58 | From Symptoms to Source (BACK PAIN)

Why We Must Embrace Change: Navigating the Unwanted Elements of Our Current Experience

We stand at a crossroads, grappling with back pain that beckons us toward change.

Unveiling the root cause of this pain is critical, a step often overlooked by athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and even healthcare professionals alike.

It's imperative to scrutinize and rectify the behaviors that underpin our discomfort before diving into new fitness regimes, medications, surgeries, diets, or visualization techniques.

Our bodies communicate through pain, urging us to heed and amend our ways. To attribute our discomfort to mere bad luck or unfathomable reasons overlooks the simple, yet profound logic of cause and effect.

Transforming the cause is pivotal to modifying its effects—a principle deceptively simple in theory yet formidable in practice.

I find my perspective diverging from conventional clinical and bodybuilding viewpoints, leaning towards the innovative Movement Culture. This pivot reflects Professor McGill's evolution towards his significant breakthroughs.

Rather than pinpointing specific body structures for diagnosis or treatment, I perceive each individual as a unique entity with a complex web of interconnected systems, shedding light on the intricacies of lower back movements.

Often, systemic failures trace back to a singular point. While such points offer intriguing insights, a wider lens on systemic interactions—especially movement patterns—yields greater enlightenment.

Professor McGill adeptly highlighted that understanding the root cause of pain is infinitely more valuable than pinpointing the affected back structure. Grasping the trigger for our back pain allows us to implement change, thus altering the outcome.

Before we delve deeper into the causes of back pain, let's establish a clear definition of what we're addressing.

Essentially, back pain signals distress from our spine, particularly the lower or lumbar region, overwhelmed by excessive forces that cause irritation or potential breakdown.

This pain is a harbinger, warning that without intervention, structural strain will escalate, leading to worsening conditions and, potentially, irreversible damage, often shadowed by unavoidable depression.

The remedy is straightforward: cease the actions that contribute to this strain. Yet, what precisely are we doing that inflicts such harm on our lower backs? Let's explore the underlying causes of back pain.

Unraveling the Mystery: The Process of Breakdown

Prior to pinpointing the root causes, comprehending the breakdown process is paramount.

The deterioration we witness in lower back injuries is best interpreted through the lens of materials science or engineering.

Materials engineers dissect structures based on their deformation under load, the persistence of this deformation after unloading, and the tolerance of structural components to repeated loads before failure.

Take a paperclip, for instance: repetitive bending eventually culminates in its breakage without significant effort.

Bending the paperclip initiates deformations at the bending point.
Reversing the bending direction introduces counter-deformations at the same point.
With each bend, some deformation remains.
Eventually, accumulated deformation leads to the paperclip snapping.

This analogy mirrors Professor McGill's observations of spinal tissue breakdown: a sequence of bends leading to ultimate failure.

McGill's revelation came through dual innovative approaches: employing real human spines from cadavers in mechanical loading machines to simulate and observe the spine's response to repetitive loads, alongside digital simulations of actual skeletal structures.

For clarity, this explanation simplifies the nuanced reality of the process.

It's vital to recognize that the human spine is inherently designed for bending, performing admirably under the right conditions. However, inefficiency, excessive bending, or lack of adequate recovery time results in cumulative deformation and eventual breakdown.

This raises the question: Why do so many experience inadequate movement and healing, particularly concerning the lower back?

Identifying the Root Cause of the Breakdown

Recognizing the spine's capacity for intelligent use and enduring a lifetime of movement compels us to scrutinize our actions that leave it vulnerable.

With back pain's global prevalence, the practices leading to lower back degradation are universally adopted.

Should harmful movement be deemed the primary antagonist, the investigation into the dominant forces shaping our collective movement development becomes critical.

Our modern lifestyle, characterized overwhelmingly by excessive sitting—surpassing any other physical activity, often in aggregation—defines us as a sedentary population.

From the onset of childhood through to our final breaths, sitting predominates, significantly influencing our development—or, more accurately, the absence thereof.

