We all have amazing power to overcome adversity and grow from it. Yet, there is another side. Sometimes you do need help, and you must be willing to seek it out. It takes humility and brutal honesty. I’ve learned this the hard way more than once when faced with chronic anxiety and ongoing back pain and immobility. Both took years to fix, and both required that I admit personal flaws, overcome pride, and seek out those wiser than myself. While the road has been humbling, I am grateful for these challenges and the empathy they instilled in me.

Strength Coach, Heal Thyself

My job is to understand the body and how it adapts so that I can create positive physical changes for athletes and teams, so they can perform better on the field. With each athlete, I assess and address their needs for strength, power, speed, conditioning, agility, balance, and mobility. In a time where kids sit the majority of their days, mobility needs are fairly ubiquitous, and often offer breakthroughs in other sectors such as agility and power.

With that in mind, my real job is to improve quality of movement. My inability to fix my own problems has been frustrating and a source of silent embarrassment. If I can’t fix myself and get my own 28-year-old body durable and resilient, am I just an imposter pretending to be able to help these kids?

I’m not looking for a pep talk or fishing for compliments. These deep, nagging fears that can sit in the background for many of us.

The Unyielding Oak

The source of my chronic tightness probably stems from early development. I grew up in the Mecca of type A stress. My father, the emergency room doctor and adrenaline junkie, had a high-stress personality that I quickly adopted. I grew up intent to make him proud, and my drive for perfection materialized at a very young age.

My father was great at promoting physical activity. He was a karate black belt, but with an overly developed yang side. He loved sparring and breaking boards, but kata and breath work were tedium at best. He often remarked that no matter how much he stretched, he would not get any more limber; a sentiment I’ve grown to understand deeply. Thus, my mirror neurons were taught to be tight and immobile from my first days. As happens to all strong, unyielding oaks, his body finally broke during a Valentine’s day sparring competition, when he shattered his knee, effectively ending his karate career.

I first injured my low back at age 16. The absence of any concept of technique caught up with me when my football team tested the power clean. Thereafter, my already poor mobility got worse as I learned to compensate and avoid movements that hurt. This pattern repeated itself throughout high school and college, leading to gait and foot strike changes that manifested in a couple bad ankle sprains. By 19, back pain was a part of life, and I began to accept my physical limitations as a badge of honor that I somehow correlated with strength and adulthood.

The chronic anxiety that manifested around this time resulted from a confluence of many factors, one of which was a physiology that inhibited diaphragmatic breathing.

Years of Trial and Error

It was around age 22 that I slowly began working to change everything. I decided after years of the typically unhealthy college lifestyle that I was tired of feeling bad. I began eating better, working out for health rather than just hypertrophy, and sprinkled in some yoga. While this didn’t limber me up much, it did introduce me to meditating, which would eventually help cure my anxiety.

I became very interested in performance training, particularly for athletes. As I studied, it became clear that performance demanded so much more than strength and power. Movement quality was where it was at. As I made this principle foremost in my programs, I also began my quest to cure my own inability to move freely.

I could literally fill volumes with tales of all the methods I’ve tried. It’s been a constant affair of trial and error, mostly error. A partial list of my adventures includes:

• Yoga
• Consistent static stretching
• Obsessively following the Supple Leopard and Mobility Project
• Dabbling with Original Strength resets
• Somatic exercises
• Controlled articular rotations to retrain the nervous system
• The Happy Body system of Jerzy Gregorik
• 5-minute Flows a la Max Shank
• GMB stretching programs

I watched all of these methods produce success with a number of my athletes, while not really making a dent on myself. At times I’d burn out, and go back to just lifting hard. These periods usually culminated in me hurting my back worse. Once, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t move. I eventually rolled myself out of bed and went to a chiropractor, who gave me a brace and told me not to work out for a week.

I hurt myself stretching quite a few times. My back seems to hate when I stretch it. One time I convinced myself I could override my stretch reflex and radically change my body in one day (brilliant!). I read a book in a pigeon stretch for 45 minutes, and did so much damage to my piriformis that I couldn’t do hip-dominant or hinging movements for four months.

Time to Take My Own Medicine

After years of this ebb and flow (mostly ebb, very little flow), I finally came across a few habits that, while they haven’t cured me, at least left me able to work out without being injured. For the last year, I’ve committed to a standing desk and starting each morning with a five-minute flow. More recently, I’ve found relief by incorporating Original Strength resets a few times each day. In particular, diaphragmatic breathing seems to unlock my back and eliminate some pain.

Still, as I prepared for my RKC Level 1, I was nervous about how mobility limitations and compensations might affect me. I have often echoed the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to my sport coaches:

“The man who grasps principles can successfully handle his own methods. The man who tries methods ignoring principles is sure to have trouble.”

