring. This means treating or stopping the root
cause of the problem. In the case of cumulative back pain this is poor
body use.
Exercise 1: Identify Poor Use Patterns and excessive tension
As our poor body use habits become familiar to us and our body, we can no
longer tell when we are sitting lopsided or standing with poor use. We have
an unreliable sensory awareness.
To demonstrate this, find a full length mirror and stand in front of it, only in
your underwear (if a mirror is not available, ask someone else to observe you
or get them to take photographs).
Close your eyes and stand in a symmetrical standing position before opening
your eyes. Now observe in the mirror whether or not you are really standing
symmetrically. Is your head tilted to one side, is one shoulder or hip higher
than the other?
Now close your eyes and lift both arms out to the sides so they feel horizontal.
Now open your eyes. Is one arm higher than the other? Close your eyes and
from the elbow, point your arms straight up whilst leaving your upper arms
horizontal. Open your eyes – how level are your arms, is one hand higher
than the other?
You can also try this by standing on two bathroom scales to see whether you
place even weight on both legs. This exercise can also be done by sitting on
a chair front on or side on to the mirror. Experiment moving your head into
different positions with your eyes closed and guessing where it is before you
open your eyes.
What this demonstrates is in fact we are often not sitting or standing straight
when we think we are. At the moment we cannot rely on the body to give us
accurate feedback on good or bad use. Over time as our good use improves,
our sensory awareness will improve.
Exercise 2: Identify Excessive Muscle Tension
Operating our bodies with good use in regards to muscle tension is doing
everything with the minimum possible muscular effort.
You can hold tension in your muscle without actually contracting the muscle.
You can try this same exercise, but hold your bicep as you write. The simple
act of holding a tiny pen and moving it across the page should take little effort,
but we can use huge amounts of tension in our upper arm. This has
developed from when we first learnt to write and we were under pressure as
children to get it right for our teacher! The habit of holding tension has stayed
with us from an early age.
To demonstrate this - allow your arm to hang down by your
side. Place your opposite hand on your bicep. Tense your
bicep as much as possible as if you’re flexing it to show it off.
Feel the tension you create.
Now bending at the elbow, move the arm to the horizontal
position and feel the tension in the bicep created. Now
experiment lifting the arm up and down with the most tension
you can, making the muscle work very hard.
Now imagine that there is a string tied to the end of your finger
and as you lift your arm to a horizontal position, the movement
is lead from the end of your finger. You should notice a large
reduction in the tension in your bicep.
In everyday life we hold far too much tension in our muscles. The first step is
to identify this tension in our daily movements, and the second step is to
choose to release this tension and perform our movements with much less
tension. We explain how to do this below.
Exercise 3: Learnthe Fundamental Directions and Techniques for Good Use
The 4 fundamental directions
for good body use
1. Think of allowing your head
and neck to release
forward and up.
2. Allow your torso to
lengthen and widen,
3. Think of your legs releasing
away from your pelvis
4. Allow your shoulders to
release out to the side.
The practical application of giving directions or cues for good use is difficult to
apply. Stand up and get someone to put their hand on the muscles around
your knee. Now soften your knees. Ask them to remember the amount of
muscle tension. Now “think of” softening your knees and allow them to go
forward if they want to, but don‟t actually move your knees. Your partner
should feel a noticeable decrease in muscle tension.
The first time you bend your knees you were using your bad habitual body
use. The second time you were using good directions which encouraged
good use. Instead of you actually telling the body what muscles to use, you
just gave directions of what you wanted done, and your body then was able to
follow these directions, using only the minimal amount of muscle tension
needed.
The body naturally wants to use a minimal amount of muscle tension to
perform your daily movements. It is only ourselves that interferes with this.
To return our bodies to good use that we had as a child, we simply need to
give directions and let the body do the rest.
Learn correct movements and positions
Exercise 4: Learning to Sit Correctly
You can repeat the exercise above in daily life, by placing your hand on your
lower back when sitting and noticing the tension you hold. Now give good
directions – allow your head to release forward and up, allow your spine to
lengthen upwards and downwards. Allow your knees to go forward and away
from your hips. By giving good directions you should notice a reduction in
muscle tension.
It is also useful to practice sitting in front of a mirror and notice what your body
is doing as you practice these exercises.
Feel for excessive muscle tension
when sitting Check your sit bones are pointed
straight down and directly
underneath your shoulders and hips
By placing a hand under your buttock you should be able to feel your sit
bones at the bottom of your pelvis. Slump and notice the sit bones move
forward. Now arch your back and notice them move all the way back. Now
sit whilst giving the directions for your head to release up (think of it being
pulled up with a hot air balloon), notice your sit bones pointing straight down.
