Lumbago Exercises: Treatment for Disk Pain and Lumbago

Lumbago : The Problem

The western world is suffering an epidemic of lumbago! The following quotes from D. Chapman-Smith (9), picture the severity and increasing prevalence of pain in the lower back:-

"Lumbago is very common. 85% of people will be disabled by an attack of backpain during their lives, and at any given time 7% of the adult population is suffering from a bout of back pain lasting 2 weeks or longer".
"Lumbago is the most frequent and expensive health care problem in the 30 to 50 age group, and it is the most common cause of work loss and disability".
"In the UK [from 1955 to 1981], days of sick certification rose for men by approximately 350% [from] 506 to 1,882 [per 1,000 men per year] and for women by approximately 500% [from] 229 to 1,062 days [per 1,000 women per year]".
"Modern medicine... has failed to cure the vast majority of patients with simple lumbago".

The author argues elsewhere that this epidemic of lower backpain & lumbago is due to changes in bodily movement patterns that have been dictated by our city environment. The following exercises for the lower back are no longer available to us: (1) Walking on rough ground in bare feet or uncomfortable shoes(2). That most primitive of lumbo-pelvic recalibration exercises, the latrine squat! (Refer "Engage Gluteus maximus" for Lower Back Exercise Instructions, with Pictures). (Lumbago Exercises: Treatment for Disk Pain and Lumbago, Scroll right>>>>....)

In order to develop sore back exercises for disk pain, we need a true picture of lower backpain.

Backpain and Lumbago: The Cause
"When a system [such as the human hip joints and spine] is multi-segmented... the greatest degree of motion occurs at the most flexible segment (1)". That "most flexible segment" (which is usually in the lower back) is the point where damage and backpain occurs.

Backpain and Lumbago: The Wrong Exercise Solution
I recall trying to loosen up my painful lower back and sacrum with general stretching exercises for lower back and hip. But attempting to increase overall flexibility made the problem worse! The damaged joint - already the most flexible segment - was the joint that this type of lower back exercises stretched the most! The right way to stretch the lower back & hip avoids putting the over flexible segment outside of optimum middle position, & at the same time respects any painful trigger points in the muscles (More on Triggerpoints...).

Lumbago/Backpain: The Right Exercise Solution
"Optimum Body Positioning, both at work and at rest, will enhance the health and function of all body parts" (4). You solve your lumbago and weakness, without even doing hard gym based exercises! The correct exercises for lower backpain will stabilize the most flexible painful segment at its middle range, (where the muscles around it are at the best length for strong, co-ordinated bracing) while enhancing the flexibility of the surrounding parts.

Example: Optimum Body Positioning for Your Back:-
(Picture left): the man has taken his lower back to the extreme of its range of motion. Muscles are poorly co-ordinated and tire easily, and will be

unable to protect the spine from damage. By contrast, (picture right): the man has his whole system (including the lower back) in "Optimal Body Positioning". Muscles will be able to work longer without tiring, and his spine is well within its strong middle range. Optimum Body Positioning (and not gym based lower back exercises for disk pain) has freed this man from pain in his back. This is not a new idea. It is simple, eloquent... and forgotten....

"Good Body Mechanics imply that all the joints of the body are used in such a position in relation to their total range of motion that the possibility of further motion in either direction- the factor of safety motion is always present (7)".

Learn more about BackPain and Lumbago Exercises as contained in the "Back Maintenance Manual"

Lumbago Exercises: Treatment for Disk Pain and Lumbago © Bruce Thomson, EasyVigour Project