MOVE better PLAY better LIVE better

If you’ve ever wondered whether you should do some sort of warmup before a day of skiing, I can provide a simple answer for you: Yes. What you should do is a bit more of a challenge. To help with this, I have created a video that shows a set of 9 activation exercises and dynamic stretches that will help to prepare your body for the ski day ahead.

Each exercise can be done on snow, in your boots, and the only equipment you need is your poles. The warm-up includes:
- Pectoral stretch
- Lower trapezius activation
- Thoracic spine rotational stretch
- Fore-aft leg swings
- Rotational leg swings
- Psoas activation
- Glute medius activation
- Lunge stretch with lateral reach
- Lateral squat with hip rotation

Do 5 reps of each exercise on each side with a 2-3 second hold for each. Then follow it up with an easy run to get a feel for the skis and the conditions. Move a lot during that first run – think 1000 steps and exagerated and repeated flexions/extensions (small/tall). Try a few hockey stops and a few roller blade turns. Then you’ll be ready to enjoy the fact that you’re spending the day doing he best activity on earth.

When you’re back at home or in the hotel room, think about foam rolling: your body will thank you tomorrow if you do. If you’re not familiar with foam rolling, check out this blog article about it, as well as this set of how-to videos.

What is Shinny Idol, you ask? And will I get sued for making up a contest name based on a trademarked name? Great questions! The first question I will answer here; the second – I’ll keep you posted!

I’ve had a couple of conversations about shinny hockey since I posted my shinny blog post last month, and I realized that for Canadians, shinny hockey is one of those great shared experiences. Don’t you love reading and sharing stories about these great shared experiences? I sure do, which is why I’m launching Shiny Hockey Idol!

Shinny Hockey Idol (or SHI as I hope the cool kids will start to call it) is exactly like those other Idol contests, except for the singing; the guy who says “dog” a lot; the former singer who loves everyone; and Simon Says. Or put another way, it’s nothing like those other Idol contests.

To enter SHI, simply submit a fond memory of shinny hockey using the comment field below (if the comment field is not visible, then click here to make it visible), and do it before January 30th, 2010. That’s it. It could be a childhood memory or it could be from last weekend. If you’re a child, that may be one and the same memory – that’s okay too. Although there’s probably a law that I should make this contest for adults only, so if you’re a kid – ask your mom or dad if it’s okay to enter.

No real content rules either – it can be long; it can be short; it can be boring; it can be funny; it can be dramatic; it can be documentarian (yes I know that’s not a word, but this is my blog – I’m using it). Whatever. Just post up a good story about shinny! Please note that I will either delete or edit anything that I deem offensive, although I’m pretty open minded, so it’s unlikely I’ll find much offensive. Especially when people are talking about shinny!

On January 30th, which most of you probably don’t know is hockey day in Ottawa, I will select my two favourite entries as the co-winners.

Each co-winner will receive an Official* Certificate identifying them as “2010 Shinny Hockey Idol Co-Winner”, as well as a choice between a $25 amazon.com gift certificate, or the tax receipt from a $50 donation to the Canadian Red Cross to go toward the Haitian relief effort (for entries from outside of Canada, if you chose the donation option, I will try to coordinate logistics for a donation to the US Red Cross so you can get the charitable donation receipt, but I cannot guarantee you would get the tax receipt – but the Red Cross would get the money). I’ll announce the winning story on the site on the evening of the 30th, and will notify the winners by email (assuming the email address they provide to post a comment is valid). I will not use your email address for evil by assuming you want to be added to my newsletter distribution. But if you do want to be added, you can sign up for my awesome newsletter here. It’s free and it’s full of great information about training and nutrition.

What are you waiting for? Start recollecting!

* Certificate may or may not be official.

When I ask someone if they work out, a common response I hear is “Yes, I run three times a week”, or “yes, I play hockey twice a week and go skiing on weekends”, or “I play ultimate four times a week”. The list of options that people provide after the “yes” is endless, but more often than not, it does not include actual working out.

