“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Carlos Castaneda
Where are your weak links?
In our previous blog “First do no harm” we went over “removing the hammer” by improving some of the most common big movements people with chronic low back pain struggle with. Each of these big movements (and many daily activities) are actually a “chain” of smaller movements each of which can be a “weak link” in how we move throughout the day.
Fundamental to this section is the concept of a directional susceptibility to movement or a “DSM” which has been noted by Shirley Sahrmann (2002) and echoed by other highly recognized clinicians such as Janda, Krause, Travell and others.
In short; routine daily movements (bending over/twisting/walking) or static positions (posture) repeatedly performed incorrectly cause a part of the body to move too easily overall or to easily in a specific direction.
Studies have shown that segments of the body (especially the spine) that are subjected to the most movement show the greatest signs of deterioration and degeneration. By making how you move more efficient you can help prevent further damage to the area and give the body the time and energy it needs to allow it to heal itself!
Learning to move: How to prepare for all future blog posts!
Much of the information regarding faulty movement patterns presented in here is from the work of Professor Shirley Sahrmann and what she terms “Movement Impairment Syndromes”.
One of the primary hallmarks of professor Sahrmanns’ work is that while various soft tissues (muscles, joints, nerves) can be the source(s) of pain the more important consideration should be “what caused them to become painful?”
In upcoming blog posts in this section we will be breaking down each of the bigger day to day movements such as walking into their basics and re-teaching your body to move without causing excessive wear and tear to your lower back and hips. Each corrective movement has been conveniently broken down into 3 small sections (pages).
- “Why” Section which explains what the movement is good for, and what we are looking to accomplish.
- “How” Section which covers in detail how to do the correction along with some suggestions for commonly asked questions.
- “Integrate” Section which will show you how to effortlessly integrate these movements into your schedule. These “tweaks” to your day to day life are not a replacement for the corrective movement itself but they will help you to get faster results and more importantly will help keep you on the path to health and freedom from pain when life gets in the way and you are unable to be as diligent with your corrective movements as you would like.
A few quick but important side notes:
- Also if you feel any sensations of “popping” or “clicking” in your lower back or hip when practicing these movements you will get better and faster results by stopping the motion just before the area “pops” rather than ignoring it and pushing though even if there is no pain. After a little practice the “popping” should stop and you can increase the range of motion.
- If you can’t feel a particular motion during these movements and you don’t have access to a qualified therapist/chiropractor/ect. then use pain as a guide. None of these movements should cause an increase in pain or a pinching sensation so stop when you feel either of these sensations and “train the safe range” until you can comfortably go further.
- A final helpful hint…having a difficulty feeling the motion you are supposed to prevent while practicing any exercises in this section? Simply stop at the first sign of resistance to the motion. If you go SLOW you will find that at a certain point the body stops moving on its’ own and you have to actively “force” it go further, stop at this point and train this range and you will recover much faster.
Want a crash course in important landmarks in the body, or would you like to be more familiar with the concepts of Healthy Posture (Alignment) and Balance (Your ability to move in a controlled manner?)
I’ll see you on page 2.
If you are already familiar with these ideas then hop over to the first exercise in this section located here!