Back Pain and Your Job

Back pain for Athletes and Warriors can be a very inconvenient mystery. But managed right through strength, flexibility, nutrition and rest, anyone can slowly and gradually break free from this menace. Read on freedom warriors!
-Nate

Back Pain and Your Job
This article is reprinted from, and is the property of the Back Association of Canada (BAC).

Sit much? Well, how much? What causes most people's back pain? The person who finds a cut and dried answer to that one will win the Nobel Prize. Not that the question hasn't been studied. Over the years, many back pain researchers have directed their energies to the issue of cause.

This does not mean, however, that you cannot be treated successfully. Quite the contrary! Over the past few years, health care professionals have realized that, when it comes to treating back pain, it's almost always enough to know the category - or categories - into which the problem falls. Narrowing the problem down further doesn't usually make a whole lot of difference since the conservative treatment for each category is more or less the same.

A few decades ago, trauma (falls, for instance) was extremely popular as a cause while, in recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to sitting. During the years between, lifting has been at the top of the list. So has "cause unknown". For instance, Dr. C. Hirsch, an American researcher, found that it was impossible to pinpoint the cause for six out of ten of the back pain sufferers he studied.

The problem is that back pain is complex. Just for openers, we are talking about a problem whose source - never mind whose cause - cannot, in many cases, be identified. (Is the pain coming from the 4th lumbar vertebra, or the 5th? The facet joint or the disc?). A second issue is that a person's state of mind plays an important role. An anxious person who has a back injury can end up with a serious, long-lasting problem, while someone else is back to normal in a couple of days. So it makes sense that linking cause and effect can be a nightmare.

With that in mind, an interesting study was published by another American researcher, Dr. Alexander Magora. Rather than trying to link back pain with a specific cause - like a fall or a poor lifting technique - Dr. Magora studied the occupations of more than 3,300 people. He was interested to know how much of their work day people spent doing three particular kinds of tasks: tasks that required them to sit; tasks that required them to stand; and, tasks that required them to lift.

In the case of sitting and standing, the workers were divided into three categories. Oftenmeant that a person sat for more than 4 hours each working day; sometimes meant between two and four hours each day, on average; and rarely or nevermeant that a person sat for less than two hours a day. (In the case of lifting, the categories were a bit different since the weight of the object also had to be considered.)

The results were very interesting, especially when it came to sitting. For example, hardly any of the back pain sufferers in Dr. Magora's study (3.5%) had jobs that required them to sit "sometimes". On the other hand, more than half of the back pain sufferers sat "rarely, or never" (54%). And a little less than half of them had jobs which required them to sit "often" (42%).

"Both too much sitting, and too little sitting," Dr. Magora concluded, "seems to be related to low back pain ." To put it simply, people are far less likely to suffer from a bad back if their jobs require them to do a variety of tasks - some sitting, some standing, some lifting - during the course of the work day.

It will require a commitment from management if a change in job routine is going to happen on a large scale. In the meantime, however, many of us could change our work habits, if we made it a priority in our own minds. For instance, if you have three hours of typing and two hours of filing, why not divide it up into 20 minute chunks? At the very least, it can't do your back any harm.


Get totally free with US Sports Online Strength and Conditioning's Runners Back and Rehab Program:

Running and Back Rehab

These Runner and Back Rehab Programs were designed to develop overall strength, but also take into account the potential for lower back pain that runners experience. These programs utilize basic back stabilization exercises and specific stretches to help strengthen the entire back. Also, the other exercises in the program help to minimize any further back pain.

Throughout the length of the Runner and Back Rehab Program, the manipulation of the sets and repetitions for each exercise will be based on periodization concepts that involve changing the intensity and the volume of the workouts. This variation provides a more consistent "programmed response" to exercise which will help to avoid those depressing plateau's in progress.

The starting point of the program is based on an initial fitness level. With feedback, the actual progression of the program will follow the body's unique adaptation process to exercise. Fine tune the program to include all the exercises that feel the best!

Click here and fill out the fitness profile form to get started.

Low Back Strengthening For The Prevention And Treatment Of Chronic Low Back Pain

Never a subject to forget. CLBP Is fully preventable and curable with a good comprehensive strength, flexibility, and nutrition plan. 

-Nate

By I.S.S.A.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) remains one of the most difficult and costly medical problems in the industrialized world.