Initially it will be hard to hold positions of good use for long periods without
becoming tired. This is because although you are decreasing muscle tension
in a lot of muscles, your large stabilizer muscles such as your deep transverse
abdominals will be activated for the first time. They will not be accustomed to
being used for such a long time.
Exercise 5: Moving from sitting to standing, and vice versa
Moving from a standing position to sitting is something we do often during our
day, yet is it one of the most difficult movements to practice with good use.
Most people hold extreme tension in their bodies when performing this
movement. The way they do this is to pull the head back and down whilst
reaching for the chair with their bottom. This compresses the spine and once
you are seated it makes it hard to take a good position of good use.
The correct way to move from standing to sitting is to release the head
forwards and up whilst bending at the hips, knees and ankles. It needs to be
thought of as the same as moving to a full squatting position on the floor
Note the head looking forward and pulled down
and back and the legs not bent enough. This means
there is no length in the spine and it is compressed
at the neck and lumbar curve.
except stopping half way down. The movement is lead with the head then by
allowing the knees to go forward and all joints to hinge. Your eyes and head
should look down slightly as you do the movement to maintain length in the
spine. Practice this exercise in front of the mirror and also with your hand on
the back of your neck or lower back and try to complete the movement with a
minimum of tension.
Note the head is now looking down slightly and the
legs are bent more. This means there is more
length in the spine and it is not compressed as
before.
Exercise 6: Standing
Learning to stand correctly again is a great way to train your abdominals to
support your back. Stand side on to a full length mirror in only your
underwear (if you don‟t have a large mirror then get someone to take photos
of you). Notice your alignment. Are your ears, shoulders, hip bones and
ankles all in line?
Learning to stand correctly
1. Give your directions – allow the head to go forward and
up. Another cue useful for allowing your head to go
forward and up is to imagine a hot air balloon tied to a
small string to the top of your head
2. It is important at this point to remind you that by
allowing the head to release forward and up we don’t
try and force this by activating our muscles. Simply
think it and allow your body to do the rest. It will work
out which muscles to release.
3. Now give the directions for your spine to lengthen. It
may be helpful to think of your tailbone as the end of
your spine and imagine it extending well below your
hip joints and pelvis. Think of a small weight hanging
off the bottom of your spine, your tailbone. Now think
of the hot air balloon pulling your spine up. Again only
“think” these directions, don’t actually “do” them by
forcing your body in any particular way.
When standing correctly the ears, shoulders, hips
and ankles are in line. Use the cue or direction of a
hot air balloon pulling your head up and a small
weight hanging off your tailbone.
Exercise 7: Walking
When walking, first think of releasing your head up and your spine to
lengthen. Now think of your knees directing your legs away from your pelvis.
Think of releasing your buttock muscles. Again remind yourself of your spine
ending below your hip joints. Hence your spine should stay stable and still
whilst your legs hinge from your hips. Think of your knees being pulled up by
a piece of string as they step forward. Your legs should swing freely.
When walking correctly, the legs will swing freely
Exercise 8: Bending down to the floor
For the moment, the way to bend down to the floor will be by squatting down.
Point your feet outwards slightly and let your knees bend over the top of your
feet. It is important to note our hips are designed to let our legs, knees and
feet point outwards from parallel when squatting. Trying to bend down with
parallel feet as advised by some gym trainers will lead to knee, hip and back
trouble. When squatting, apply the same directions of allowing your head to
release up, and the spine to lengthen from your head to your tailbone. Allow
your heels to lift up from the floor as you will not have the flexibility yet to keep
them on the ground whilst maintaining alignment in the spine.
Note length in the spine and feet pointing outwards
Sleeping
When sleeping it is best to sleep on your side or back. Avoid sleeping on your
stomach as this is a damaging position for your neck.
When sleeping on your side it is helpful to use pillows to lift your knees and
arms up so you don‟t collapse on your front and your body stays on its side.
Always use the firmest pillow and mattress you can find to support your body
securely and provide feedback to the body. Avoid soft mattresses and pillows
at all costs. Latex on dense foam mattresses and pillows are best. Choose a
bed with a firm bed base (or place a large board under your mattress).
Driving
When driving use a pelvic support such as a rolled up towel to stop your
pelvis from collapsing back and down into the seat. This will prevent the
lumbar curve of your back from being compressed.
