I have degenerative disc disease. I have scoliosis. I have osteoporosis. My sciatica is acting up. I have stenosis at L3 / L4. Does anyone have any good stretches for my herniated disc? Should I sit on an exercise ball? I feel better when I sit. I feel better when I move around. My SI joint hurts. How about ice or heat, which do you recommend? Does any of this sound familiar? These are just a few of the questions I received yesterday. But my favorite was the one I wanted to tell you about now…
My client said, “ My back hurts, again…so I did my exercises...the pain went away. When will it be better? When will stay away forever?”.
It’s important to remember that the symptom is just that…a symptom. The exercises correct the cause of the symptom - your imbalances. If you address the cause, the pain not only goes away, it stays away. The difference maker for the pain from returning is repeating the exercises until you produce muscle memory. Strength is not the objective. Neither is flexibility. The objective is having your body move correctly and with balance. And by balance, I mean move equally from side to side, front to back, and top to bottom. We are not referring to the the ability to just stay upright, or “not fall over”, when we are talking about balance.
Proper function is really about moving according to the your design. Moving correctly. Moving without compensation.
Here’s a quick way to restore proper movement if you are experiencing lower back pain. Using Exercise #32 from the Exercise Library provides a good example of impacting how you feel very, very quickly. Some think of it as a quick fix or as a training exercise for skiing. But, it's really a powerful corrective exercise. The exercise will feel basic at first, but will quickly get more demanding the longer you hold the position. And the effect will also be temporary at first, but can become permanent as you work to correct the proper movement of the lower spine and hips. Remember: the imbalance is what's causing the pain. Correcting the imbalance is what is taking the pain away. It’s just that simple.
When doing this exercise:
- Remember to keep your lower back pressed into the wall the entire time
- Keep your feet under your knees so that the heel is just in front of the knee
- Keep your weight in your heels
- Hold the position for at least 1 minute...up to 2 minutes
If you haven't taken the Free Evaluation, take a few minutes and walk through it above. Then, get your routine from the Exercise Library, and start feeling better today.