Our extensive periods spent seated inevitably crown sitting as the principal architect of our movement patterns. Yet, sitting transcends mere inactivity; it stands as fundamentally counterdevelopmental.

Despite its omnipresence, the full ramifications of sitting remain largely underappreciated. Society's wholesale embrace of sitting has occurred with scant regard for its adverse consequences.

Confronting the back pain epidemic necessitates a critical examination of sitting's impact on our movement and its contribution to this pervasive dilemma.

The Ramifications of Sitting

Pause to consider the ramifications that ensue around our lower back as we sit:

Relying on a chair's backrest for spinal support leads to the neglect of numerous muscles designed to uphold our spine. This neglect results in muscle atrophy, reduced coordination, and ultimately, a failure to fulfill their supportive function.

Sitting also alters the natural concave curvature of our lower back (lordosis), flattening or even convexing it. This alteration imposes stress akin to bending a paperclip, stretching, and compressing the structural integrity of our lower back and diminishing the resilience of the intervertebral joints.

Additionally, the static positions of sitting restrict the dynamic capabilities of our hips and shoulders, culminating in reduced mobility and a bias towards these constrained postures.

The modifications induced by sitting divert our development away from sustainable, functional movement, advocating for a body that possesses core stability while maintaining peripheral flexibility—a concept heralded as proximal stability with distal mobility.

Conversely, sitting propels us toward a condition of core instability and peripheral immobility, laying the groundwork for future health challenges.

The most profound damage wrought by sitting may stem from its secondary effects, as these alterations disrupt our overall movement patterns, inflicting further detriment.

Our bodies, inherently designed for motion, rebel against prolonged inactivity. Static postures, particularly those adopted while sitting, swiftly engender discomfort and pain, underscoring the imperative for regular movement.

The immediate unease experienced from sitting is a precursor to a more sinister issue: enduring inactivity subjects our bodies to stress, leading to chronic pain and potentially, more grave health complications.

Does Sitting Unravel the Mystery of Back Pain?

Can the repercussions of sitting be reconciled with our understanding of lower back deterioration and ensuing back pain?

The strain our lower backs endure is epitomized by inefficient and excessive bending, coupled with deprived recovery opportunities.
Sitting confronts the spine by distorting its natural curvature, fostering a predisposition towards deleterious bending habits. This habitual maladaptation exacerbates spinal instability and muscular weakness.
The immobility imposed on our hips, legs, shoulders, and arms by sitting further burdens our lower back, compelling us to compensate for the loss of movement with improper spinal mechanics.

Therefore, sitting not only directly exerts stress on our spine but also precipitates a series of harmful movement patterns, heightening the risk of injury and discomfort.

Charting a Course for Change: Developing Mitigation Strategies

Acknowledging the centrality of sitting in the genesis of back pain mandates its diminution or outright elimination.

To this end, strategies aimed at curtailing sitting and fostering healthier sitting practices are paramount:

Cultivating an honest appraisal of our sitting habits opens the door to alternatives like standing or walking, and experimenting with floor-based seating arrangements.
Augmenting the quality of our sitting posture demands concerted effort, as altering deep-seated habits is inherently challenging. Cultivating awareness and fortitude for unsupported sitting, alongside a repertoire of varied postures, is crucial.
Addressing spinal flexion involves reducing our dependency on backrests, encouraging a diversity of limb positions, and steadfastly maintaining a neutral spinal alignment across various activities.

Beyond merely curtailing current detrimental practices, we must also confront the accumulated impact of a lifetime of sitting, recognizing its profound influence on our development.

To reclaim and elevate our movement capabilities, we must introduce practices designed to counteract the prolonged effects of sitting, with an aspiration to recuperate and safeguard our innate patterns of movement.

This comprehensive strategy not only tackles the immediate catalysts of back pain but also grapples with the enduring repercussions of sitting, aiming for a holistic enhancement of our movement health and quality of life.