While I have a good grasp of many methods, perhaps I would have been successful if I’d understood the principles deeply enough to execute them better. Regardless, I knew that I needed to heed my own advice and invest in better movement and lifestyle.

Five Minutes With an Expert

The Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) has become the industry standard in sports performance mobility corrections. I’ve watched practitioners demonstrate exercises with inflated balls and balloons, but rather than repeating my pattern of awkwardly stumbling through exercises and hoping I was doing the right things, I made an appointment with a professional PRI specialist.

I showed up for my appointment excited. My physical therapist greeted me with a smile, and quickly proceeded to blow me away with the depth of her knowledge. While she conducted her assessment, she explained with a skeletal model what was going on. After a mere five-minute assessment, she could tell me all the places I was probably having pain, and why all the stretching in the world did not have a chance of working.

Kelly Starrett has always preached that if your posture is bad, all your corrections don’t have a chance. It’s like continuously inflating a tire with a hole in it. My condition was a prime example of this. Everything about me was stuck in extreme extension. I had been trying to address thoracic mobility with the typical extension-based fixes, and stretching hamstrings and ankles that were already living in a stretched position.

After the appointment, I had a lot to think about. I was humbled that I was not even smart enough to realize how little I know. This stuff is complicated, which flies in the face of my usual assertion that we are overcomplicating things and need to just do the simple things better.

Occasionally, it really is that complicated, and you need help.

More importantly, I had been given a prescription of exercises by an expert who would be able to help me navigate any mistakes or challenges I came across. I had a specialist there to lend her experience and unbiased opinion. Even more, whether it worked or not, for the first time in a while, I would have an actual person supporting me and working towards the same goal. It felt good to not be blindly stumbling alone.

The Opportunity of Pain

I have learned immense lessons through striving towards better mobility. Whether I will ever be able to enjoy free-flowing, beautiful movement, I do not know. But I’m already moving far better than I’d have thought possible two years ago. I’m grateful for the humility of this experience, but even more for the knowledge and understanding that come through any long-term challenge.

I’ve thought many times that my experience with anxiety was the best thing that ever happened to me. At the time, I couldn’t see that, but I learned so much about myself and people from the process. I developed a deep passion for growth and health that has given me a passionate vision for who I want to be and what I want to bring about.

Both my anxiety and back problems have been unique. They exposed me to the weaknesses of my default response to challenges: putting my head down and pushing harder. They’ve required no less grit, but a far more mindful and measured approach.

I can’t express how exciting it is to have a clear idea of what is going on in my specific case, rather than fumbling around with generic mobility fixes. It would have been easy for me to continue the way I had forever—getting by, but in constant pain and feeling restricted from realizing my physical potential. I had almost convinced myself that since I’m a fitness professional, and I can’t fix myself, I’m just broken. I had to overcome some pride and spend a little money (ask my wife, I’m cheap), but these are good things. For this, as every obstacle, I’m sure I’m better for it.

The post When It’s Time to Call In the Expert appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But as we sit through the day, our hip flexors tighten, our glutes quit working, and our discs lose fluid. In this position, we don’t engage our transverse abdominis, so our lumbar spine has little muscular support. Needless to say, if we go all day in this scenario, our lumbar spine has a bad time.

Our superincumbent mass is comprised of everything above L5S1, where our lumbar spine and sacrum come together. The entire weight of this mass is borne on the vertebral body of L5. That means for an average 200-pound man, 60% of his body weight is borne on an area that is about 1.5 inches in diameter.

In order for this to work, we need stability. Stabilization of the lumbar spine and pelvis is necessary for any athletic endeavor or even just being healthy. And since we’ve established that our discs and ligaments can’t accomplish this all on their own, I’ve created a saucy list of exercises that will help to:

1. Lengthen the muscles that become tight from sitting down
2. Provide muscular stability during athletic activity

What We Know About Human Physiology

There are a multitude of receptors in the musculature that sense changes in muscle tissue length. Golgi tendon organs (GTO) reside in our tendons and respond to changes in tension at high and low intensity. Muscle spindles reside in the muscle fibers themselves. They act as a gauge for tendon and muscle length. These two receptors work together to measure changes in tension and then cue the muscle to fire effectively. When muscle strains or tears occur, the tension applied outweighs the muscular tensile strength and these receptors fail.

Golgi tendon organ.

There is great debate as to whether we should do static or dynamic stretching. Static stretching involves holding a position for a prolonged period of time, usually greater than thirty seconds. Dynamic stretching occurs when you move in and out of positions without holding. The prevailing research wisdom suggests that dynamic stretching is best prior to athletic activity, while static stretching is more useful following activity as a cool down.

In the upcoming exercises, there are specific prescriptions for each movement based on what we now know about muscle physiology, disc and lumbar spine health, and research. Static stretches should be a component of your daily gym cool down, and dynamic movements like the lunge with reach, dead bugs, and plank holds can be part of your warm up or just a supplement to your daily workout routine.