Participating in sports is good for you on so many levels: physically, socially, intellectually, and even emotionally. But can playing sports be deemed working out? Can you play sports to get in shape?

I would say that a better question is this:

Should you play sports to get in shape, or should you be in shape to play sports?

The answer to this important question is no, you shouldn’t play sports to get in shape; you should be in shape to play sports.

Why workout?

Working out is what you should do to prepare for the life you lead. For some people, that means preparing their body to be able to walk to and from work; to play with the kids at the park without back pain; or to sit at a desk all day without neck pain. For the athletes among us, it also means preparing your body to be able to jump, run, turn, stop, kick, and throw as well as possible without injury.

My philosophy about training is that we train for our activities so that we can enjoy them more and with fewer injuries. Yes working out does improve performance, but I believe that is merely a fringe benefit. Understanding that injury risk reduction is the primary goal of training is important because most weekend warriors and recreational athletes play sports for fun, and they do not work out outside of playing because running faster or jumping higher is not a priority; they just want to be out there every week.

But then I see the number of these athletes hobbling around with hamstring strains, IT band syndrome, shin splints and back pain, and I wonder if they see the correlation to working out. In fact, anyone who has ever suffered an injury is 19 times more likely to suffer another injury! Wow.

What are the other major risk factors for injury? Asymmetry in range of motion or strength. There are others of course – body mass index, playing surface are also factors.

I believe there is a significant link between asymmetries and previous injury as risk factors. When people return to play from an injury it is usually after being told by their doctor or physical therapist that they are “as strong as they were before they got injured”. But unless the injury was a contact injury, that initial injury occurred because there was a weakness or asymmetry somewhere, so getting back to pre-injury level is not enough.

How do you find out if you are ready to play?

The best system available for assessing and correcting asymmetries is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). The FMS is a process administered by a strength and conditioning specialist or therapist who will score you through the performance of 7 basic movements, including an overhead squat, a lunge, a hurdle step, shoulder mobility, active straight leg raise, push up and rotary stability test. You will be assigned a score for each test based on your ability to perform these tests, and the compensatory patterns you demonstrate to do them. The practitioner will identify the two tests for which you are exhibit the most dysfunction, and will prescribe corrective exercises to help you regain proper movement.

How effective is the FMS for identifying injury risk? A study of NFL players published in the North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (Aug 2007, vol. 2, Number 3) concluded that NFL players who scored 14 or lower (out of 21) on the FMS were 11 times more likely to suffer injury than those who scored higher than 14.

Not surprisingly, the FMS has been used by many professional sports franchises, including the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue Jays.

And it is not just athletes who have reaped the benefits of the FMS. A separate study was done with firefighters in California. Firefighters who took part in an FMS-directed workout program to improve strength and flexibility had a 62% reduction in lost time due to injury over a one year period (Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology).

For athletes, there are some other great assessment tools that complement the FMS, including core endurance, single leg squat, side-lying abduction, and the Hop and Stop (for acceleration and deceleration). The Hop and Stop test is something you can have a trainer put you through, but you can probably also try it at home on your own – instructions are available on the Athletes by Design website.

It is important to note that it is not the assessment tools that reduce injury risk; it is working out using the strength and conditioning program tailored to your needs that reduces injury risk. That program should contain corrective exercises to address your specific movement dysfunction, as well as strength and mobility work that relates to the activities you will be performing. The main goal of your workout is to get you fit enough to enjoy your sport, but it comes with a great side benefit of also making you “faster, stronger, higher”.

In answer to the initial question, if you play your sport to train for your sport, you are probably not ready to play your sport – or at least not safely. So if you want to continue to enjoy your favourite activities well into old age, it’s probably time to start working out.

