Properly performing the “McGill Big 3” saved me from my L5/S1 herniation discomfort and pain. I’m in maintenance mode now but it took me 2 years to figure it out.
Out of curiosity, did you read his Back Mechanic? I understand that it’s not a one-size-fits-all but from my experience a lot of people don’t perform the movements correctly and or without the right intensity. They treat it like an endurance event instead of an intensity event.
Yea, I really gave his work a solid go. I guess I'd look at his recs and contrast that with what these folks are doing. Mcgill is wary of spinal flexion. Everyone involved here see's it as a necessity, albeit one that needs to be approached carefully.
My lumbar spime MRI scan looks like a pretzel, yet I manage to stumble along pretty well for an old fart. We are spending the summer at our second home in Greece. Back home, I swim for 90 minutes, five days a week, and I plan to continue doing so here in Greece. I don't take any pain meds, and I seem to be getting along pretty well.
It was quite a journey for you to find what works for you, with good end results. I listen to your podcast and it seems the thing that saves you is you never quite give up. You keep on reaching out to others. After years of heavy lifting as a nurse, my body hurts. The chiropractor used to bring some relief, now it’s temporary at best and Ibuprofen causes hypertension. I am older and I realize I won’t get better without doing more and I don’t want the restricted movement I am already getting. I’ll take a page from your book as it’s a good starting point. I have been following you for years and I appreciate your analytic and thoughtful approach to life that includes the ability to find humor even under the worst circumstances. I hope you take a moment to appreciate how many people you have helped over the years. More than you will ever know.
Wow, detailed and very interesting. Thank you for sharing, I’ve saved your stack for reference. Really glad you’ve found a combo keeping your pain at bay.
I'm sure many people reading this are super active and have good reason to suspect a physical/mechanical reason for their back pain. But I don't think any discussion of back pain can happen without considering Dr. John Sarno's work on psychosomatic back pain. Like most, I thought it was complete nonsense for a long time, but at this point, I really do think it's cause of *most* back pain, especially when it comes on suddenly with no obvious cause.
For 50 years I have had both a tendency to disc extrusion and sacroiliac issue and when pain hits if I walk for 1/2 hour; pain is gone. Planks and core strength also keep me out of back pain.
Low back pain is a bit of a challenge for most doctors to wrap their head around.
The easiest way to sum up why it’s so challenging is that the lumbosacral spine is the primary load-bearing segment during our waking hours (assuming you aren’t lying down during the day).
The number of factors which contribute to stress, dysfunction and compensation at this level is dizzying.
Had a patient referral that doctors couldn’t figure out, other than blame a few disc herniations.
They assumed the disc bulges were the cause of the pain.
However, it was the discrepancy in her leg length that caused compensatory scoliosis at the lumbosacral level, which caused the disc bulges.
Easy fix.
But, required much more insight than most can commit.
As usual (been following you since 2012) thanks for the hard work and sharing what you know and have experienced.
I'm in the same boat as you regarding low back pain. I went from deadlifting and squatting a nice bunch of weight to locked up back, hips and SI joint in 2 years (but being honest, the declined took 10 years – married, house, kids, IT job). Due to: sitting. Sitting in the car to go to work, sitting at work, sitting sitting sitting.
I’ve been doing Low Back Ability for 1,5 years with dubious success, and it is my fault! I wasn’t regressing the exercises enough! Still thought I was the 25-30 years old firebreather…
I regressed the back extension holds, and started feeling the midback work, and the SI joint decompress – finally!
Your post reassured me and reinforced that I HAVE to regress the KOT split squat to its max. Did so 2 days ago, and hips feel a tiny bit better already.
Finally, when you write “At points it made me question how long I wanted to live.” – same here brother – so thanks again for sharing.
Thanks man! and I’m glad you called out the regressions. They are there for a reason and incredibly easy to blow by when one has been a fire breather in the past. I WILL say that I’ve had a hard time with the single leg back extensions as it seems to consistently tweak my ACL on the left knee. May reach our to brandon and get some advice.
I've got a 1/4" difference between the length of my shins. It's really obvious when I find the odd old picture of me without a shirt. After one long bout adding a little wedge inside one show made it all go away or it just happened to all go away. I got lazy with it but after a few more rounds of it I've gotten pretty religiose about wearing my orthotics to correct for that. Some people can have very big discrepancies and it doesn't seem to matter but that 1/4" is a lot. For reference get a 1/4" piece of wood to put one foot on and stan in front of the mirror. It really puts you out of wack.
Never took an over the counter and thougth it helped, maybe for the best. It did find they help with a tooth infection so they do something. Never offered anything stronger and that's probably for the best as well.
Wow, thanks for sharing all of this. After being pregnant and postpartum 4 times, after the fourth one my back has never been the same and from what I can tell a lot of it is from poor hip mobility and uneven hips. I get too overwhelmed to know how to fix as I’ve been to a couple PTs who never really get to the root so I just stopped going. Going to try out some of these suggestions! Also, thanks for giving another perspective on NSAIDs . I too have to use them maybe 1x every couple months due to tension headaches and the health space can really make you feel like you are killing yourself taking those, but it sure helps me not want to crawl into a hole and die anyways.
