0:00

Are you certain that you understand

0:02

the root causes and

0:04

mechanism of your back pain ? It's

0:07

my goal in this episode to

0:10

make damn sure that you have a clear

0:12

idea of what's going on . A

0:17

big question we want to answer

0:19

is whether we are overlooking

0:21

something vital . Why

0:25

is the back pain persisting

0:27

? What are we missing ? Figuring

0:31

out what's really causing our back pain

0:33

is crucial , yet it's something that

0:35

athletes , gym goers , weekend

0:37

warriors and even healthcare

0:40

professionals often skip right over

0:42

. Care

0:46

professionals often skip right over . We've got to understand

0:48

what is causing our discomfort before we jump into any new workout

0:50

plans , popping pills

0:53

, going under the knife , switching

0:56

up our diets or trying

0:58

out some new visualization

1:00

technique . Because

1:03

our bodies are pretty much

1:05

trying to talk to us through pain

1:07

, trying to tell us to

1:09

rethink and change

1:11

our actions . But

1:14

if we blame it on bad luck or

1:17

some mysterious cause

1:19

, we're

1:22

just ignoring the straightforward

1:24

logic of cause and effect

1:26

. Injury does not

1:28

come from nowhere , nor

1:31

does it disappear back into nothingness

1:34

. Our actions

1:36

cause it . Our decisions and

1:38

choices are what lay the foundation

1:41

, which pave the way , and

1:44

it is through our actions

1:47

that we can change or

1:49

heal our back pain

1:51

. By

1:53

changing what's causing the pain , we

1:58

can change the impact of

2:00

pain on us , a

2:03

concept that seems pretty straightforward

2:05

, straightforward but is actually quite tough to

2:07

put into practice . My

2:10

thinking here has started

2:12

to move away from the common

2:14

clinical and bodybuilding

2:17

views and more towards

2:19

the expanded perspective found

2:21

in the movement culture . This

2:24

shift mirrors the journey that

2:27

Professor McGill , professor

2:29

Stuart McGill , whose

2:31

work that this project is based on . This

2:34

shift in perspective mirrors the

2:38

journey that he took to reach his discoveries

2:40

. The

2:43

common approach has been to

2:45

reduce the injury or exercise

2:47

to an isolated structure or cause

2:49

. Of

2:51

course , sometimes when things go wrong

2:54

, we can trace their origin

2:56

back to just one point or a single

2:58

factor , and while that single

3:00

point might be fascinating

3:02

, that single point might

3:05

be fascinating Looking

3:09

at the bigger picture . By looking at the bigger picture , especially

3:13

our broader movement patterns , we can access a lot more insight

3:16

Instead of just zeroing in

3:18

on specific parts of our body

3:20

for diagnosis or treatment . I've

3:27

come to see each of us as our own unique mix

3:29

of complex , interconnected systems , something which is far removed

3:32

from the ideas of isolated structures

3:34

or isolated movements . When

3:39

Professor McGill was asked

3:42

in an interview

3:44

with Dr Kelly Starrett what

3:48

is pain , I'll

3:51

never forget he hit

3:53

the nail on the head . He

3:56

said that understanding the cause of pain

3:58

is much more useful than

4:01

trying to define what the pain is or

4:04

where it is . If

4:06

we understand what's causing our back pain

4:08

, we can actually do something about it

4:10

. The rest

4:12

is mental

4:14

entertainment , mental

4:17

masturbation . But

4:20

before we dive into the causes of back

4:23

pain , let's be clear about

4:25

what we're talking about . Basically

4:29

, back pain is like an

4:31

SOS signal from our spine , usually

4:34

for most of us from the lower or lumbar

4:36

area , the lower or lumbar

4:39

spine . The

5:00

spine is trying to tell us that it us telling

5:03

us that without some changes , the

5:05

problem is going to build up , it's going to accumulate

5:08

and

5:12

it will eventually lead to even worse problems down

5:14

the line and

5:17

maybe even permanent damage . And

5:22

permanent damage is almost always served with a solid dose

5:24

of depression . So what's the solution ? It's

5:27

actually quite simple Stop

5:37

stressing your back , or at least reduce the stress

5:39

significantly and give it a solid chance to recover . Simple , but

5:41

not easy . You

5:43

need to know precisely what

5:45

is causing the stress and how

5:47

, and this is what we're going to

5:49

take a closer look at . But

5:52

before we can identify the

5:55

root causes of our pain , we need to understand

5:57

how things break down in our body in the first

5:59

place . So let's discuss

6:02

this breakdown process . The

6:05

wear and tear we see in our lower back injuries

6:09

can best be understood

6:11

through the lens or

6:14

the eyes of a material scientist

6:16

or engineer . Material

6:19

scientists look at

6:21

how structures deform under pressure

6:23

, whether any of that deformation

6:27

or change sticks

6:29

around after the

6:31

load or pressure has been removed

6:33

, and how many times

6:35

you can load up a structure before

6:38

it breaks . Think

6:41

about a paperclip , the

6:44

perfect example we're all familiar

6:46

with . Bend it back and

6:48

forth enough times and eventually

6:50

it will snap with almost no effort . When

6:53

you bend the paperclip , it

6:55

changes shape at the bend . This

6:58

is the deformation . Bend

7:01

that paperclip the other way and you get

7:03

opposite changes at the opposite , at

7:05

the same spot , but

7:08

in the opposite direction . Each

7:11

bend of the paperclip leaves a little

