HOW TO FIX YOUR LOWER BACK PAIN FOR GOOD

Lower back pain or lumbago is a common disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can vary from a dull constant ache to a sudden sharp feeling. It is all too common in our day, and it only seems to be getting worse. Every second person that walks through our gym door suffers from it. I, too, have suffered lower back pain and injury in the past. Please continue reading below to discover how we’ve helped countless clients regain a sturdy lower back. And what I did to go from being unable to step out of a car to never feeling a slight twitch in my lower back ever again.

 

The Long term Fix

What if I was to say that lower back pain is not your fault? It is, in fact, a flaw in human design. Evolution did its best – it’s excellent but not perfect. Let’s take a closer look at our biomechanics and the structure of this marvellous meat suit. We can uncover the root cause of this agonising pain.

Imagine getting up every morning without the burden of our lower back aching, hurting, twitching and causing extreme discomfort. Think of living the rest of your days feeling strong, capable and trusting in your body’s abilities. Having the freedom to throw a footy around with the kids and have the certainty that you will not regret it later. Enjoying the autonomy of lifting objects from the ground or even tying your shoelaces pain-free.

My severe lower back injury hung around for almost two years. For 20 months, I was bound to the limitations my back pain was causing. Not able to sit for long periods, I ruled out long-distance car drives, suffered daily at work and even missed out on family dinners.

 

Human Biomechanics 

Take a moment to examine your beautiful body.

No, not the way it looks – more so its structure. Pop your engineering hat on; it’s time to get structural. Let’s start with the head: it’s covered in skin, a few thin muscles and a sturdy hard structure straight underneath – your skull or cranium. Following down to the arms and torso, we notice a similar structure: skin, muscle and BONE – that hard, scaffold-like framework that provides structural integrity to your body. Pelvis, hands, hips, legs and feet are much the same! Rewind and bring the examination back up to the midline, the section where your umbilical cord once connected. Pressing into this area, you will notice something different from all the rest of the body. Correct. No bone! There is very little boney structure between your lowest floating ribs and the very top of your pelvis (iliac crest). In fact, only a tiny part of your spinal cord lives here, and it seems pretty exposed and vulnerable.

So why this difference, I hear you ask. Surely it is fine the way it is, right?

 

 

Well, what if this design was good for our quadrupedal ancestors but no longer serves us now that we are bipedal and fully erect mammals? It is easy to imagine that walking on all fours will somewhat protect the region below the rib cage, closing this distance up and concealing it from vulnerability. We no longer walk around on our knuckles, resulting in increased demands on the area that once was quite well protected.

With the minimal skeletal system in the midline region, we now have to make a lot more use of the secondary structural materials – our muscles. Thankfully, Mother Nature has blessed us with an array of muscle groups in the said region, such as the rectus abdominis, pyramidalis, external abdominal obliques, internal abdominal obliques and transversus abdominis. Not to mention the surrounding muscle groups in the adjacent regions of the glutes, spinal erectors and hip flexors. Now, if only I could recruit these muscle groups to work with me and support this fine meat suit, I currently operate!

Everyones Solution

Lower back pain can be classified by duration as acute, sub-chronic, or chronic. Its causes vary; here is a list of a few reasons for the pain you are experiencing. Spinal degeneration, muscle or ligament strain, bulging or ruptured disks, arthritis or osteoporosis. Nerve pain tends to be sharp and includes burning, tingling, and numbness. In contrast, muscular pain typically causes muscles and joints to feel stiff, achy, or tender.

The solution to my lower back pain was simple: learn how to use this glorious body correctly. I worked long and hard to understand how to engage my core muscles during motion until it became habitual. I put effort into strengthening the muscle groups in and around this region, which provided it with much-needed structural support. I started comprehending how to hinge from the hips instead of bending my spine every time I bent over, sat down or leaned back. It required time; this wasn’t a quick fix. What it was, though, was a fix that lasted. Not only did I regain my mobility – I went on to lift heavy weights and compete in the sports of Strongman and Powerlifting, completely pain-free.

 

the Conclusion

We can go through years of lower back pain that result in surgery, spinal fusions, spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis. Sure, that is a fix. We have failed to resolve the issue’s root cause, though: understanding how to control and navigate our meat suits. If we do not learn to hinge at the hip, habitually engage our abdominal musculature and strengthen the muscles in and around our core. In that case, the problem will keep coming back. No matter how many times we undergo surgery.

I advise listening to our body’s needs and learning to operate them instead of operating on them.

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Likewise, if you resonated with the points made in the article and feel inspired to make a change in your pain patterns, feel free to drop us a line.

 

-Coach Astren 

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