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It was a cold winter Tuesday evening in Ottawa and I was eager to get a bit of exercise – It was too soon since my last workout to hit the gym, maybe skiing? I have a night season pass and the hill is only 20 minutes away, but we’ve had a few days of rain followed by a deep freeze – not exactly ideal conditions. Maybe a skate on the canal (Ottawa has a 7km long canal that turns into the World’s largest skating rink each winter)? And then suddenly I remembered the boards at the Plant Recreation Centre. Shinny hockey. The gem of winter. I headed down to the basement and was amazed to see that my skates seemed to be sharp even though the white trim around the edge had yellowed. I looked up and was surprised to see a few pucks in a pile on top of the shelf. This was going so smoothly. Hockey stick…where…are my…oh crap…I couldn’t have got rid of all of them, could I? I did have one left – I kept it because it was a true classic: a wooden Wayne Gretzky. Since I couldn’t find anything else, I grabbed it.
 
I drove to the rink. It’s only a few blocks away, but I figured I’d keep going to the canal if it didn’t look good. I’m always nervous about just going to group activities by myself. I guess that’s the first great thing about Shinny. It’s all inclusive. No questions. No judgement.
 
I stopped next to the rink and watched, and counted – five…six…seven skaters – not including the kids skating around the ice outside the boards. That seemed reasonable to play. I grabbed my skates and stick from the trunk and headed to the change room. Yup, that’s the beauty of the rink outside the recreation center: a nice heated place to put on my skates!
 
I was a little nervous as I half walked, half skated across the bumpy ice from the change room to the rink; and remained so for my first few strides. It had been almost two years since I had donned skates.
 
One stride, then two, three, four. All good! I still knew how to skate. Ok, now pull a puck out of my jacket pocket, and try a little stick-handling…nice…ok, how about a shot…a little shaky, but not bad.
 
Meanwhile, a couple of the young hotshot players are pushing shovels to clear some of the snow off the rink (despite the indoor change room, there is no zamboni here); an older guy (40s) is standing near the boards, and a couple of younger kids – 12 maybe – are skating around like me. Soon the surface is clean – or as clean as it is going to be – and the beginning of the ritual starts. One of the hotshots gets rid of his shovel and grabs his and his friend’s sticks and proceeds to drop them at center ice – not that it’s marked – I circled tentatively. I know the ritual, but it had been a while and I needed confirmation. Someone else skated past, left their stick and continued to skate around. I took the opportunity to drop my stick into the pile as I skated past.

I shouldn’t have been nervous at all actually, because I know how shinny works. Nobody cares how talented you are. I have played with ex Junior A players; current university players; ankle skaters who need their stick for balance more than manoeuvring the puck; and eager young kids who don’t quite have the legs to keep up with the big kids. All are equally welcome at shinny. In fact what typically happens in shinny games is that the best players on the team take it upon themselves to make sure the worst players on the team score. Shinny hockey is truly fun for everyone.

Once I reached the end of the rink, I turned and saw that all the sticks were now in the pile. Someone else noticed that all sticks were in, so he went to work picking teams: He pushed one stick toward one net; and another towards the other, continuing along this manner until there were two piles of sticks. Nothing like gym class: no captains; no picking best friends, or best players; and nobody being picked last. Just two piles of sticks. I saw that my stick was in the far pile, meaning that was my team. My new team mates and I introduced ourselves, and thus ended the formalities.
 
No positions, no rules, no tactics, no strategy, no faceoff for the puck. The other team skated tentatively toward us with the puck. “Ready?”. I looked at our players. “Yup”. And the game began. It was an absolute rush. Once we got the puck, I was able to skate up the ice with it and feather a pass up to the 10 year old on our team who was waiting in front of the net (there’s no offside in shinny), and he made no mistake about sending the puck home.
 
There is actually one rule of shinny: do your best not to raise the puck. That means shots along the ice wherever possible. While some players wear hockey gloves, generally speaking, equipment comprises skates and a stick. And of course toques. It is Canada, after all. I was sporting my red and white roots Olympic toque and a pair of ski gloves.
 