Couch Stretch

With an AbMat or something similar under your knee, place your foot against a wall in a lunge position. Try to straighten your torso as much as possible. Hold for 20-30 seconds. Do 3 times on each side.

Downward Facing Dog

Starting in the top of your push up, pull your belly button toward your spine and raise your glutes up toward the sky. Press through the heels of your hands and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold 3-5 breaths. Repeat 5 times.

Table or Bench Piriformis Stretch

Using a table or workout bench, place one leg on the bench with your hip and knee at a ninety-degree angle. Slowly try to straighten your back leg into a lunge. Keeping your abdominals engaged, lean your chest forward. Hold 20-30 seconds. Repeat 5 times on each side.

Medicine Ball Thoracic Spine Extension

Place a medicine ball behind you and position your body so the ball is aligned with the bottom of your ribcage. Holding a PVC pipe in your overhead squat position, use the medicine ball as a pivot point and reach overhead. You might even get a couple thoracic spine cracks! Repeat 10-15 times. Do 2 rounds.

Goalie Stretch

From all fours, take each knee out to the side, with hips and knees bent to ninety degrees. Make sure to flex your feet up toward your head. Slowly try to move your butt closer to your heels until a stretch is felt in your adductors. Hold 20-30 seconds. Do 5 times.

Learn Where Your Transverse Abdominis Is

Side Plank

Lie on your side, feet together. Press yourself up through your hand and feet, keeping shoulder, hips, and knees aligned. Hold 20 seconds. Work up to 3 minutes.

Prone Plank

Squeeze your glutes, pull your belly button toward your spine, and hold. Try to keep your butt from poking up to the sky. This can be done in push up position or on your elbows. Start with 20 seconds. Work up to 3 minutes.

Lunge With Anterior Reach

Step into a deep lunge with your abdominals in tight, and reach forward toward your feet. Return to start. Repeat 10-15 times each side. Do 3 rounds.

Left: Step into a deep lunge with your abdominals in tight; Right: Reach forward toward your feet. 

Dead Bugs

Lying on your back with your belly button tight towards your spine, slowly lower one leg and take the opposite arm overhead. Switch sides. Make sure your low back doesn’t arch off the ground. Repeat 10-15 times each side. Do 3 rounds.

Left: Lie on your back; Right: Slowly lower one leg and take the opposite arm overhead.

Fire Hydrant

On all fours, pull your belly button toward your spine. Keeping your pelvis level, raise your knee out to the side. You might place a foam roller across your low back to make sure you keep your pelvis and lumbar spine stable. Repeat 8-12 repetitions each leg. Do 3 rounds.

Left: On all fours, pull your belly button toward your spine: Right: Raise your knee out to the side. 

Check out these related articles:

• The Best Back Workouts
• Why Your Approach to Fixing Your Low Back Is Making It Worse
• Understanding the Brain Is the Key to Being Pain-Free
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 “Gray938.” Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo 8 “Illu trunk muscles.” Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The post 10 Short Daily Drills to Combat Back Pain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Our spine is beautifully engineered to help us navigate the world against the ever-present pull of gravity. That’s the main challenge we’re always trying to overcome. The way we do it is through an organization called tensegrity, essentially a balancing act between elements of tension and elements of compression. Older, rougher models of tensegrity think of your muscles and connective tissues as tensile elements and bones as compressive elements, but we now know that this balancing act exists on a cellular level as well. This concept is illustrated beautifully in the “bioflow anatomy” concept developed by Dr. Andreo Spina.

In a nutshell: everything is connected in the body (even at the cellular level).

When Things Go Wrong

But this balancing act can get skewed pretty easily. Certain bits get out of alignment or carry unnaturally high levels of tension. Chronic stress, excess time sitting or standing, repetitive movements, and emotional trauma can all influence how and where we get ourselves out of whack.

When this happens, it can lead to aches, pains, and even a loss of control over the affected areas. This triggers that nasty cycle we mentioned earlier, called sensory-motor amnesia. Sensory-motor amnesia works roughly like this:

1. Muscles engage when they don’t need to, and they forget to let go.
2. These muscles fatigue and accumulate lactic acid, leading to sensations of pain.
3. This pain blurs the communication between your brain and the affected areas.
4. With little-to-no communication between brain and body part, tension accumulates even further as a protective mechanism.

You get the picture.

What Do We Do About It?

As we’ve talked about before, any change in our quality of movement requires a big-picture approach, including the “neuro,” the “physio,” and the “eco.” We have to take a look at interventions that will impact your neural functioning, your physiological makeup, and the broader context you put your body in. Each plays a huge role in how well your body moves. Below, I’ll walk you through a quick exploration of each side of the equation.