Exercise 9: Semi supine to learn neutral position
The final, but most important exercise to re-learn good body use appears a
little strange when first explained. It also doubles as a decompression and
healing exercise for the spine. For re-learning good body use its benefits are
retraining the body‟s awareness as to what is a neutral position for the spine.
It also allows us to practice giving our directions of releasing the head
lengthening the spine and widening the torso in a relaxed position.
First set aside 20 minutes of time when you will not be interrupted. Take the
phone off the hook. Turn off the TV, radio and other distractions. Find a
warm room with enough space on the
floor for you to lie down. Carpet is a
perfect surface, if you have floor boards
put down a yoga mat or 2 towels.
To find the height of the books you will
need for this exercise stand back against
a wall with your heels to the wall. Stand
in a relaxed way and give your directions
and get someone to measure the gap
between the back of your head and the
wall. You now need to collect a book or
books that will give this height.
Place the books on the floor. Now with
careful use squat down to the floor then
roll onto your buttocks. Now place your
feet out in front of you and use your hand
to support your head as you lay down Measure the height of books you
need
and place your head on the books. Keep your legs bent, your heels close to
your buttocks and your knees pointing up. Your feet should be shoulder width
apart.
Now relax and allow your head to release away from your spine. . Allow your
back to spread out on the floor like honey oozing out over a flat surface.
Notice what points of your back are making contact with the floor. Don‟t
readjust your position, just notice and allow your body to release tension.
Do this for 15-20 minutes, all the time thinking of allowing your body to
expand and release. This will train you in good body position and body use.
Although this exercise seems simple, its importance cannot be overestimated.
Complete it at least once a day.
The semi supine position: Powerful for relearning
the correct use of your body.
Manage stress in life to avoid tensing of muscles and overuse
It is important for us to manage the stress in our life otherwise this will
manifest in us holding excessive muscle tension. Things like scheduling in
relaxation time as well as taking time to meditate or some form of anaerobic
exercise can help relieve stress.
Avoid bad positions and movements
At the early stages of rehabilitation and re-training your body in correct use it
is important to avoid activities and sports that put the body in situations where
it is difficult to maintain good use (you will be able to resume these sports later
once you have mastered the principles of good use).
These include cycling because of the hunched over position and the need to
pull the neck back and up to look ahead at the road. Stationary cycling where
you can ride upright with the spine keeping its alignment is okay.
Running puts too much pressure on the body and should be avoided at this
stage. Any sports with complex movements including twisting should be
avoided, such as football, weight lifting and most gym work.
Walking is okay. Swimming is only okay if you can swim freestyle skillfully
and breathe evenly on both sides. Otherwise, contrary to common advice it
should be avoided at this stage.
2. Treat the Damage
There are 3 stages of repairing the damage that has been done to your back
and body causing the pain:
1. repair of the muscles
2. repair of the spinal structure
3. repair of the whole body
1. Repair of the muscles
The repair of the muscles must address several factors:
the release of excessive tension including any fibrosis or mineralization
strengthening of any overused, fatigued, damaged and overstretched
muscles.
The release of excessive tension including any fibrosis or mineralization
The first step for release of tension is to apply good directions and practice
good use in your daily movements. This is explained in the chapter above.
Time must also be spent in the semi-supine position each day.
Stress management techniques must also be applied in daily life as mental
stress can manifest as physical tension in the muscles.
For release of any fibrosis and mineralization in the muscles deep tissue and
remedial massage techniques are excellent. Try several massage
practitioners before selecting the best one. You will need weekly
appointments initially to break up the tension in your muscles. If you cannot
afford weekly appointments, hire a book from the library and teach a family
member to massage or self-massage your muscles. The massage sessions
will be quite painful initially.
Exercises to break up tension in the muscles
Stretching
Stretching is also an excellent way to release the tension in your muscles in
combination with massage treatment. To start you need to warm up before
you stretch as an increase in your core muscle temperature results in a large
increase in flexibility. An appropriate exercise for this would be fast walking,
stationary cycling or some stair step-ups.
Stretching is best done only once or twice a week to allow the muscles time to
repair and heal. A partner can help a great deal with stretching.
There is such a wide variety of stretches to do depending on your condition,
but the best way to stretch is with Contract-Relax or PNF stretching. This is
the best form of stretching and yields far greater results that any methods
taught.
