Hi sir, this all makes sense. how soon can I start training my back muscles with gentle extensions following severe prolapse and total loss of all cartiledge to the L5/S1?
right now I’m in tremendous pain and hamstrings also completly locked up.
how long should I rest in bed for? and will walking cause the vertebra to rub creating bad bone spurs? I already have at least one bad spur close to nerves foramen developing as shown in my scan
if i can strenghten my back slowly back to full strenghth and halt the degeneration yes please

louie simmons would say, "one armed heavy dumbbell press"

Not at this time, but I may write something in the future

Loaded carries. Better than the power lifts for core training.

I think if it's done in low reps, it's fine. There is increased compression of the disc because of the hip flexor contraction

Someone please give me advice here --- 🙂 🙂

You must be a troll. Or some guy who read some stuff on the net by some "experts" and never deadlifted heavy. Because if you did, then you would know that it taxes a lot more than the hamstrings and glutes. With good technique and making sure you don't round your back, it is unlikely you will hurt your back. Swings aren't bad for your back if you don't use shitty technique. It's not the exercise, it's bad technique and shitty trainers that cause injuries. Anything that forces you to stabilize your spine and/or torso against great shear forces will end up working your core. So basically every compound movements around. Even pull ups have great core activation. Not kipping pull ups of course.

I have to laugh at your cardio and fat loss advice. He asked for core strengthening, not to see shredded abs per se. Fat loss and cardio have no relation to core training, except perhaps to make pull ups easier. Maybe sprints help with the core a bit, since you need to stablilize your torso, but it's way easier to scale and progress in intensity with squats and deadlifts than trying to "sprint faster". He also might be contraindicated against running or cycling due to his injuries. So it's definitely still easier to start deadlifting/squatting with an empty oly bar and slowly work up 5 lb every other session or something.

What are you talking about? Deadlifts are 100% a great core exercise. Yes they target your hammies and gluts but they definitely engage your core and about as functionally as you can get as well.

I think you need to thoroughly understand which muscles make up the core. Some literature points to up to 24 muscles that compose it. Glutes, for one are definitely a core muscle.

" If you are rounding you back, you need to know how to properly
stabilize the lumbar spine and work on mobility. Most cases people round
from lack of flexibility and lose abdominal tension. Glute inactivity
is also a huge culprit."

If you're rounding your back then you probably have too much abdominal tension than not enough. Also, glut inactivity tends to lead to rounding of the back to compensate - lumbar erectors try to compensate for lack of hip E (due to underactive gluts).

Dude I know this is an old thread, but I certainly hope you completely ignored this guys advise to do deadlifts, squats and KB swings to strengthen your core, given your back issues! Deadlifts, if done correctly, are for the hamstrings and glutes. Its not a core excercise and it will compromise your lower back. Front squats can assist with core strengthening. KB swings have a poor risk/reward ratio if your back is already compromised. To get abs and not hurt your back - hang from a straight bar and do knees raises or straight legs raises to 90 degrees. Also try seated Russian twists with a 25lb kettle ball and planks. Include of course cardio, high intensity or interval training and cutting of body fat. That's the prescription for getting a tight core.

To get abs and not hurt your back - hang from a straight bar and do knees raises or straight legs raises to 90 degrees. Also try seated Russian twists with a 25lb kettle ball. Include of course cardio, high intensity or interval training and cutting of body fat. That's the prescription for getting abs to show if you are elimination crunches and situps from your routine.

Note: both L4/L5 discs were totally destroyed and removed. My spine grew bone laminates around the left over disc masses resulting in My back deformity.
My spine was straight after removing the bone laminates and I'm also about an inch and a bit shorter.

It's a great question. There are two ways to get better defined abs: muscle hypertrophy and decreased body fat. Doing flexion at high repetitions probably won't really hypertrophy the abs as it trains more endurance. Doing very challenging isometrics will be the better bet. And eating to decrease body fat.

I have an exaggerated lumbar extension aka Lumbar lordosis kyphosis. It have no pain but however wanna fix my posture, do you have any advices? Im used to hold hip stretches for extended periods of time but it seems to improve a little then come back to the original posture. I would like to know more about it as Ive done a lot of exercises such as plank /glute bridges/ swiss ball exercises for hamstrings but it seems to help only temporarily.