The “Neuro” Side

We’ll dip into the world of somatic education to tinker with the nervous system a bit. As you go through the following processes, it’s important to practice with awareness and curiosity. Mindlessly going through the motions won’t make things better. Tune in, and get acquainted with what sensations you notice in your body. That’s the raw data our nervous systems use to make movement.

What we’re doing here is primarily a learning stimulus. We’re teaching the nervous system new ways of organizing your body relative to the pull of gravity.

The “Physio” Side

Next, we need to provide a physiological stimulus to spur the desired adaptations we’re looking for. Now I don’t know you, but if you’re like most humans these days, you could benefit from some focus at the top and bottom of the chain. We often accumulate a whole helluva lot of tension in the neck and ankles, and we lose mobility in those areas.

Keep in mind: physiological adaptations occur at a much slower rate than neural adaptations, but if you incorporate the following movements into your daily practice, you’ll see marked benefits in a wide variety of movements.

The “Eco” Side

No exercises here. Just the no-BS truth. How did your back get so messed up in the first place? The big, bad gap. It’s the gap between what a human animal is built to be doing on a daily basis, and what you’re actually doing on a daily basis. There’s no way to sugar-coat it. You need to move more, in more ways. Even the most dynamic of us engage in vigorous movement for only 5% of each day.

As I’ve written about before, the simplest way to incorporate more subtle movement into your day-to-day routines is to spend more time on the floor. Sit on the floor for a meal, to check email, or to watch Netflix. You’ll naturally find yourself moving more in little ways, and that adds up over time. Need some inspiration for how to get started? Check out the #reclaimthefloor hashtag on Instagram for beginner variations and progressions.

Address the Factors of Your Back Pain

There we have it: a comprehensive look not only at the short-term issue of back pain and immobility, but also the long-term context that led you here in the first place. We have to tackle the neurological, the physiological, and the ecological factors that contribute to these issues.

It’s not an easy pill to swallow, but if you want to make a change in your body, you simply have to make a change in your life. 

The post A Head-to-Toe Approach to Back Tension appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As frustrating as this pain can be, the plank and the leg raise both have great value. The plank is a fantastic exercise for working the anti-extension properties of the abdominals. This simply means that the plank challenges the abdominals ability to resist against spinal extension.

The leg raise challenges the lower abdominals. This is an important task, as the lower abdominals are the weakest area of the abdominal wall. If you consider the range of movement that you perform daily, you will find that it is quite rare to lift your knee to the height of your navel. This leads to the lower abdominals being heavily underused.

The Role of the Abdominal Wall

To understand back pain during abdominal exercises, we must first understand the role of the abdominals. As mentioned earlier, the abdominals are crucial for preventing spinal extension. If they are strong enough, the pelvis will be pulled into a proper position, which prevents an anterior pelvic tilt. On some individuals, an anterior pelvic tilt can be highly visible during day-to-day movement, and is better known as a “duck butt.”

If someone is unable to assume great alignment on a regular basis, how on earth can we expect them to challenge their abdominals with the plank, and not feel tremendous tension on their lumbar spine?

Sometimes, people don’t tilt their pelvis forward. However, if their abdominals are weak, their spinal alignment will still find another way to compensate. This often results in an over-emphasised arc in the lumbar spine, and a hunched-over position in their thoracic spine.

So we see that the plank challenges these anti-extension properties, and the leg raise challenges the abdominals’ ability to hold good pelvic alignment. But why is it that these specific exercises cause such aggravation?

Where the Abs Let the Back Down

The Exercise Is Too Tough

It’s sometimes that simple, even if it hurts someone’s pride. It’s common to feel tension in your lower back, but if you perform an exercise with the correct technique and still feel aggravation, there is a chance that you may have progressed too quickly. You may be holding the plank for too long, or you need to perform fewer repetitions of leg raises. When it comes to leg raises, you may even need to alter the technique to suit your capability. Often, people need to assume a slight bend in their knees to depressurize the lower back.

Low Mobility

This is a phenomenon that I like to call the lower back sandwich. Tightness around the thoracic spine or the hips can heavily hinder the lower back. For example; if the biceps femoris of the hamstrings are short, the participant will struggle to perform a leg raise without excessive movement of the lumbar spine. Low thoracic spine mobility is also harmful, as the lumbar spine may assume an over-emphasized arc to make up for the poor positioning of the upper back.

A Poorly Structured Lifting Regime

In a world of online trainers, highly qualified gym staff, and unlimited resources, poor workout regimes should be a thing of the past. However, I still witness gym-goers neglecting the most crucial lifts. Improving your primal movement patterns such as your squats, your hinging actions (deadlifts and hip thrusts), and loaded carries should the foundation of any lifting program. This ensures correct muscular balance. If your alignment is out, back pain is inevitable.

How to Stop Being in Pain

If you initiate any fitness program, you must do so with permission of a physician. With a clean history regarding back injury, you may proceed.