The Contract-Relax (CR) method will help you gain flexibility, range of
movement and strength at the extremes of movement. To do a C-R stretch,
move the limb to be stretched into a gently stretched position and hold it there
for 15-30 seconds (depending on the size of the muscle). Once the muscle is
relaxed at that position, contract by attempting to pull the limb in the opposite
direction of the stretch for 5-10 seconds. Now stop and take a deep breath in,
on the breath out stretch the muscle further and hold there for 20-60 seconds.
Repeat this up to 3 times.
Note: stretching should not be painful and you must continue to breathe
throughout the stretch otherwise it will have no effect. Ensure you stay very
warm whilst stretching to promote flexibility.
Hamstring stretch
This is a great hamstring stretch for people with back pain because the back
is fully supported by the floor. Lie as shown. To increase the stretch, move
yourself closer to the door. Push against the wall for a contraction. If the leg
is slightly bent this is okay.
Hip Flexor Stretch Kneeling
Start kneeling as shown. To stretch the hip flexor let your tailbone drop down
whilst leaning back slightly. To increase the stretch push your hips further
forward. The stretch should be felt at the front & inside of the upper leg.
Hip Flexor leg lower
Prop yourself up on your elbows with your legs together. Raise one leg
straight up, then move it 45 degrees out to the side. Allow it to drop down
whilst counting to 10, keeping the leg straight. Give it a shake and move to
the other leg. Repeat until muscle exhaustion (about 5 repeats initially
working up to 12).
Floor Hip mobility stretch
This activity stretches the lower back as well as the muscles surrounding the
hip. It is a great one to do first thing in the morning to give lots of hip mobility
so you can bend at the hips instead of your lower back. Simply start on your
hands and knees, push your arms all the way forward and sit down on your
feet as shown. Experiment with a feet and knee width comfortable for you.
Hold for 30 seconds to 5 minutes, depending upon your condition.
Calf Stretch
This is a great stretch for very tight calf muscles and Achilles tendons. Kneel
as shown. Place the forearm on the knee and rest the weight on your upper
body to start the stretch. Push the ball of your foot into the ground as the
contraction.
Quadratus Lumborum stretch
Start as shown with your back to the wall. The towel and pillow supports the
leg if you have tight hamstrings. Raise your arm over your head as far as is
needed for the stretch.
The rest and then strengthening of any overused, fatigued, damaged and over stretched
muscles
Again the best rest for overused muscles is to apply good use in your daily life
and semi-supine at least once a day.
Make sure your massage practitioner avoids working these muscles at all.
Avoid trying to strengthen them initially.
Back muscle loosening exercise
To return some overall muscle looseness to your whole back, follow this
series of movements to return some good use and movement to your body:
1. Stand whilst thinking of releasing your head up. Allow your torso to
lengthen and widen.
2. Bend into a squat following the instructions given earlier.
3. Go onto your hands and knees, and think of lengthening outwards
from your head. You will be looking down at the floor.
4. Crawl forwards and backwards. Think of length in your spine and
freedom in your hips, where your legs will pivot from. Fold up with
your buttocks on your heels with your legs beneath you and your
arms outstretched in front. This will allow your pelvis and spine to
release.
5. Roll onto your back and bring your knees to your chest with an arm
on each knee. Rotate your knees in circles, one at a time to
introduce movement back into your pelvis and hip joint.
6. Roll over onto hands and knees, stop in this position for a bit.
7. Roll over into the semi-supine position and think of your directions of
good use. Allow your back to spread out on the floor. Now return to
standing. Repeat the sequence if necessary or do a 20 minute semi
supine.
2. Repair of the spinal structure
The gentlest healing exercise for the spinal structure is a decompression
exercise with the semi-supine as described above, with one variation. The
semi-supine is done with the lower legs supported horizontal, level with the
knees. A lounge chair, couch or bed will be good for this, but make sure the
supporting surface is not too soft.
This position is more powerful because it will allow the normally tight hip
flexors to reduce their pressure on the lumbar curve of the spine so it can
release fully. This position is also a good exercise to practice your directions
as it is easier to maintain than the normal semi-supine position.
3. Repair of the whole body
Here the last stage of healing is to work on the whole body.
Tight hip flexors reduce pressure
on lumbar curve in this position
Powerful but gentle spinal decompression: The lumbar
curve is allowed to decompress with the whole spine
Firstly, again look at stress reduction techniques. This is crucial as mental
stress manifests physically.
Next get enough sleep. Most adults need a minimum of 8 hours, but many
rarely get this. If you have been falling asleep whilst practicing the semi-
supine you have sleep deprivation and need to get more sleep! Sleep is
essential healing time for the body.
