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After reading "Back Mechanic," I've had a profound shift in my understanding of -- what used to be -- my own back pain: the usual cause is muscle imbalance. So

After reading "Back Mechanic," I've had a profound shift in my understanding of -- what used to be -- my own back pain: the usual cause is muscle imbalance. Something to the tune of: our back and torso muscles are responsible for keeping our spines (and all their structures) aligned in a healthy, mechanically-sound position. Things start to go wrong when the muscles are weak/atrophied/unbalanced, and no longer "hold" the vertebrae in their proper positions, which can lead to the disks bulging out and other mechanical issues that lead to low-intensity damage. With this in mind, I started stretching my back, and focusing on getting into a "neutral," or healthy, posture on a day-to-day (to remove the muscle tightness caused by me unconsciously hunching, and exacerbating the problem -- after having a herniated disc). In theory, this remedies the muscles pulling my vertebrae in the "wrong" directions and intensities. Coupled with weight training (squats, deadlifts, OHP, and bench), I believe I've managed to strengthen my back muscles, and "realigned" their efforts into the way my spine should be held up (instead of the way it was held up, due to sitting around all day). It's gotten much better, and I don't have pain or unintended tightness anymore. N.B. I've also relieved myself of knee pain, by focusing on the way my hips are "held" during walking. It seemed like mine were tilting too much forward (and not holding my body in place properly), so knee pain manifested (and perhaps was even the catalyst for my herniated disc). Once I straightened them out, I was able to walk pain-free.

sjg007 5y ago
The bird-dog pose, yoga and just improving core strength has helped me.
sethammons 5y ago
I'm in a similar boat. I was mountain biking 3x+ a week (6+ mi. climb at avg 6% grade) - I was getting fitter and losing weight. But my back would hurt on the down hill. Every jostle was teeth gritting. I started weight training and stretching and my regular back pain is a thing of the past. My backs squat went from around body weight to 2x body weight. When ever a pain shows up anywhere for me (knee, shoulder, wrist, back, etc), it is because of a muscle pulling on it out of balance. I stretch the muscle, the opposing muscle, and related muscles. Generally if my back is sore these days it is because I need to stretch my hips. A few minutes of stretching and I'm good to go.
tclancy 5y ago
Similar for me, I had herniated a disc about a decade ago and never quite got the pain to go away. I finally sorted out that I was carrying a lot of it in my hips instead. In spite of the overall vibe of it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_KukvZ_Co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_KukvZ_Co has been a huge help with that. Still haven't gotten all the grip strength back in my foot though and that annoys the hell out of me.
eriktrautman 5y ago
I started triathlon training and the swimming helped bring my back and knee pain into line such that I could actually run again and I haven’t had a reinjury of the back disc (previously every 12-18 months like clockwork for 10 years) in 7 years. I don’t even swim much anymore, just light maintenance through running. Swimming is magic.
meristohm 5y ago
Same here; doing weight-lifting exercises so I can increasingly lift with my back (instead of coddling it with workarounds) means my abdominal muscles (pelvic girdle?) are better at supporting my back in a forward bend. I'm thankful to the physical therapist who both noticed the wrong ways I was holding my body and got through to me the importance of changing (others PTs perhaps had noticed and suggested, but nothing stuck; probably due to my own bullheadedness). It feels like I'll live at least a few extra years now, thanks to increased mobility with minimal pain. My back pain is also less in the morning if I didn't eat anything the day before. From what I've read, autophagy doesn't really kick in until ~48 hours after starting a fast, but something's going on that reduces pain.

sjg007 5y ago

The bird-dog pose, yoga and just improving core strength has helped me.

sethammons 5y ago

I'm in a similar boat. I was mountain biking 3x+ a week (6+ mi. climb at avg 6% grade) - I was getting fitter and losing weight. But my back would hurt on the down hill. Every jostle was teeth gritting. I started weight training and stretching and my regular back pain is a thing of the past. My backs squat went from around body weight to 2x body weight. When ever a pain shows up anywhere for me (knee, shoulder, wrist, back, etc), it is because of a muscle pulling on it out of balance. I stretch the muscle, the opposing muscle, and related muscles. Generally if my back is sore these days it is because I need to stretch my hips. A few minutes of stretching and I'm good to go.

tclancy 5y ago

Similar for me, I had herniated a disc about a decade ago and never quite got the pain to go away. I finally sorted out that I was carrying a lot of it in my hips instead. In spite of the overall vibe of it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_KukvZ_Co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_KukvZ_Co has been a huge help with that. Still haven't gotten all the grip strength back in my foot though and that annoys the hell out of me.

eriktrautman 5y ago

I started triathlon training and the swimming helped bring my back and knee pain into line such that I could actually run again and I haven’t had a reinjury of the back disc (previously every 12-18 months like clockwork for 10 years) in 7 years. I don’t even swim much anymore, just light maintenance through running. Swimming is magic.

meristohm 5y ago

Same here; doing weight-lifting exercises so I can increasingly lift with my back (instead of coddling it with workarounds) means my abdominal muscles (pelvic girdle?) are better at supporting my back in a forward bend. I'm thankful to the physical therapist who both noticed the wrong ways I was holding my body and got through to me the importance of changing (others PTs perhaps had noticed and suggested, but nothing stuck; probably due to my own bullheadedness). It feels like I'll live at least a few extra years now, thanks to increased mobility with minimal pain. My back pain is also less in the morning if I didn't eat anything the day before. From what I've read, autophagy doesn't really kick in until ~48 hours after starting a fast, but something's going on that reduces pain.