The first step is to differentiate between pain and tension. If the lower back feels a sharp, shooting pain, stop the exercises at once. You may have caused an injury. If you haven’t you’re about to! Often, a dull ache occurs in the musculature surrounding the lumbar spine. This is perfectly acceptable. However, you do not want this ache to be too substantial. Especially when you don’t feel the challenge of the exercise on your abdominals.

The next stage is to break into the two exercises in question and modify them to your capabilities.

The Plank

Consider your technique. If you perform the plank with a deep arc in your lower back, there’s your problem! The best way to find out if this is the case is to have a partner take a photo of your plank from the side.

If you assume the correct position, the easiest step is to limit the time that you are practicing the exercise. If you can manage a plank for 30 seconds without back pain, you are at a good starting point. Practice 3 sets of 30 seconds, twice each week for 4 weeks before progressing.

Sometimes, people still feel pain during this exercise. If that is the case for you, practice the plank with your arms on a higher platform such as a bench. You will eventually progress to practicing the plank on the floor again, but first ensure that your technique is sound and that you don’t suffer with back pain.

As months go by, you will find that you can perform the plank with your arms on the ground for an extended period, such as a full minute. I don’t believe in practicing the plank for over a minute. To continue strengthen the abdominals, add instability. This can be done by practicing your plank on a gym ball, but one of my favorite advancements is the plank with a reach. This simply involves practicing the plank while stretching an arm out in front of you.

The Leg Raise

If leg raises cause your lower back to hurt, lower the repetition range. Three sets of six repetitions is where most of my beginners start.

You may also opt for a modified version that I call an eccentric leg raise. This involves keeping the shoulder blades off the ground to ensure lumbar spine stability. Keep the knees bent on the way up, but straighten the legs on the way down.

I have found that my clients feel more of a challenge on their abdominals during this drill. When they keep their legs straight throughout the exercise, it is not uncommon for their thighs to burn before their abs.

The next stage is to practice this eccentric leg raise, but with the shoulder blades and the back of your head against the ground. This further challenges the abdominals to keep the lumbar spine in correct alignment.

There’s No Prize for Rushing

Take your time developing your abdominals, and never resort to high repetitions of back-busting exercises such as sit ups or crunches.

You don’t have to hurt all the time:

A Systematic Approach to End Chronic Back Pain

The post Why Your Back Hurts When You Do Abs appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You work out to improve the strength of your back and core. But what if your breathing is counteracting your training? Bad breathing can cause back pain and diminish performance.

Don’t Ignore Your Diaphragm

Studies have found a difference in the breathing patterns of people with and without back pain.¹ While the role of abdominal muscles in trunk stability is given a lot of attention, very little attention is given to the role of the diaphragm. The diaphragm plays a role not only in breathing, but also in spinal stability.

Here’s the problem with abs of steel: ab-tightening crunches restrict the action of the diaphragm and possibly make back pain worse.

Research finds that people with weak diaphragm muscles are at greater risk for developing back pain^2,3,4 and may also develop neck and shoulder pain. Perhaps core training should include deep breathing to improving the power and efficiency of the diaphragm.

Your abs may look impressive, but are they hindering your performance? [Photo courtesy of CrossFit Empirical]

Here is what I’ve discovered in more than twelve years teaching yoga and yogic breathing: most people don’t breathe to their full capacity. We take short, shallow breaths and don’t expand our lungs and torso as fully as we can. As a result, we lose out on the functional core strength that comes from having a strong diaphragm.

By understanding how the diaphragm muscle is integrated with back and core stability, you can use better breathing techniques to improve back and core strength. Better breathing also means you’ll improve the strength and endurance of all the muscles in your body.

The Mechanics of Breathing

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle in the center of the torso. The lungs sit above it, and the internal organs rest below it. During normal or functional breathing, there is a coordinated contraction and relaxation of many muscles that assist the diaphragm.

Let’s look at some of the things that happen in dysfunctional breathing versus functional breathing.

Functional Breathing (a.k.a. normal or diaphragmatic breathing):

• Breathing is slow, deep, and effortless.
• Inhalation is through the nose.
• The breath reaches down into the lower lobes of the lungs.
• On inhale, the diaphragm contracts and presses downward towards the internal organs. The abdominal region gets pressed outward in all directions.
• On inhale, the lower ribs expand outward horizontally in all directions.
• On exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and moves back upwards towards the lungs.
• This movement of the diaphragm causes intra-abdominal pressure to increase, thus increasing lumbar spine stiffness and spine stability.
• During an inhale, the diaphragm is the dominant muscle, but it receives assistance from transversus abdominis, sternocleidomastoid, upper trapezius, scalenes, and intercostals (rib cage muscles). On exhale, these muscles relax.
• The healthy and complete movement of the diaphragm creates a micro-massaging effect. This helps with the health of the spine and aids with blood flow to the tissues.