Yann

In CrossFit a sit up finishes touching your toes. In that position unless your arms are double the length of your legs you are rounding the back for sure. If we were able to go all 5he way back and 5hen stop ay the 90% degree angle I think the abs did their work. What work do the abs do by crunching from 90 to touch of the toe anyway... Its starting to down on me that the low back pain in the sit ups is that particular last piece of it.

p.s. McGill wrote the lumbar spine chapter in Liebenson's book 🙂

Hey Vickie,

Thanks for your comment!

I think taking out a repetitive spinal flexion movement from strength and conditioning is exactly the thing to do.

Even if you properly "stabilize the spine", you still get mechanical disc pressure and movement, which over time, when done in amounts that exceed the body's ability to adapt, can delaminate the disc and cause disc bulging, herniation, and low back pain.

There are lots of things my body is physically capable of that don't make sense to do as an exercise to build strength and metabolic capacity. These 4 are definitely on that list.

Thanks for reading!

Hey Hassan,

I am sure it is a matter of dosage. Hard to argue that a lot of people have been helped by it according to what I have heard Simmons talk about.

I personally don't use it or have people use it, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be effective for the right person at the right time with the right dosage.

I think people should proceed with caution before using it to treat their own back pain without being evaluated!

interesting point, what do you think of the Reverse Hyper machine, created by Westside Barbell (Louie Simmons) , it's said to have saved a lot of backs. honest question btw, I would really like to know what u think.

deadlifts! squats! kettlebell swings!

Hey Ruby thanks for the question.

I apologize my message may have not been 100% conveyed as well as it could have been. I am by no means against flexion of the lumbar spine. It is critical for maintaining a health disc. There is no way the discs could get the nutrients they need to be healthy if the spine was never flexed.

The point I was hoping to get across was that if you repetitively do lumbar spine flexion as an exercise, especially with an added compressive load, you may be putting the posterior-lateral disc elements at risk.

People need to learn how to control their lumbar spine in all positions because in real life, all those positions will occur.

However, when people are training for metabolic conditioning, I don't think it is necessarily the best choice to choose an exercise that puts so much motion through the spine for so many reps while fatigued.

I hope that helps!

The spine should not be only kept in neutral! But under load during exercise, that probably is the best choice.

On the other hand, there are situations all the time in which the lumbar spine rounds forward. Why wouldn't we want to train our body to handle that movement rather than avoid it at all costs? Whether someone bends down to tie a shoe, bends forward to stretch, or ends up on an airline seat for hours, lumbar curve is going to happen in life.

I'm willing to eliminate sit-up movements from my workout, but I still question the "spine must always be in neutral" assertions that I read here and elsewhere.

The abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. Lift heavy, lift safe. Pick it up, Put it Down.

Hey Fiona,

In my opinion, eating well is the best way to aesthetically change the mid section!

Thanks for reading,

Ryan

Hello,

You are correct, if they are doing those movements, they are training to resist lumbar flexion. I am not sure that AbMats reduce lumbar flexion at the top of the situp, so I don't think it is a superior movement to "not abmat situps". I am not against GHD situps if people can do them without hinging through their low back under a load. Unfortunately I don't think most people can. So if someone is going to play with fire, they should be very diligent.

Gymnasts have a lot of back problems.

Thanks for reading!

Ryan

Hey Jill,

I agree. The video does indeed show loaded lumbar flexion. Whether I like them or not, people will still do toes to bar until a great shift occurs. I advise they don't do that, but if they insist, I will try to show them a "better" way, so to speak. Thanks for reading!

Ryan

Hey Susan,

I believe they have been advised to take them out, but you are correct, sit ups are still alive and well in the military. Hopefully at some point we will see them go away.

Thanks for reading!

Hey Jill,

Yes the video shows an exercise I do not recommend. It is a reality that many people will still do toes to bar and other spinal flexion exercises with a load despite the current research. The video is intended to do it as least bad as it may be able to be done IMO.