Skip to main content

What's the deal with... Back Pain

Let's start with a few simple questions:
  1. Where is the pain... generally? Upper back, lower back, hips.
  2. What position are you in when you feel the pain? Leaning foward, arching backward, tilt sideways?
  3. How painful is it?
Now the tough questions:
  1. Is the pain localized in one spot? Two spots?
  2. Does it happen only at certain times of the day?
  3. Is it getting worse or getting better?
Corrective Exercise Techniques can assess just how widespread your problem may be. It's important to understand that the most common source of back pain is actually muscle tightness, especially if the pain is not chronic. According to corrective exercise specialist Justin Price, MA: "A successful corrective-exercise program includes self-myofascial-release (SMR) exercises at the beginning and throughout the program as needed." Muscle tissue is all connected through fascia, a collegen-based connective tissue that holds all of the muscles together. Fascia has a tendancy to resist too much change- that is it's job after all- to hold everything together. "Sticky" fascia can reduce the range of motion in muscle and thereby create muscle pain by restricting movement. Initiating an SMR program can release "sticky" fascia and allow for greater range of movement.

SMR by itself can help to reduce the tension in the body, but should be combined with an overall static stretching regiment to maintain the muscular flexibility. An overall program would include a warm-up, followed by SMR, and then proceed to static stretching. This alone may help to aleviate back pain, but is only part of the overall solution as many factors can inhibit or even counteract the progress made through a corrective exercise program. For more information on how to properly set-up a corrective exercise program, contact me directly.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Fiber for FItness (or just fitting into clothes)

The average American diet simply does not have enough fiber. White enriched flour has almost no fiber content. The most popular veggies are tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and cucumbers, which have almost no fiber content (or vitamin content for that matter). Fiber helps regulate the digestive system (especially soluble fiber) by moving lipids (i.e. fats) through the blood stream and helping regulate sugar absorption. Insoluble fiber helps move bulk through the intestines, easing constipation and maintaining healthy acid levels. You should also try to manage the sugar and fiber intake, especially for weight loss. Less sugar equals fewer calories which always contributes to weight loss. Check out the chart below for examples Other great ideas are some of the whole fruit smoothies such as Bolthouse Farm products which use whole fruits and not juices. Fiber in your diet is an easy way to lose weight without making huge changes, so get started!
1 comment
Continued »

Body weight, reexamined...

The constant battle with the scale can be unending and unnerving. Before you even consider using it as your guide to a healthy weight, you should really consider the alternatives: Body fat percentage : this is the most accurate measure of health and fitness. It means a low weight or lean person can have too much body fat and still have the potential for many ailments associated with being "overweight" including Type II diabetes and osteoporosis, for example. A heavier person with normal body fat percentage would actually be better off. Technology allows us to measure body fat percentage through a bioelectric resistance pad, which are those silver pads you can find on some scales. Make sure you purchase that kind of scale because it really appraises you of true progress- more lean tissue and less fat. See how you fall out on the chart below: Waist-to-Hip Ratio: this is another effective way to measure how much fat has accumulated around the abdomen. As a general rule...
Post a Comment
Continued »

Exercise- Some Motiviation Required

It requires some thought in to why we do and don't do things. Exercise was not really much expected of the average person when there was so much labor to do around the home and job. Our evolution from labor based to service based industries has created a need for us to generate time for activity. Hence- our need for motivation. Exercise in ancient Greece, for example, was an ingrained part of the religion and culture. The Gymnasium was dedicated to physical perfection, but also developed into a meeting place of philosophers and educators. In some ways, exercise is a motivator today for people to look attractive, impress their friends, potential friends, or just to make people notice them. Vanity can motivate. Sometimes, it's just about pride. The thought of having to buy new clothes to make room for more of you is just not pleasant (especially when you see the selection available). In fact, some studies have demonstrated that monetary incentives have helped people lose...
Post a Comment
Continued »