The use of the word stiffness above refers to the ability of the spine to hold itself in position without weakening. This is different from tightness or tension in the spine, which is an unhealthy state.

Dysfunctional Breathing (a.k.a., abnormal or chest breathing):

.

• Breathing is shallow and fast.
• Inhalation is through the mouth.
• Breathing is concentrated in the upper chest and upper lobes of the lungs.
• There is either no movement or there is upward movement of the ribs.
• The chest and the sternum lift up vertically.
• On inhale, the belly pulls inward.
• The movement of the diaphragm is limited – it does not move through its full range of motion.
• The diaphragm loses its strength and becomes weaker over time. This leads to the recruitment of neck, shoulder, and chest muscles to aid in breathing, resulting in overwork and pain in those muscles.
• The intercostals get under worked and become increasingly weaker and less elastic.
• The full movement of the diaphragm may be restricted by tension in the belly or abdominal muscles that are too tight.

During exercise the diaphragm does double duty. As a workout progresses, the diaphragm must meet increased demands for breathing, plus it must continue to stabilize the spine during movement. When your breathing demands increase, the diaphragm’s role in spinal stability decreases.⁵ Because exercise involves respiratory demand, it makes sense to condition respiratory muscles to be able to manage greater demands. Proper movement patterns are only achieved when the diaphragm is free to function fully.

How Soft Is Your Belly?

One of the most obvious signs that your diaphragm is not fully functional is that your ribs do not move outward as you inhale. This might mean that the action of your diaphragm muscle is being limited by tight muscles in the ribs, back, and abdominal region.

Your belly should be able to round out and expand fully without being girdled by abdominal muscles that are too tight. Rectus abdominis is the superficial sheath of muscle running down the front of the stomach that produces the six-pack look. It doesn’t contribute much to spinal stabilization. Doing too many crunches can turn rectus abdominis into a muscular version of Spanx – it’s holding stuff in, but it’s also diminishing your performance.

A fully functioning and strong diaphragm will stabilize and protect the core as well as allow you to relax more deeply. So how do you ensure the diaphragm is strong and able to work at its full capacity?

Start with a test to see if you are breathing functionally:

1. Stand in front of a full-length mirror.
2. Without making a change to your usual breathing, notice if your shoulders are rising up and down as you breathe.
3. Place the palm of your hand on your upper chest. Observe if your chest is rising vertically as you breathe in.
4. Place the palm on your hand gently on the front of your belly. Now observe if your belly is hollowing in as you inhale.
5. Now place both hands gently on both sides of your lower belly just above your frontal hip bones. Observe if this area is scooping in as you inhale.
6. Now repeat the same observations as you take some fuller stronger breaths.
7. A dysfunctional breathing pattern is indicated by the following: your shoulders and chest are rising vertically and/or any part of your belly scoops inward as you inhale.

Build Your Diaphragmatic Strength

Once you’ve evaluated your breathing, try this two-part breath exercise to build diaphragmatic strength. Alternate between doing this exercise in a standing position and doing it lying down. Your diaphragm may perform differently in each position. To enhance the workout further, try the breath work while doing squats, arm raises, and other controlled movements.

Part One:

1. Place both hands gently on both sides of your lower belly, just above your frontal hip bones.
2. Observe if this area is expanding as you do your usual inhales.
3. Now take powerful inhales through your nose. Make the inhales as strong as you can – Superman or Xena Warrior Princess powerful.
4. Consciously and deliberately breathe into your lower belly. Get as much expansion of your lower belly as you can with your inhale.
5. Exhale with an open mouth for this exercise. The exhale can linger a little so you can let everything come out with your exhale. Don’t hold anything back. Let all your muscles relax as you exhale.
6. Repeat 8-30 times.
7. Now let your breath settle for a moment.

Part Two:

1. Next, place the heels of your palms on your outside lower ribs. Let your shoulders and elbows relax down.
2. At first without changing your usual breathing, notice if there is lateral/outward movement of your ribs as you inhale.
3. Now repeat this with the powerful nasal inhales and the complete open-mouthed exhales. Try to get full expansion of your ribcage in all directions with each inhale.
4. A rounding out and expansion of your belly and lower ribs in all directions indicates a functional breathing pattern.

You can experiment with your exhale during this exercise. On some breaths, try making it last longer, then try pushing it all out quickly. See which method allows your body to relax more. During this exercise, aim for becoming fully relaxed on your exhale. Release any muscle tension in the upper chest, shoulders, neck, and lower back.

While you’re doing the test and exercise also notice if other muscles are unnecessarily tensing up. Did your neck or shoulder muscles get tense? How about your face and jaw? Try to keep your upper body muscles relaxed while you breathe. Let your diaphragm do its work. Tight upper-body muscles while you breathe can lead to friction, pain, and overuse of those muscles.