A review of nineteenth and early twentieth century spine rehabilitation shows that back disorders were commonly treated with aggressive and specific progressive resistance exercise (PRE). Despite a lack of scientific evidence to support their efficacy, therapeutic approaches to back rehabilitation over the past 30 yr have focused primarily upon passive care for symptom relief.

Recent spine rehabilitation programs have returned to active reconditioning PRE centered around low back strengthening to restore normal musculoskeletal function. Research has shown that lumbar extension exercise using PRE significantly increases strength and decreases pain in CLBP patients. It appears that isolated lumbar extension exercise with the pelvis stabilized using specialized equipment elicits the most favorable improvements in low back strength, muscle cross-sectional area, and vertebral bone mineral density (BMD). These improvements occur with a low training volume of 1 set of 8 to 15 repetitions performed to volitional fatigue one time per week.

Patients participating in isolated lumbar extension PRE programs demonstrate significant reductions in pain and symptoms associated with improved muscle strength, endurance, and joint mobility. Improvements occur independent of diagnosis, are long-lasting, and appear to result in less re-utilization of the health care system than other more passive treatments. Low back strengthening shows promise for the reduction of industrial back injuries and associated costs.

US Sports Strength and Conditioning 

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Dan Wirth - Lower Back Pain and the Standing Military Press

 

Dan wrote this advice in response to a Fitrex member's question. It has been edited for use as an article.

The problem of having lower back pain or stress while lifting weights, particularly with exercises such as the standing military press, can be fairly common. This is generally caused by hyperextending or "over-arching" your back when you are pressing the weight overhead. Actually, this particular lift (standing military press) was used in Olympic weight lifting competitions in the 1950's. The competitors would arch or lean back so far that their torso's were almost parallel to the ground!!! You can imagine the back stress those poor guys felt.

Ideally, you would want to perform this free weight exercise in a standing position. Why do I say ideally you may ask? This is because the standing position allows your body to benefit by enhancing balance, coordination, and stabalization as well as the synergistic involvement of the smaller muscle groups surrounding the shoulder joint. However, you should not do this lift if it hurts! Here are four things to do:

• First Thing: Perform the exercise seated or switch to dumbbell military presses. The dumbbells can help keep the weight in a better plane of movement (positioned above your center of mass). With a barbell you have to move the weight around your head and if you don't have the proper flexibility in your shoulders you will compensate with movement in your back. Or, use a machine shoulder press instead, and start implementing these next three things!
• Second Thing: Use perfect technique. Look at the videos and read the extensive explanations on the exercises in your program. Watch yourself in the mirror when you perform these exercises. This will help keep you in the right "groove"
• Third Thing: Lower the weight. More weight is not always better. It might be more fun, but it magnifies any smaller problems! :-) I have found that for many people simply lowering the weight is all it takes to be able to perform the exercises correctly and without pain. And, the best thing about it is many of the free weight exercises are very positive to do even with no weight, just an empty bar or a broomstick, etc. Then it's simple, as your body gets stronger, you can slowly increase the weights and still keep perfect technique so that injury and pain are a thing of the past.
• Fourth Thing: Continue to work on your abdominal and lower back strength. If you are relatively new to free weight training, you are probably lacking in the areas of balance, coordination and stabilization that I mentioned earlier. You may also have some flexibility problems in your shoulders. All of my programs have exercises for your abs and for your back muscles. And you can check out a ton of flexibility exercises and videos.

From the US Sports Online Strength and Conditioning System:

Military Press	View Video
Exercise Description:
Grasp the barbell with both hands and hold it in front of you just above your shoulders. Your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Stand up straight, place your feet shoulder width apart, and bend your knees slightly. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Keep your back tight and your chest out throughout the entire exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your torso so that you are looking forward. Press the barbell up toward the ceiling, extending your arms. Breathe out during this phase of the exercise. Press the barbell up until your arms are straight, but do not lock your elbows. Now, in a controlled fashion, lower the barbell down toward your shoulders, bending your arms, until you have returned to the starting position. Breathe in during this phase of the exercise.

It just takes a little time and consistent training but your body will develop and you will be able to perform more of the advanced exercises without pain.

Always Stay Positive!

Dan Wirth M.A., C.S.C.S.

Fitness Director (Fitrex.com)

Director of Strength and Conditioning

The University of Arizona

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