The most powerful healing technique for the body is with diet. By diet we
don‟t mean losing weight rather we are referring to an eating plan for healing
for the body. The importance of diet cannot be underestimated for the body.
A good diet will maintain a healthy weight, help positive mood and energy
levels and promote decrease in inflammation as well as repair of damaged
tissues.
The first step in a good diet is to understand what foods the human body is
designed to operate at maximum efficiency with. Most of our biology and
evolution took place before the age of agriculture. Hence omit these foods
from your diet almost completely as they disrupt healing:
Most carbohydrate including most grains ie wheat, barley and most
flours
Dairy (milk, cheese, etc)
Sugar (soft drink, any sweets or snacks)
What can I eat?
What the human body evolved eating as hunter gatherers - lean meat, fruit,
vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Introduce a fruit only breakfast and fruit only snacks until lunch time.
Have a lunch of salad only. For afternoon snacks have a handful of freshly
shelled nuts.
For dinner have a small portion of lean meat (preferably fish, grass fed lamb
or beef), and vegetables.
Have 2 meat free nights per week to cycle your diet.
Drink a minimum of 2 liters of water a day, more in warmer climates, when
exercising and if you weigh more than 60kgs (if you weigh 90ks you need 3
liters a day minimum). Avoid coffee and black tea. Herbal tea is okay.
Take supplements to promote healing. Magnesium tissue salts will promote
the relaxation of your muscles. Glucosamine will promote joint healing in the
spinal structure. Take a quality multivitamin, vitamin C (1000mg) and a
quality oil supplement such as fish or flaxseed oil. Always buy your vitamins at
a health food store and never at a supermarket to ensure you get the best
quality. Supermarket vitamins are often filled with fillers and additives.
Eating this diet will encourage healthy weight loss if needed, however do not
restrict portions. It is far more effective to eat only healthy foods and avoid
sugar and carbohydrates completely. This will help reduce and maintain a
healthy weight.
Reducing sugar and carbohydrate intake will also increase your energy levels
and overall mood.
3. Strengthen the supporting muscles
Embarking on a strengthening program is the last stage of the healing
process for your back pain. If the poor body use habits are not fixed first, then
any strengthening exercises will only add to the damage on your body. You
should spend weeks to months on the first 2 stages in this chapter.
The strengthening exercises are ranked in order of difficulty. Note this is not
how difficult it is to complete them, but rather a rank of how strenuous these
are on your body. Depending on the severity of your damage to your back
and weakness will depend on how long you spend at each stage. As a guide
you should spend weeks to months on the beginner exercises and weeks to
months on the medium difficulty exercises, before attempting the advanced
exercises.
At any stage if you experience more than mild tightness in your muscles or
any more than mild pain, then discontinue the strengthening exercises and
revert back to stage 1 and 2 of this chapter until the pain and tightness has
stopped.
It is also critical during these exercises to pay full attention to them. This
means no listening to music or watching TV whilst working out. It is important
to listen to the body and pay full attention to your directions. This applies for
all exercises in this chapter.
Beginner Exercises
Correct use of body
The first strengthening exercise is correct body use. This means as you
practice good use of your body in daily life, your body will naturally strengthen.
Exercise 1: Cycle
This exercise will strengthen the transverse abdominals whilst maintain good
use in the body. To start, lie in the semi-supine position to start, with your
head on books.
Now lift one leg up and bring your knee to your chest by imagining a string is
lifting it up from your big toe. From your chest, still thinking of leading the
movement with your toes, extend your foot and leg outwards with your lower
leg to the horizontal. Maintain your spine in a position of length by still thinking
of your head going away and thinking of length in the spine. When extending
your leg out, if you feel your lower back start to rise off the floor, stop the
movement there.
Now return your knee to your chest and then foot to the floor. Repeat the
exercise with the other leg and alternate. Start with about 5 on each side,
working up to 10 and 20 after a few weeks. Always practice the movement
with as little as possible muscular effort. The cue of your toe being lifted by a
string will help this.
Exercise 2: Arm and leg out
This exercise strengthens the back muscles whilst maintaining good use and
length in the spine.
Start on your hands and knees, with your knees shoulder distance apart.
Allow your head to move away from your spine and your spine to lengthen.
To do this your eyes will be looking straight down at the floor.
Raise your left arm and right leg, thinking of lengthening from your finger tip to
the opposite toe. Only raise your arm and leg as high as you can maintain
your balance, and raise it no higher than your head. For a more advanced
exercise straighten your arm and leg as you raise them.