Use It or Lose It

Training your diaphragm is like training any other muscle in your body – repetitions and resistance are required. At first just try to get your belly and ribcage to expand in all directions without using extra resistance. As you progress, you can use your hand to apply resistance to your belly or ribs. You can progress more by wrapping an exercise band around your lower ribs and breathing against that resistance.

Consider making deep breathing part of your training regimen. Exercises for the core often involve training with free weights, planking, and crunches. Breathing mechanics play a key role in posture and spinal stabilization. The diaphragm is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in the body, it will atrophy over time if it isn’t used.

It all starts with your breath:

How to Activate Your Diaphragm to Improve Breathing and Performance

Coaches: Are you taking a proactive approach?

5 Injury Prevention Exercises to Build Bulletproof Athletes

References:

1. Anderson, BE, Huxel Bliven, KC, “The use of breathing exercises in the treatment of chronic, non-specific low back pain,” Journal of Sport Rehabilitation (2016): doi: 10.1123/jsr.2015-0199

2. Kolar, P., J. Sulc, M. Kyncl, J. Sanda, O. Cakrt, R. Andel, K. Kumagai, and A. Kobesova, “Postural function of the diaphragm in persons with and without chronic low back pain,” The Journal of Orthopaedic Sports Physiotherapy 42(2012):352-62. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2012.3830.

3. Smith, M.D., Russell A, Hodges PW, “Disorders of breathing and continence have a stronger association with back pain than obesity and physical activity,” Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 52(2006):11-16.

4. Kolar P, Sulc J, Kyncl M, Sanda J, Neuwirth J, Bokarius AV, Kriz J, Kobesova A, “Stabilizing function of the diaphragm: dynamic MRI and synchronized spirometric assessment,” Journal of Applied Physiology 109(2010):1064-1071. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01216.2009.

5. Hodges, PW, Heijnen, I, Gandevia, SC, “Postural activity of the diaphragm is reduced in humans when respiratory demand increases,” The Journal of Physiology 537(2001): 999-1008. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.00999.x

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Pain is interesting because we tend to think of it as a localized thing. We evaluate pain right where it exists. If your knee hurts, your first thought tends to be “what’s wrong with my knee?” Indeed, sometimes the lack of a sound structure in an afflicted area is a culprit of pain, but more often pain is much more complicated and deeper than that. As any good physical therapist can tell you, knee pain, for example, usually goes much deeper than the knee. The muscles in and around the hip, the glute, and the lower lumbar have a lot to do with how we walk, run, and move and therefore how our knee feels. Still, as deep as many of us might get physically in evaluating what ails us, most stop there. Is it also possible, that beyond the body being in balance, for optimal health, the mind must be as well?

Look no further than the example cited above (stress) to know that there is much truth to the mental being associated with the physical. The opposite is also true – The physical affects the mental. How do you feel mentally when your body is in severe pain or when you are really sick? You feel mentally down. When our bodies are run down, we feel it mentally, and when our mental state is not optimal, our bodies also shut down.

So, what manifests in the body when we are angry, depressed, or stressed? Furthermore, what happens in the body when we push emotions aside and don’t deal with what we are feeling? Pushing through physical pain is a surefire way to get injured. In turn our mental state is affected. I know, as an avid fitness guy, when my body is not in its optimal state, my mind isn’t right either. So, pushing through emotional pain is also a good way to get injured, both emotionally and physically. If the physical can become mental, then the mental can become physical.

A few years ago, I happened to pick up the book Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by Dr. John Sarno. Sarno’s contention is that back pain stems from perfectionism and, in particular, repressed rage. If we think metaphorically about the spine, we think of our backbone as the foundation, what keeps our posture upright and moving optimally. Our back carries the load, so to speak. We also carry loads or burdens emotionally. Sarno contends that the chronic pain in our back is a direct result of our mental state.

Sarno’s theories are controversial in the mainstream medical community, but is it possible that these two realms (the physical and emotional) are interconnected? If an athlete can harness the positive powers of confidence, visualization, and affirmations for a successful outcome, then surely dwelling on negativity and repressing emotion can also adversely affect performance and what is manifested in the body.

A personal case study: Recently, I suffered another injury that put me on the sidelines. This time around, the pain in my body for once didn’t stem from too many punches thrown, miles run, or heavy deadlifts. This time around, perhaps the most damaging of all the things got to me – stress. I felt the burden right where I am most vulnerable, my back.

The stress started earlier in the year when I started taking time off work locally to go work on the road. It wasn’t enough that I was working seven days a week at home. Recently I took an international work trip, which was thrilling, yet grueling, and I literally ran myself right into the ground in the process. I had been running in both a professional and personal sense for too long and after my trip, my body shut down. I felt pretty blue emotionally when my body gave me the message that enough was enough.

