The low back is a common area of complaint and deserves special attention in this workshop.

Dr. Stuart McGill’s research indicates that one way to injure a low back is repetitively bending it under load. The implications are we need to consider how much volume of spine bending exercises are in someone’s programming (especially if loaded. Loaded being a deadlift, a squat, while hanging, etc.)

Depending on the athlete’s goals, there may be a time and a place for certain exercises like GHD sit ups or toes to bar. These aren’t however, the only way to work the abdominal muscles.

Planks, L-Holds, hollow holds, levers, stir the pot, and more are all great exercises that challenge the abdominal muscles but without repetitively bending the spine.

Overall, if someone’s goal is to improve body composition, feel better, and have energy, the volume of back bending exercises should be considered, especially given how their big lifts like the squat and deadlift are performed.

The important concepts / skills to take away from this video:

• One way to injure the tissues of the low back is to include large volume of back bending exercises into training
• Do those exercises align with the client’s goals?
• There are other way to train the abdominal muscles without bending the spine repetitively
• Given an athlete’s job and other life demands, do they need to bend their spine more as an exercise?

Completion of this section concludes The Movement Fix Workshop Online. We hope you enjoyed it!

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If you’d like to learn more and further your skills, knowledge, and abilities, check out the Modifying Workouts when Athletes Have Pain online course.

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Thank you!