Interesting timing. I've been struggling the last 4 months after injuring my back doing some Hyrox Prep. Still not sure what I did, but one day I woke up and my back was locked up. Couldn't do anything until I spent 20 minutes mobilizing. Long and short, I've tried a number of things over the last few months, including multiple trips to the chiropractor, but nothing has worked. But then I saw Goggins mention Joe Hippensteel. So I bought his book, Ultimate Human Performance. I'm a few days in, but today was the best day I've had in a few months. Thirty years of wearing a gun belt, SWAT, CrossFit, Spartan, and now Hyrox, have caught up with me. Just doing the UPH basics, I've come to realize I'm not nearly as flexible as I need to be. Just like everything else in life, "It's not a problem until it's a problem, then it's a problem!" So, I'm on this journey to solve the problem, appreciate you sharing, and I'll be sure to check these resources out.
Resting or saving your back isn't the answer. If I don't work out my back pain gets worse. If I back squat anything heavier than body weight, my back pain gets worse. My mantra for a long time has been "bother it, but don't piss it off". All that non-vascular tissue needs to be "pumped" regularly or you can get degenerative non-use.
Glad to see some love for Zerchers. Goblet squats are essentially the same thing.
Also, the dance with pain meds is real. They are incredibly valuable, but you don't want to habituate or desensitize to them. Like you, I save them for those nights when the pain is keeping me from sleeping. Then I take a large dose to knock the pain and inflammation down and then don't take any more.
Resting or saving your back isn't the answer. If I don't work out my back pain gets worse. If I back squat anything heavier than body weight, my back pain gets worse. My mantra for a long time has been "bother it, but don't piss it off". All that non-vascular tissue needs to be "pumped" regularly or you can get degenerative non-use.
Glad to see some love for Zerchers. Goblet squats are essentially the same thing.
Also, the dance with pain meds is real. They are incredibly valuable, but you don't want to habituate or desensitize to them. Like you, I save them for those nights when the pain is keeping me from sleeping. Then I take a large dose to knock the pain and inflammation down and then don't take any more.
Properly performing the “McGill Big 3” saved me from my L5/S1 herniation discomfort and pain. I’m in maintenance mode now but it took me 2 years to figure it out.
I tried it, did not get me much mileage!
Out of curiosity, did you read his Back Mechanic? I understand that it’s not a one-size-fits-all but from my experience a lot of people don’t perform the movements correctly and or without the right intensity. They treat it like an endurance event instead of an intensity event.
Yea, I really gave his work a solid go. I guess I'd look at his recs and contrast that with what these folks are doing. Mcgill is wary of spinal flexion. Everyone involved here see's it as a necessity, albeit one that needs to be approached carefully.
Case by case indeed. Not a one size fits all. I tend to get flared up under loaded extension. Glad you found something though!
My lumbar spime MRI scan looks like a pretzel, yet I manage to stumble along pretty well for an old fart. We are spending the summer at our second home in Greece. Back home, I swim for 90 minutes, five days a week, and I plan to continue doing so here in Greece. I don't take any pain meds, and I seem to be getting along pretty well.
It was quite a journey for you to find what works for you, with good end results. I listen to your podcast and it seems the thing that saves you is you never quite give up. You keep on reaching out to others. After years of heavy lifting as a nurse, my body hurts. The chiropractor used to bring some relief, now it’s temporary at best and Ibuprofen causes hypertension. I am older and I realize I won’t get better without doing more and I don’t want the restricted movement I am already getting. I’ll take a page from your book as it’s a good starting point. I have been following you for years and I appreciate your analytic and thoughtful approach to life that includes the ability to find humor even under the worst circumstances. I hope you take a moment to appreciate how many people you have helped over the years. More than you will ever know.
Wow, detailed and very interesting. Thank you for sharing, I’ve saved your stack for reference. Really glad you’ve found a combo keeping your pain at bay.
I'm sure many people reading this are super active and have good reason to suspect a physical/mechanical reason for their back pain. But I don't think any discussion of back pain can happen without considering Dr. John Sarno's work on psychosomatic back pain. Like most, I thought it was complete nonsense for a long time, but at this point, I really do think it's cause of *most* back pain, especially when it comes on suddenly with no obvious cause.
For 50 years I have had both a tendency to disc extrusion and sacroiliac issue and when pain hits if I walk for 1/2 hour; pain is gone. Planks and core strength also keep me out of back pain.
Low back pain is a bit of a challenge for most doctors to wrap their head around.
The easiest way to sum up why it’s so challenging is that the lumbosacral spine is the primary load-bearing segment during our waking hours (assuming you aren’t lying down during the day).
The number of factors which contribute to stress, dysfunction and compensation at this level is dizzying.
Had a patient referral that doctors couldn’t figure out, other than blame a few disc herniations.
They assumed the disc bulges were the cause of the pain.