Still, despite that shut down, I didn’t completely get the memo. Instead, I did what I usually do – I treat the symptoms (ice, heat, sports massage, the chiropractor or acupuncture). Sometimes, I even rest a bit. Taking some time off combined with these therapeutic modalities usually does the trick. Not this time. After my trip and hitting the wall, my back completely seized up on me. Now I have a history of lower lumbar issues, but this time my back pain was different – there was no physical cause, such as an athletic or acute injury.

My back was in severe pain almost to the point of me being completely bedridden. My body was again giving me a message. I got to thinking about Sarno’s book and this theory of his about repressed rage and buried emotion. I thought to myself, “What might be causing me this burden?” And then it occurred to me. I needed to forgive someone, as well as myself, for something in my past. So, with that in mind I set that forgiveness as an intention in my life. Incidentally, my back started feeling better. Now maybe my back just needed some rest. Maybe the therapeutic stuff I did helped as well. Maybe I also started thinking the right thoughts. And maybe they all worked together.

The point is the universe has a way of giving us what we need to work on until we get the message. Our bodies will tell us when there is pain, but our job is to dig deep in assessing that pain. Our job is to strive for balance. Our job is to be a student of both the body and the mind. Where is there pain in our life? What is the motive for how we treat our mind and in turn our bodies? We must ask such questions, pay attention to the signs, and let pain be our guide.

In the third and final part of this series, we will look at the concept of balance and optimizing balance in our physical, professional, and personal lives.

Missed part one? Read: Facing the Pain: Let It Be Your Guide

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Facing the Pain: Making the Physical Mental and the Mental Physical appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Advances have been made over the years, but back pain still continues to shorten many athletes’ careers. Engineering professors Anton Bowden and Larry Howell, and Brigham Young University (BYU) alum Peter Halverson, however, have designed a new biomedical device to surgically treat back pain.¹

The artificial disc the professors conceived duplicates the natural motion of the spine. It has been licensed from Brigham Young University to Crocker Spinal Technologies, a Utah-based company that has ties to BYU. The report of this new spinal mechanism’s ability to enable natural spine movement will be published in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Spinal Surgery.²

This new conception could be promising considering the most common surgical treatment for chronic lower back pain is spinal fusion surgery. Fusion surgery replaces the degenerative disc with bone in order to fuse the adjacent segments, which is supposed to prevent pain that is triggered by movement. However, patient satisfaction with fusion surgery is less than 50%. The new surgical conception researched by the BYU team involves a compliant mechanism that enables natural spine movement and focuses on restoring the function of a healthy disc. Compliant mechanisms are joint-less and made up of elastic structures that use flexibility to create movement. Examples of compliant mechanisms could be tweezers, fingernail clippers, or a bow and arrow.³

“To mimic the response of the spine is very difficult because of the constrained space and the sophistication of the spine and its parts,” Howell said. “A compliant mechanism is more human-like, more natural, and the one we’ve created behaves like a healthy disc.”⁴

Howell and Bowden supervised the construction of prototypes by BYU student engineers as well as the machine tests performed on the discs. Those discs were then tested in cadaveric spines. The results of the test showed that the artificial replacement disc in fact behaves similar to that of a healthy human disc.⁵

“Disc replacement is an emerging alternative to fusion that has the potential to make a significant difference in the lives of millions,” said President of Crocker Spinal Technologies and BYU alum David Hawkes.⁶

We all know spine health is crucial to performance since the spine is an integral part of mobility, and spine injuries are common in many sports. Considering that current surgical options are limited, and often unsuccessful, this new device could be very good news to athletes.⁷

The post Artificial Disc Could Save Athletes With Spine Injury appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The experimental study was conducted on rats that suffered from neuropathic pain induced by a sciatic nerve injury. Upon nerve injury, the animals performed a form of progressive exercises by either running on a treadmill or swimming. These animals performed the exercise for a few weeks, and the researchers monitored them closely.²

The results concluded from observing the rats were that there was a significant reduction in neuropathic pain in the rats of either group, treadmill running or swimming. It did not eliminate the pain completely, but the pain responses were reduced by 30 to 50 percent. Exercise reduced characteristics of neuropathic pain by reducing abnormal responses to temperature and pressure.³

An additional finding consistent with results from previous studies was that exercise leads to a reduced expression of inflammation-promoting cytokines in the development of neuropathic pain in response to nerve injury. Additionally, exercise also led to an increased expression of a protein known as heat chock protein-27, which may have aided in the reductions of cytokine expression.⁴

This study provides new evidence that the main culprit for the development of neuropathic pain is inflammation. It is reassuring to hear there is an alternative method to dealing with neuropathic pain that does not involve medications and the side effects that accompany them. Exercise provides extensive health benefits, and the fact it can even be used as a treatment for something such as neuropathic pain adds to that extensive list. As more research is done, hopefully scientists figure out a way to use exercise to alleviate the pain associated with neuropathy to an even greater extent.⁵

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