Are you like most Americans that suffer from back pain? Do you look for all sorts of solutions to "cure" your pain? Have you tried everything, chiropractors, massage therapists, heating pads, acupuncture?
If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, your back may not necessarily be the the problem. The problem may stem from your posture, your hip alignment, and lastly the strength and flexibility of your hamstrings and glutes.
Just some basic anatomy:
The pelvis has several muscles that connect to it. All these muscles working together keep the pelvis in perfect alignment. The hamstrings/glutes, quads, abdominals, and back musculature all connect to the pelvis to create this X that keeps your posture. When one muscle is tight or weak, it throws off everything else.
Lets take the case of lower back pain. In today's world of looking good in front of a mirror, the posterior muscles of the body are ignored, because lets face it, who ever says "check out those hamstrings," or "check out that lower back." Everything is in front. Chest/pecs, biceps, abs. Those are the "big" muscles, the money makers. Everyone does abs. Everyone is looking for the way to make them flat, get that 6-pack. The only problem is by overworking the abs and over strengthening them, that leads this muscle group to pull on the pelvis, leading into a posterior tilt. This tilt overstretches the back muscles= back pain.
Same goes for hamstrings. These are under used muscles = minimal strength. Without that strength to keep the pelvis in check, an anterior tilt occurs, which makes the back over work which = back pain.
By strengthening the hamstrings and glutes by doing bridges, hamstring curls, dead lifts, kettlebell swings, etc... the pelvis can be pulled back into neutral and low back pain can be avoided. Another way to avoid low back pain is to train muscles equally. This means full body workouts, from the bottom up. This helps eliminate muscle imbalances at various joints and creates a better moving, better functioning body. And isn't that what everyone wants.
Friday, January 15, 2010
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