On the next rush we managed to prevent a goal and then take it up the ice again, this time I was able to make a nifty move and then put it in the net. I was beaming. It was not about having scored, it was about rediscovering something great. Hockey in it’s purest form.
 
I also got an extra rush from the looks the other players were giving me. I am certain that they have all seen women play hockey before, but women hockey players are definitely uncommon in shinny. And even more uncommon are 30 something women playing shinny, sporting childish grins.
 
After less than an hour, the clear night passed, and the ice rain began. One by one, the players left, until we were down to four, at which point I also left. We chatted briefly in the change room, and then went on our way. It is now more than 2 hours since I got home, and I still have the remnants of that big grin on my face. It truly is a marvel.

What was the score? Who won? I have no idea. I doubt anyone who was playing knows what the score was, or who won. Nobody cares about the score. Yet another piece of the greatness of shinny hockey.

And now I look forward to the next time – only then I won’t bother with the car; won’t bother having a backup plan, because I’ll just know to expect a great time. And I won’t be disappointed.

DO YOU HAVE A FOND MEMORY OF SHINNY HOCKEY? Please share it below in a comment!

I for one complained about the lack of snow in November. I’ll admit it.  And while I am super happy to be able to ski now, I can’t say I look forward to the driving and walking related issues that snow brings.

For many, shoveling is the big frustration.  It’s hard work if you have a big driveway.  I’m not sure if this is a surprise to anyone, but emergency rooms fill up after big snow falls.  Okay, I’m sure that doesn’t surprise anyone.  Many of the visits are from falling injuries – slippery sidewalks, ski or snowboard tumbles, and of course toboggan injuries.  But did you know there is also an increase in cardiac incidents? It turns out that shoveling is both frustrating and dangerous.  This is likely due to otherwise sedentary people heading out and suddenly doing intense exertion – that snow can be heavy!

Now did you also know that there is an increase in back injuries?  When I heard this, I assumed it was due to the excessive bending.  Interestingly, it might actually be related to the heart incidents.  Or so goes the theory presented by Dr. Stuart McGill, spinal biomechanist at the University of Waterloo:  your back’s greatest protection is the core muscles that brace it, but some of those muscles – notably the obliques – are also involved in breathing.  Because of that, there is a point just after you finish exhaling when these muscles are relaxed.  And when those muscles are relaxed, they are not able to do their other job – supporting your back.  So if you happen to lift a really heavy shovel-full at the end of your exhale – maybe your back is bent and twisted which happens frequently when shoveling – your back is going to take the full load with no support.  And that is how back injuries can happen.

As it turns out, you can turn this crisis into an opportunity (“cropportunity!” as Homer would say).  Why not turn your shoveling “job” into a safe and fun workout?  Yes, I did say fun and workout in the same breath. Not convinced? Think of it this way:  Shovel your driveway my way you’ll be less likely to hurt yourself, and you’ll be more fit when you are finished.  And if you start with a smile, you’ll probably end with one.

So what kind of workout can you get shoveling?  Think of it as a two-part workout:  an arm plus core workout and a leg workout.  Before heading out, start with a warm-up in the house.  It doesn’t have to be long, but make sure you get some movement in your legs, your hips, and thoracic spine area.  If you have some favourite warmup exercises, do them, or doing 10 tall side reaching reverse lunges would be a good choice.

Here’s a video of the two parts of the shoveling workout. When doing the shovel scoop sprints, walk back to the starting point so that you have the energy to do another line.  For the Lift and Toss, try 10 reps on one side and then 10 on the other and then take a little break.  As it says in the video – don’t twist your back, and don’t forget to engage that core to prevent the relaxed breathing muscles from compromising your back!

Even though I am a trainer and have the equipment to work out at home or at the sports therapy clinic where I work, I still prefer going to the gym.

It’s partly a social thing I suppose – I’m not a big chatter at the gym, but I do have the people I say hi to or nod to. Strangely it’s also partly being able to tune out. I love to put my mp3 player on and enjoy some loud tunes. Aside from at the gym and in the car, I don’t listen to a lot of music. Maybe I need to do that more. ..

