Protect Your Back

I've had quite a few horrible back spasms many moons ago.

One was doing a box jump.

One was doing a juke with a football.

And of course a few "from heavy lifting," but the context of heavy lifting combined with a lot of sitting when I wasn't lifting.

There's a lesson there. You come to the lifting table with the body you use most of the time. If you sit and are sedentary most of the time (making your core/abs and glutes weak), then something is going to break, and it's not a PR.

So as most people do, I just deemed myself as "just having a bad back."

I tried resting, icing and stretching the low back.

Mobility can help, but I believe people over stretch the low back, thinking it being tight is the problem. Yet mobility will never solve the problem of weakness in certain areas.

If you're so afraid of your back getting hurt, or getting hurt again, you can be afraid to lift. That's a real shame because you're missing out on something that can keep you strong and youthful as you age.

The solution is to start creating your own lifting "belt."

You have to train it to endure.

All Day Long Strength

I like to get training programs from a fellow named Aleks Salkin. He's big into kettlebell training, bodyweight and…Original Strength.

He has a few programs for the guts and butts. They require a lot of reps. Dawn of the Deadbug has 50 reps per day, as does Bird Dogs in Paradise. His glute programs also require lots of reps.

I came to this realization that is also true for the hands and feet:

Your core is made to endure, to take a beating. It only makes sense because it has to hold you up all day long so that you can do all of the other activities you want to do.

It only makes sense because this is the way we "trained" our cores when we were little. Kids are weak in the sense that they can't do traditional exercises like we can very well. They're not strong enough to do solid pushups or even do one pull-up. Doing situps are even hard for them. Yet those are the things we think of first when it comes to exercises.

What can they do better than us? Get up and play. All that moving, running, sprinting, lifting, stooping, squatting requires a strong and enduring core. This is why I think they become animals whenever they do get into regular training.

The stronger your center, the better you'll be able to do all of the fun training you want to do. Your core can stabilize your body so that your limbs can actually get used well. Instead, things that aren't supposed to get tight (like your lower back) try to take over when they're not supposed to. What do you think will happen then? Hm…

For a little back anatomy, what is your lower back supposed to do?

Is it supposed to be a prime mover?

Or should it be rigid?

The answer is rigid. But if it's supposed to not move, what is supposed to be mobile and strong around it?

Your glutes behind you and abs (the "front of the back") in front of you.

Those are the main two muscle groups that shut off when you sit too much. If they're supposed to keep you stable, but a chair acts as a stabilizer, why would they engage? Wouldn't they get weaker over time? This is why you show up to the gym after 3-5 years of sedentary living, try to deadlift, tweak something, then blame deadlifting. No. It's because you've been sitting for too long.

Your hip flexors and hamstrings need to be mobile.

It only makes sense that your hips are flexed already all day, your body says "Cool! If you want to hold this sitting position all day, then I'll make these muscles tight so that it looks like you're sitting all the time! I got you bro!"

I think this is a horrible and obvious problem in the fitness world. We keep being told to "tense your abs!" or to "squeeze your glutes!" before we perform a movement. But can't we train ourselves to the point where these are "on" all the time?

Yes.

It's going to take a lot of reps. More than we realize. I don't like the idea of doing the "just enough" or "low reps high tension" with the core because it doesn't hurt to add more time under tension for these areas if they're able to endure.

Another is that you probably have more time than you realize. You can even do this stuff on your "off" days so you can stay limber and not burn out.

Let's throw this into a plan.

Forging Your Own Belt

There are 3 areas of your "back" that you need to make sure are strong enough if you want to do all the fun stuff you really want to do.

Front

• Let's start with the dead bug. Start with the easiest variation possible. Work on holds if needed. Later work up to 50 reps per training session.

Back

• Same deal with the bird dogs: work up to 50 reps per training session (these can be accumulated, not all in one go).

Sides

• For the sides of your core in an OS-fashion, work on sideways crawls. This will get your hip abductors working without you having to put conscious effort into it (same story with the dead bug and bird dogs).

Those movements fall in line with the gait pattern/Original Strength

For more traditional core strength movements, work on these

• Leg raises

• Bridges

• Hip Abduction

If you really short on time, then start working on holds for these 3 movements:

• L sits

• Bridges

• Twists.

This is the trifecta from Convict Conditioning.

Use these movements in small bouts if you're doing them for a warmup. Otherwise, if you're saving them for after training then feel free to go wild with the reps. Your body can handle it.

For good measure, and to make sure you're not "in your own way," make sure your quads/hip flexors, hamstrings and QLs aren't too tight. If they're too "on," then your body will still want to use them instead of the muscles that are meant to be used.

Don't overthink that last part. Just stretch them as needed.

I've Got Your Back, Bro

Heavy lifting isn't bad for you.

I can't stand that myth.

Heavy is relative. If you can pick up something that's 25lbs off the ground with good form, you'd just have to recover and come back and try to lift something that's 26lbs off the ground. I said "something" as a real life example. If you want to narrow things down even further, then pretend it's in the context of a training program.

Another point is that one man's heavy is another man's light. A 225lbs deadlift may be daunting to someone, but for someone else, it could be their 50%.

Why the rant about lifting?

Because I want you to be a stronger human being.

Sometimes that may require starting to lift heavy stuff.

What do people fear when it comes to strength training, especially when a barbell is in the picture?

Getting hurt.

People are afraid of their backs getting hurt, or getting hurt again. But what's the difference between your back and some 18 year old's back? Does your back just get bad because of time? Or have you done something (or more like nothing) that puts you in a state of potential danger?

It's the second.

Lifting is wonderful. If it's not lifting, then do bodyweight workouts. Either way, you bring your body with you on your training program. If you haven't been treating your body well, then it will be displayed when you try to push it.

So work on your own back and body maintenance. No one else can do it for you.

Lifting isn't the enemy. Stop being afraid and missing out on one of the biggest things people need as they get older:

Resistance.

Thanks for reading!

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