Back Health, Building a Pain Free Foundation and Spine Stability w/Dr. Stuart McGill

When it comes to back health, what are the biggest misconceptions and what are the exercises that makes the biggest difference in reducing pain? On this episode, we talk to author and doctor of spine biometrics Dr. Stuart McGill and discuss the programs he built to address body deficits and help build a pain free foundation.

Three Takeaways

1. If you take away the mechanical cause of back pain and stop the trigger, you’ll reset the threshold trigger a little higher.
2. For good spine health, walking in small doses and small intervals guarantees success.
3. Every time you trigger pain, you trigger easier the next time.

At the top of the show Stuart McGill told us about his story and how he got started in his practice. With an interest in optimal spine function, the work he has done relies on his ability to probe a patient’s pain provocation mechanism. This goes against the current medical system trend which, “now revolves around the 15 minute appointment. There is no hope, for the physician to do a thorough enough assessment to arrive at a precise diagnosis of the pain.”

Next we went into detail about his work of assessing pain triggers and the book he wrote, The Back Mechanic. By helping his patients understand the nature of their pain he gives them “the liberation of knowing that you have control over your pain trigger.”  We also talked about how Stuart believes in coaching people through pain instead of passing intervention. He also provided his best advice for maintaining back health - walking “in small intervals.”

We went onto touch on the modern workforce and why sitting in our chairs all day puts a lot of strain on our backs. He also stated the danger of going from that to going straight to the gym and how that can do even more damage. “You can have a mobile spine but you can bear really high loads or you can be a power lifter but you have to be stiffened in order to to do that.” To aid your back in the office, avoid overloading your spine for long periods by getting out of the chair, pushing for the ceiling, inhaling and exhaling. This will give your ligaments normal spinal stability. Toward the end of the show, we discussed chiropractic manipulation and Eastern medicine.

 

It’s very common for strength and conditioning coaches not to measure what that person’s particular body needs. Dr. Stuart McGill stresses the importance of that knowledge. It’s also necessary to remember these key points; the more you trigger back pain you get better at sensing it. After a back injury the body grows more nerves into the disc and every time you trigger pain you trigger easier the next time. Additionally, walking is necessary for back health, “That’s how our bodies were designed.”

 

Dr. Stuart M. McGill is a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON, Canada). His advice is often sought by governments, corporations, legal experts and elite athletes and teams from around the world. Difficult back cases are regularly referred to him for consultation. Go to http://www.backfitpro.com/ for more on Stuart.

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