And then there’s the amazing mirror in the women’s change room. It makes me look very tall and very thin. Every mirror should provide that kind of positive reinforcement.

I tend to pay attention to what others are doing at the gym – what can I say – I’m interested in exercise. And so I thought I would share with you some of my observations, sorted into the good, the bad and the ugly. Hopefully you don’t see yourself in the ugly category!

The Good

People working out. I know: It’s a gym. That’s what people do at a gym. I still love it. These are all people who feel that their health and happiness is important to them and so they are taking the time and putting in the effort to maintain their health, and their weight, and their fitness level.

Very overweight people working out. Every time I see someone who is very overweight working out at the gym, I feel inspired. My friend Jennifer has pointed out that being 10 lbs overweight is like carrying around a bag of potatoes everywhere. Then I saw a Michael Boyle presentation, and he made the analogy that someone who is 150 lbs overweight is effectively carrying another person on their back everywhere they go. That would be exhausting!

Many of the people I know who are only carrying around a bag of potatoes don’t have the energy to get to the gym, but then the person carrying around another person does? That’s impressive.

People helping each other. I think this is something that most men are aware of, but most women are not: people will ask strangers to spot them on an exercise, and the strangers will happily oblige. So if you’re ever at the gym thinking that you want to try a free weight exercise but are worried that you will get stuck – ask someone to spot you. Odds are they’ll be happy to do it.

Many years ago I was afraid to go into the free weight room. It was very intimidating looking, and I thought the guys would snicker at my weak little bench press. I felt like I had to be strong before I could go in there. One day I went in anyways. A crazy thing happened: nobody snickered. Instead I got welcoming nods. Even from the big muscle heads. Give it a try.

The Bad:

The machines. There are two main reasons I don’t like machines for workouts:

• They force abnormal movement. Next time you are at the gym, watch someone doing a bench press from the side: You will find that they do not lift and lower the bar in a perfectly straight path. So what happens if they do this with the machine? It forces them to move in a path that is not natural for them, and in my opinion this puts them at a risk of injury.

• When you use a machine, you basically take your core out of the equation; and then you go to core class. OR you could skip the core class and do the exercise while standing with either the cable column or dumb bells and work your core while you work your other muscles.

The Smith machine. I know this is a machine, but I despise it so much that I feel it deserves its own heading. In case you are wondering, the Smith Machine looks like a squat cage, but the bar is locked into position so is only able to go straight up and down. This provides for potentially dangerous movement – particularly for your knees and lower back. Please, do not use the Smith Machine for squats or bench press

It does have some great uses though! It is great for doing inverted rows (hang upside down from the bar and pull your body up to the bar), it can be used for incline pushups, and it is a great place to hold your towel, or as a surface to lean on while you are chatting with someone instead of working out.

Women lifting tiny weights. Every time I see a woman using 2 pound weights I sigh (I’ve never seen a man hold a 2 lb weight – have you?) . Not quite every time: there are situations where it makes sense – if you really are not strong enough to lift a 5 lb weight for 10 reps; absolutely use the 2 lb. If I see someone really struggling while lifting the 2 pounds then I think that’s awesome – it means that they are lifting within their ability and that is fantastic!

But most of the women I see holding 2 lb weights are strong enough to lift more. How can I tell? Because they are moving their arms up and down 15 or 20 times, without their core contracted because they don’t need to contract the core to support 2 lbs (that’s like 2 cans of soup), without the slightest perceptible muscle twitch, and without generating a single bead of sweat. What is this accomplishing?

The reason I think this is unfortunate is that it occurs because many women are afraid to lift heavy weight because they think it will make them big. Instead they lift light weight to work on “tone”.

The truth is that lifting heavier weights will help you lose more fat, give you more energy and help tone your body. Sounds pretty good.