Exercise 3: Calm abiding
This exercise will allow you to widen across the torso and ribcage as well as
releasing your shoulder muscles. It promotes good body use.
Stand with feet shoulder width apart in a comfortable position and your arms
hanging down by your side. Think of your directions: allow your head to
release up and your torso to widen.
Now leading with your finger tips as if they are being pulled up by strings like
a puppet, raise your arms slowly out at each side to the horizontal with your
palms down. Stop and think of your directions again; allow the head to
release up, allow your spine to lengthen, release your buttock muscles if
necessary. Think of having space at your elbow so there is length in your
forearm and upper arm.
Now turn your hands so your palms are facing up. Allow your elbows to bend
and leading with your finger tips, raise your forearms up to vertical whilst
keeping your upper arms at horizontal. Hold this position for 2 minutes whilst
continuing to give directions of good use; allow your shoulders to widen, allow
space in your forearm from finger tip to elbow, allow your head to release up
and your spine to lengthen.
Medium Difficulty Exercises
Each of these exercises should only be done once or twice a week, to failure
(muscle exhaustion). More and more studies are showing training to failure
only once or twice a week is the most effective way to build strength. Training
every day exhausts the muscles and does not give them a chance to heal and
grow.
These exercises concentrate on the transverse abdominal (T/A) muscles.
They may seem easier than other exercises you have seen, however most
exercises do not activate the transverse abdominals properly. Often the hip
flexors or other muscles take over and the transverse abdominals do not get
used. These exercises will train you to use your transverse abdominals with
good body use and form.
Exercise 1: Double knee lift
Start this exercise lying on the floor on your back with your shoes off. Place a
folded up towel under your back in the lumbar curve of your spine. Lift your
feet off the floor so your knees are to your chest and your lower legs are
horizontal. Your hips will be just off the floor.
Now continue to think of your directions; let your head release away from your
spine and allow your spine to lengthen. Let your hips and legs move away
slightly, whilst keeping very strong directions. Giving the directions to
lengthen your spine whilst doing this will activate your T/A and you will feel
your abdominal area draw inwards towards your spine slowly. Bring your legs
and knees back to your body.
Repeat this, extending your legs as far out as you can whilst keeping good
use – until you can no longer give the directions and your spine starts to
collapse at your lumber curve. This means the T/A muscles are fatigued and
cannot support the spine in a good position any more.
Exercise 2: Double knee rotation
This exercise both strengthens and stretches the whole back. Start lying on
the floor with your arms outstretched to either side. Lift your knees to your
chest and then rotate them to one side and up towards your hand. Rotating
them to the side and up ensures the length remains in the spine and it also
stretches the lower back muscles.
Now whilst giving your directions of head out and away from spine and to
maintain length in the spine, draw the legs up and rotate back to your chest.
Ensure you give the directions strongly to maintain length in the spine as this
activates the T/A and ensures they get used. It is helpful to think of your tail
bone going out opposite to your head going out. This will activate the T/A and
not let your lumbar curve collapse and compress your vertebrae.
Advanced exercises
The best advanced exercises are done with a professional trained in correct
body use.
For those wishing to get back into sport, there are some sports that will
provide excellent strengthening, if they are performed with attention to always
giving the directions of good use.
Walking
Hills and stairs are excellent walking that will build strength. Always think of
your head releasing up and allow your legs to pivot at your hips.
Cycling
Cycling is a great activity if you can do it whilst maintaining length in the spine.
Bikes with higher handlebars are best for this.
Swimming
Swimming freestyle is an excellent activity (avoid other strokes). It is best to
learn to breathe on both sides to maintain length in the spine. Concentrate on
the directions of good use by allowing your head to release outwards and your
legs to release away from your hips. Work on minimizing muscular tension as
much as possible. When kicking, allow your legs to hinge from the hips and
your arms to rotate freely in your shoulder without stretching too far forward
on each stroke and rounding the shoulders.
Summary
Have you ever had this said to you before?
“Your back pain is something that will never really go away, and is something
you will have to live with for the rest of your life.”
This is NOT true, and you can now be positive about getting permanent relief
for your back pain, because now you have the resources you need.
By applying the techniques in this book, you can once and for all address the
real cause of your back pain – permanently. The road to recovery may be
longer for some, depending upon the extent of your injuries.
For more help, download my main program at
which shows ways to fast track the overall healing and recovery process.
Regards,
http://www.backpainrelief4life.com
Ian Hart, B.S., C.S.C.S.