One of my most trusted resources throughout the years of performing therapy, personal training, and teaching Pilates has been a reference book, Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance written by Stuart McGill, PhD. Dr. McGill is a Professor of Spine Biomechanics in Ontario, Canada. I had the privilege of listening to him speak at a National Strength and Conditioning Association Conference a few years ago. Many of the thoughts in this post are from his research, textbook, and articles.
Strengthening the core is a complex concept. The more I know, the more I have to learn! We live in a society plagued by low back disorders, chronic pain, impulsive exercise selections and sedentary lifestyles. Many backs are not equipped to handle excessive spinal flexion. McGill refers to this as the flexion intolerant back and yet so many exercises and stretches we perform such as gym ball crunches are done to try to promote a strong center. Half the battle to eliminate back pain is to identify the flawed movement pattern provoking the pain. Back pain in a person with poor posture, perhaps a slouch to the degree that the muscles are chronically shortened and tight can be reduced by addressing the postural cause and improve standing posture to shut off the overactive muscles and reduce the compressive spinal forces (slouching=compression whereas neutral spine=decompression). Pilates addresses postural issues.
For those with troubled backs, McGill notes that the problems may not necessarily be a lack of strength and flexibility. In some cases deficits in motion and motor patterns have been documented as being more critical. A common aberrant motor pattern is known as "gluteal amnesia" which can both contribute to back problems as well as be a consequence of them. Chronic back pain tends to cause people to use their hamstring muscles, instead of their gluteals to extend the hip. This recruitment of the hamstring rather than the strong gluteus creates extra spine forces when performing a basic motion like a squat.
Strengthening the core is a complex concept. The more I know, the more I have to learn! We live in a society plagued by low back disorders, chronic pain, impulsive exercise selections and sedentary lifestyles. Many backs are not equipped to handle excessive spinal flexion. McGill refers to this as the flexion intolerant back and yet so many exercises and stretches we perform such as gym ball crunches are done to try to promote a strong center. Half the battle to eliminate back pain is to identify the flawed movement pattern provoking the pain. Back pain in a person with poor posture, perhaps a slouch to the degree that the muscles are chronically shortened and tight can be reduced by addressing the postural cause and improve standing posture to shut off the overactive muscles and reduce the compressive spinal forces (slouching=compression whereas neutral spine=decompression). Pilates addresses postural issues.
For those with troubled backs, McGill notes that the problems may not necessarily be a lack of strength and flexibility. In some cases deficits in motion and motor patterns have been documented as being more critical. A common aberrant motor pattern is known as "gluteal amnesia" which can both contribute to back problems as well as be a consequence of them. Chronic back pain tends to cause people to use their hamstring muscles, instead of their gluteals to extend the hip. This recruitment of the hamstring rather than the strong gluteus creates extra spine forces when performing a basic motion like a squat.
One exercise to combat gluteal amnesia is the back bridge. Squeezing the gluteal muscles, and decreasing hamstring recruitment helps to establish gluteal dominance during hips extension. Performing the bridges on your heels and/or imagining someone trying to pull your feet away are methods to establish a gluteal dominant bridge.
One of McGill's goals with clients is to establish spine stability. Spine stability has little to do with balancing on a gym ball. This exercise is simply a practice of balancing the body which although is important, is different from training spinal stability. True spine stability is achieved with a "balanced" stiffening from the entire musculature including the rectus abdominus, the obliques, the quadratus lumborum, lats and back extensors. Your spine is a narrow rather flimsy structure. It's support is maintained only through the muscles that attach to it. For the spine to be stable it must rely on the surrounding "guide wires" or muscle attachments providing that support. The technique to create spinal stability is referred to as " abdominal bracing." The abdominal brace (contracting all ab muscles) enhances stability. Contracting the ab muscles for substantial durations but low levels of contraction leads to endurance. Your spine needs endurance for daily pain free living. Our breath, particularly the exhale, is one of the most basic methods to create spinal stability and brace the abdominals.
The beginner's side bridge is an exercise to spare the spine of stress yet generate a muscular brace of the entire abdominal wall. Holding the exercise for 10 second reps would be a goal for the beginner thus focusing on creating endurance. Advance the exercise by moving extremities through a small range of motion without changing the position of the spine.
The curl-up is another of McGill's "Big 3" stabilization exercises. During the curl-up, try and remove any motion from the lumbar spine and the cervical spine. Enhancing this progression might take the elbows off the floor and emphasize a longer hold and stronger breathing pattern. This is a very low lift, not a crunch. The goal is to stabilize the head and neck while flexing near the mid-thoracic and rib cage region.
If you are beyond rehabilitative sequences and want to develop performance for sports, then keep McGill's admonishments in mind. Developing power in the spine is usually very risky. Our spine cannot tolerate heavy loads; it desires endurance. The muscles that attach to the spine are slow-twitch fibers for endurance. The slow twitch fibers are found throughout your body but they are in higher concentrations along the postural muscles of your spine. They are highly resistant to fatigue. This allows them to maintain your posture, both sitting and standing for hours at a time before you feel any tiredness or soreness in them. Sports require a degree of muscle contraction but also the ability to quickly release. If a sprinter was as tight off the starting blocks as when running 400 meters they would never win. Speed requires contraction but also superior relaxation. Consider the golf swing. The initiation of the downswing involves some muscle contraction but too much contraction slows the swing. Speed comes from compliance and relaxation. Just before ball contact, pro golfers, undergo a full body contraction that creates super stiffness throughout the entire linked system. Then just as quick as they stiffened, the contraction is released allowing for compliance, ultimate rotation and speed in the swing follow through. This analogy could certainly be applied to concepts of the tennis swing as well. Creating a strong center allows for ease in the peripheral joints. Pilates focuses on creating an ease of motion, contracting and releasing muscles while maintaining a stable spine.
McGill states that neither world class strongmen carrying weights nor NFL players running, cutting, and planting the foot are trained from squats. Squats do not train the quadratus lumborum or obliques which are so necessary for footwork. Kettlebells and asymmetrical carries have become much more popular as they build athleticism for higher performance in manners that mimic our sport and activities. Think of the balance and strength needed to perform a 1-hand carry of a heavy suitcase ("suitcase carry"), a bucket of avocados("farmer's walk"), or even an alligator! Asymmetrical loading will help you develop core stability and functional strength. This will help you with your everyday activities, be it on the court or in the kitchen. Training our body in a "spine-friendly" manner for performance yields appreciable results.
Thank you for reading.
www.backfitpro.com is Stuart McGill's Ph.D. website. Great information.
Thank you for reading.
www.backfitpro.com is Stuart McGill's Ph.D. website. Great information.
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