Sitting on the bike or elliptical for an hour. Pedaling or stepping slowly while reading a magazine. If you are doing this because you find it relaxing and are really just looking for some “me time” where you can read a trashy entertainment magazine, then I take it back – enjoy your hour.

But if this is how you are working out to get fit and/or lose weight, then you are wasting your time. The research – and results – are very clear: you need to workout with intensity to reap the fitness and fat loss benefits of exercise. You have to sweat. The good news is that if you do work hard on the bike, then you will continue to burn calories long after you finish. The other good news is that you don’t even have to go hard for very long. Over a 15 minute span, you can put in about 5 minutes worth of hard work, interspersed with easy riding. See – there is room for your easy riding – just not much of it.

The Ugly:

Exercises done dangerously. I see this most often with deadlifts and squats. Sometimes it is bench press. Usually it’s young men trying to lift more than they should.

With deadlifts, the problem is usually too much weight. This tends to cause the lifter to pull up with the back first and then extend with the hips. This puts the back in a very precarious position.

The other prime offender is the squat. A squat should actually be like the movement you do to sit on and get up from the toilet. What I often see is someone squat down until their knees are only bent to 45 degrees. That is nowhere near a proper squat. So why is this dangerous? Well for starters, people can do a 45 degree squat with much, much more weight than they can a full squat. I just don’t like seeing that much weight on someone’s spine.

Maybe part of my problem is that this is an exercise I used to do when I was working out with a trainer about 7 or 8 years ago. It felt awesome because I was “squatting” 355 pounds. I eventually ended up with neck problems – right around where the bar rested. I no longer do partial squats.

Exercises with minimal range of motion. I think I see this most often with pull-ups. I find it funny to watch a big muscle-y guy pumping out 10 pull-ups, but comes nowhere near fully extending his elbows at the bottom. Partial pull-ups are easy. Want to try a really good exercise? Do a full pull-up! Sometimes I do see people who can bang out 10 full range of motion pull-ups with a plate hanging off them. That brings me back to the good…

Questions about training or nutrition? Submit it through the Ask the Trainer page.

“Foam rolling is great, we have quickly become best friends” was a recent response from a client when I inquired about his progress with some foam roll exercises that I had recommended.

I can honestly say that I feel the same way.  I didn’t feel that way initially mind you – we really had to work through some painful spots, but thankfully we were both willing to keep working at them, and soon enough it was smooth rolling.  And that lead to happy running and skiing for me.  But after a while the old white foam roller started to feel a little soft.  Then one day, my wandering eye got the best of me – I just couldn’t resist that fancy blue foam roller, standing in the corner of the fitness store, so hard and rugged.  Who could resist?

And so earlier this year, I brought the new, blue foam roll into the house.  I like to think that the old roller understands, but as I finish a delightfully painful hamstring roll to a blissful upper back treatment, I forget entirely about my first foam roll.

Never tried foam rolling?  Well then you are in for a treat!  Foam rolls (sometimes called foam rollers) are basically short and fat pool noodles.  I wonder if they float?  Anyhow, as the name implies, they are pieces of foam that you roll on.

In the strength and conditioning community it is sometimes referred to as SMR (self myofascial release), because it is like a mini-massage that you give yourself at home.

Like a massage, it is based on the concept of addressing trigger points in your muscles that can interfere with the muscles ability to relax and lengthen.   SMR is nowhere near as good as getting an actual massage from a good massage therapist, but for those of us who do not have muscle tightness and do not have the luxury of daily massage, it’s a great option.   Especially for those who consistently have tight muscles.

There are typically three different foam rolls:  the white ones are the softest, followed by the black ones and then those saucy blue ones.  If you are very, very tight, then I would suggest that you start with a white or black one.

Foam rolling is effective for many different muscle groups, including:

• calves
• hamstrings
• quadriceps
• gluteals
• adductors
• IT band and TFL
• hip flexors
• back muscles.

Check out Core Performance for some great instructional foam rolling videos.

What part of your body should you roll?