However, it was the discrepancy in her leg length that caused compensatory scoliosis at the lumbosacral level, which caused the disc bulges.
Easy fix.
But, required much more insight than most can commit.
AND this is where someone well steeped in physical medicine can be a huge win.
Absolutely. The silos in medicine are full of gaps.
Would love to chat with you about this in the near future.
Putting together the pieces to start the Foundational Health podcast.
I also find that “earthing” (walk barefoot on the earth or sit with bare feet on the grass/earth) for 30 minutes or more per day helps too.
Hey Robb,
As usual (been following you since 2012) thanks for the hard work and sharing what you know and have experienced.
I'm in the same boat as you regarding low back pain. I went from deadlifting and squatting a nice bunch of weight to locked up back, hips and SI joint in 2 years (but being honest, the declined took 10 years – married, house, kids, IT job). Due to: sitting. Sitting in the car to go to work, sitting at work, sitting sitting sitting.
I’ve been doing Low Back Ability for 1,5 years with dubious success, and it is my fault! I wasn’t regressing the exercises enough! Still thought I was the 25-30 years old firebreather…
I regressed the back extension holds, and started feeling the midback work, and the SI joint decompress – finally!
Your post reassured me and reinforced that I HAVE to regress the KOT split squat to its max. Did so 2 days ago, and hips feel a tiny bit better already.
Finally, when you write “At points it made me question how long I wanted to live.” – same here brother – so thanks again for sharing.
Damien LEBAS
Thanks man! and I’m glad you called out the regressions. They are there for a reason and incredibly easy to blow by when one has been a fire breather in the past. I WILL say that I’ve had a hard time with the single leg back extensions as it seems to consistently tweak my ACL on the left knee. May reach our to brandon and get some advice.
I've got a 1/4" difference between the length of my shins. It's really obvious when I find the odd old picture of me without a shirt. After one long bout adding a little wedge inside one show made it all go away or it just happened to all go away. I got lazy with it but after a few more rounds of it I've gotten pretty religiose about wearing my orthotics to correct for that. Some people can have very big discrepancies and it doesn't seem to matter but that 1/4" is a lot. For reference get a 1/4" piece of wood to put one foot on and stan in front of the mirror. It really puts you out of wack.
Never took an over the counter and thougth it helped, maybe for the best. It did find they help with a tooth infection so they do something. Never offered anything stronger and that's probably for the best as well.
Great info Rob I appreciate it!
Thanks so much for this. I will re-read this a few times for sure.
Wow, thanks for sharing all of this. After being pregnant and postpartum 4 times, after the fourth one my back has never been the same and from what I can tell a lot of it is from poor hip mobility and uneven hips. I get too overwhelmed to know how to fix as I’ve been to a couple PTs who never really get to the root so I just stopped going. Going to try out some of these suggestions! Also, thanks for giving another perspective on NSAIDs . I too have to use them maybe 1x every couple months due to tension headaches and the health space can really make you feel like you are killing yourself taking those, but it sure helps me not want to crawl into a hole and die anyways.
Interesting timing. I've been struggling the last 4 months after injuring my back doing some Hyrox Prep. Still not sure what I did, but one day I woke up and my back was locked up. Couldn't do anything until I spent 20 minutes mobilizing. Long and short, I've tried a number of things over the last few months, including multiple trips to the chiropractor, but nothing has worked. But then I saw Goggins mention Joe Hippensteel. So I bought his book, Ultimate Human Performance. I'm a few days in, but today was the best day I've had in a few months. Thirty years of wearing a gun belt, SWAT, CrossFit, Spartan, and now Hyrox, have caught up with me. Just doing the UPH basics, I've come to realize I'm not nearly as flexible as I need to be. Just like everything else in life, "It's not a problem until it's a problem, then it's a problem!" So, I'm on this journey to solve the problem, appreciate you sharing, and I'll be sure to check these resources out.
Resting or saving your back isn't the answer. If I don't work out my back pain gets worse. If I back squat anything heavier than body weight, my back pain gets worse. My mantra for a long time has been "bother it, but don't piss it off". All that non-vascular tissue needs to be "pumped" regularly or you can get degenerative non-use.
Glad to see some love for Zerchers. Goblet squats are essentially the same thing.
Also, the dance with pain meds is real. They are incredibly valuable, but you don't want to habituate or desensitize to them. Like you, I save them for those nights when the pain is keeping me from sleeping. Then I take a large dose to knock the pain and inflammation down and then don't take any more.
Resting or saving your back isn't the answer. If I don't work out my back pain gets worse. If I back squat anything heavier than body weight, my back pain gets worse. My mantra for a long time has been "bother it, but don't piss it off". All that non-vascular tissue needs to be "pumped" regularly or you can get degenerative non-use.
Glad to see some love for Zerchers. Goblet squats are essentially the same thing.
Also, the dance with pain meds is real. They are incredibly valuable, but you don't want to habituate or desensitize to them. Like you, I save them for those nights when the pain is keeping me from sleeping. Then I take a large dose to knock the pain and inflammation down and then don't take any more.