I suggest that you try rolling everything once, and then go back for more to the areas where it was a bit painful.  Now when I say painful, I mean “effective massage” painful; not “I’m rolling over a bony area and it really hurts” painful.  If you can find the time to get 30 seconds of rolling on each “painful” area then that would be fantastic.  But if you have lots of trigger points then you may find 30 seconds each takes too much time.  In that case I would suggest 5 to 10 extra rolls each.

If you are a runner or any athlete involved in running sports, you will probably find these trigger points your IT bands (the outside of your thigh) and gluteals.

Skier or  hockey player?  Try the adductors, gluteals and quads.

Spend a lot of time at a desk?  Try your thoracic spine area (between the shoulder blades) and your lats (under the armpit).

Some people also find the foam roll works well on the hamstrings, while others find that despite feeling tight there, that they don’t get a lot out of foam rolling them.  This is probably because the hamstring muscles are too deep.  You might find that you have more success using a tennis ball.

Speaking of tennis balls, they work really well on the bottom of the feet.  Gently roll it back and forth along the band of muscle that runs from the heel, along the arch and to the ball of the foot.  You can also progress that to a golf ball, although I wouldn’t suggest that initially.

If you find it hard to foam roll your calves – which are probably also tight – try the tennis ball there too.

Best time of day to foam roll?  That depends.  Some people recommend it at the start of your workout; and others at the end of the workout.  Personally I tend to recommend it as “homework” so that clients don’t’ rush through it.  It can be done very comfortably on the living room floor while watching TV.  One thing to note is that you shouldn’t roll your back first thing in the morning.  This is due to your discs being “full” first thing in the morning, as I mentioned in this article about low back pain.

Most fitness stores carry foam rollers for somewhere between $20 and $40.  Happy rolling!

This week’s post is a follow on to last week’s post with some basic information about low-back pain, covering some slightly different topics and getting into a bit more detail.

The post will primarily address whether and how much we should bend, extend and rotate our backs.

Dr. McGill has lectured and written extensively on why flexion is bad for our backs, and yet what exercise does your physical therapist give you to address your low back pain? Crunches! Somehow in the last 20 years it has become a universal truth that situps are bad but crunches are good. Take a look at these two photos.

One is a crunch and the other is a situp. Do you see much difference in flexion? I don’t.

Some people would argue that we need to flex in training because there are some sports, such as mixed martial arts (MMA), where athletes need to perform in a flexed position. So we should really train the muscles that help us flex. But here’s the thing: the flexor muscles (rectus abdominus, obliques and multifidus) use more force in other exercises like planks, stability ball rollouts and bird dogs than they do in crunches or situps. Should you train your flexor muscles? Absolutely! Just don’t do it in a flexed position.

Another movement that can cause problems in the low back is extension – or more accurately hyper-extension. Frequent hyperextension of the back can cause spondylolisthesis, which is a stress fracture of the pars (part of the vertebral column). Spondylolisthesis is common in cricket bowlers and gymnasts who require repeated extensions to perform their sport. The training concept here is similar to the approach for flexion: work the muscles without straining the structure. Think about exercises that strengthen your extensors without hyper-extending them: glute bridges, bird dogs and even back extensions; just take a look at your back position periodically to make sure you are not extending too much.

This “anti-movement” approach does not stop with flexion and extension; it also applies to rotation. Think of a golfer or tennis player. There is a lot of potential rotation in every swing or stroke. These athletes need to train the muscles responsible for rotation, but in a friendly “anti-rotation” way. There are several great options for this including

• Cable push/pull

• Cable anti-rotation press

• Landmine twists

I mentioned “potential” rotation for golfers and tennis because ideally these athletes will have enough hip mobility to provide all of the rotational movement for their swing or stroke. In fact hip mobility is an important variable in preventing and managing low back pain for everyone.

The reason this is important is that limited mobility in the hips usually results in the back being recruited to take over. For golfers or tennis players, the problem is often lack of hip rotation. If you are unable to properly rotate through the hips, then your spine will need to absorb the forces from your swing. And how many times in a tennis match do you swing your racket? That is a lot of rotations!

Now think about sprinting. Your hips flex as you lift the your up to start the stride, then the foot pushes into the ground and then extends as you finish your stride. A certain amount of hip flexion and extension is required just to run, but if you do not have that mobility, the movement will come from somewhere else: your back.

Try this experiment: Stand facing a wall with your arms straight and hands on the wall; Lean forward slightly and take one hand and put it on your lower back to feel its position. Adjust to make sure your back is neutral. Now lift one knee up as if in the start of a sprint stride. What happens to your back as you do this? Does it round a bit? For many people, this simple movement causes back flexion. Now extend the same leg back and away from you as if finishing a stride. Do you feel your back extending? Think about how many times you do these two movements when you run or play a game of soccer or baseball? That’s a lot of flexions and extensions!

Guess what else can force you into unnecessary back flexion and extension? Tight pants. Try the experiment above but with tight pants on and see how much additional back movement you need just to move.

The solution? Work on your hip mobility! This can be achieved in a variety of ways, and the best approach will partly depend on your specific body and condition, but here are a few suggestions. Make sure you can do a “hip hinge”, which essentially means that you can bend forward at the hips without having to flex your spine. There are many daily activities, like bending forward to brush your teeth, that should be done by hip hinging instead of back flexing. A good exercise to train this pattern is to do a Romanian deadlift with a dowel touching your head, shoulders and buttocks (see the photos below for beginning and end of this exercise.

Stretching the hip flexors with a variation of a lunge stretch is another good idea, as is strengthening your external hip rotators (glute medius) which you can do in many ways, including mini-band clamshells.

The conclusion? You can go a long way toward preventing and reducing back pain by strengthening your back with anti-movement exercises, and by increasing your hip mobility with both stretching and strengthening exercises.

I recently talked to someone who gets recurrent low back pain.  I tried to engage them in a conversation about strength and stability training, but was politely brushed off with a “I know what I need to do – I need to strengthen my abs”.  A while later, I wished I had made one quick suggestion: “stretch your hip flexors”

Why hip flexors for low-back pain?  Because the psoas (one of the hip flexors) attaches at the low back.  For those of us who work at desks, this muscle tends to get short and stiff.  When the hip flexor is short, it tends to tilt the pelvis forward, and a forward (anterior) tilted pelvis can force the lumbar spine to extend when walking.  Think about how many steps you take in a day – that’s a lot of extensions for your poor low back pain.  So give your back a break and get back some length in your hip flexors.

If I had somehow managed to get another suggestion in, it would be to strengthen the glutes.  That is because most sitters also end up with weak gluteal muscles.  Get a better butt, and you will probably have less back pain.  When the glutes are strong, the back extensors have to work less.  It’ll probably also reduce hip and knee pain if you have those too.  That’s because the TFL (tensor Fascia Latae) tends to help out by doing the work that the weak glutes can’t do.  This leaves the TFL tight, which often causes IT (Iliotibial) band tightness.  If you know what the IT band is, then you probably know what IT band tightness feels like – not fun!  Strengthening the glutes sure can take some of the pressure off the TFL and balance things out.

If somehow I managed to get the opportunity for a third suggestion, it would be to get someone to screen them with the Functional Movement Screen (FMS).  I just cannot say enough about this great tool.  Maybe process or system is a better term.  The FMS is a system for evaluating and scoring 7 fundamental movements, and then providing a corrective exercise strategy that targets the biggest dysfunction.  The FMS is currently in use by many NFL, NBA and NHL teams because they realize it is great for assessing injury risk.  I think it’s relevance is even greater for the general public because we probably spend more time sitting, and we generally don’t have 24/7 access to great doctors, therapists and strength coaches.    For more on the FMS, go to www.functionalmovement.com, leave a comment below, or send me an email.