7:13

bit of change behind the

7:16

material . Scientists call this change

7:18

deformation . As I've

7:20

said , eventually all

7:22

of these deformations add up and

7:24

the paperclip snaps . This

7:27

is pretty much what Professor McGill

7:30

saw happening with the tissues , the structural

7:32

tissues in our spine . We

7:35

bend them , bend them , bend

7:38

, bend , bend and

7:40

then they snap . They

7:43

tend to accumulate deformation

7:45

from bend

7:47

to bend . Very minuscule

7:50

amounts , very microscopic , small amounts

7:52

. But bend the spine , bend these

7:54

structures enough time without

7:56

the appropriate recovery , they

7:59

snap eventually . Mcgill

8:03

actually came to this understanding through two

8:05

pretty genius angles

8:07

. He tested real human

8:10

spines from cadavers in

8:12

mechanical loading machines to

8:14

see how they held up under

8:16

lots of bending , lots of repetitive bending

8:19

, mimicking what we do in real life

8:21

with our own spines . He

8:24

also used digital simulations to mimic

8:26

the loading patterns and

8:29

rhythms of real skeletons , and

8:32

it was through using both

8:34

of these two approaches that he was able

8:36

to simulate the necessary conditions

8:38

which produce the damage

8:40

of a lifetime on a spine . Now

8:43

, this description I've given is incredibly

8:45

simplified compared

8:48

to what's actually happening . The reality

8:51

is , of course , much more complex

8:53

, and it's also important to remember

8:55

that our spines are designed

8:58

intended to

9:00

bend . This is why they are not one

9:02

solid bone but

9:05

rather a complex of moving

9:07

joints , and they actually

9:09

do a great job at bending under

9:12

the right conditions . But

9:14

if we bend the joints of our spine

9:16

too much or inefficiently

9:18

, spine

9:24

too much or inefficiently or don't give the joints enough time to recover with quality

9:26

recovery , then we're

9:29

going to look at that damage building

9:31

up and eventually the structures

9:33

breaking down . This

9:36

brings up a big question why

9:39

are so many of us moving or

9:41

healing . Why

9:47

are so many of us not moving or

9:50

healing as well as we should ? Where

9:55

is this excess stress

9:57

coming from and

9:59

why are we not recovering sufficiently

10:01

? So

10:04

let's get to the heart of this issue . If

10:07

we acknowledge that our spines

10:09

are capable of handling a

10:11

lifetime of movement , then

10:13

we've got to take a closer look at what we're doing

10:16

that is making our spine so

10:18

vulnerable . We're

10:25

doing that is making our spine so vulnerable

10:27

. Given how widespread back pain is , the

10:32

habits that lead to lower back issues must be widespread as well

10:34

. If it's bad movement causing all the trouble , then we need to examine

10:37

the forces shaping our movement . And

10:40

there is one very obvious common

10:42

denominator in all of our daily

10:44

activity . For

10:47

all of us , our

10:49

day-to-day life is dominated

10:51

by sitting more than

10:53

any other single physical activity

10:55

. By far . From

10:58

our earliest days in a high chair to

11:00

our last sitting

11:02

is what we do most affecting

11:04

our movement development , or rather

11:07

the lack of it , more than anything

11:09

else . Since

11:12

we're sitting more than anything else , it's

11:14

no surprise or it should be no

11:16

surprise that sitting shapes

11:18

how we move more than

11:20

anything else . But

11:24

it's more than just inactivity

11:26

. Sitting is more than just inactivity

11:28

. It's actually working against

11:31

our development . It is anti-developmental

11:34

. Even

11:36

though it's everywhere , we

11:39

haven't fully come to grips with how sitting

11:41

down so much is really affecting

11:43

us , and

11:45

our wholehearted embrace

11:48

of sitting definitely hasn't

11:50

considered its negative side

11:52

effects . Tackling

11:55

the epidemic of back pain means we've got to

11:57

really look at how sitting influences

11:59

our movement and

12:01

how it plays into this widespread

12:03

issue . And

12:07

I know that you've heard that sitting

12:09

is the new smoking and

12:12

it's no good for you , but I bet you have

12:14

no idea how bad it really is . So

12:18

what is the price of sitting ? Is

12:24

so what is the price of sitting ? Let's take a moment to think about what happens to our lower back

12:26

when we're seated . I

12:28

think of the direct changes

12:30

from sitting in three broad

12:32

categories . Firstly

12:35

, leaning on a chair's backrest

12:37

means we're not using the

12:39

muscles meant to

12:41

support our spine . By

12:45

ignoring these muscles , this

12:47

leads to them weakening , losing

12:50

our coordination of them and

12:52

eventually our spine-supporting

12:54

muscles can't do their job very well

12:56

anymore . Secondly

12:59

, sitting also destroys

13:01

our breathing Because

13:03

of a host of things going on when we sit

13:05

and another host of things which are not going

13:08

on when we sit . We all learn to breathe

13:10

shallow breaths , we forget

13:12

how to use our diaphragm and

13:15

we develop bad habits around

13:17

breathing . Develop bad habits

13:20

around breathing . Thirdly

13:22

, because we're not moving

13:24

very much our hips

13:26

and shoulders , which are mobile

13:29

joints , mobile

13:33

structures , or at least intended to be . When we're not moving

13:35

very much during sitting , over

13:40

time , our hips and shoulders , our legs and arms become restricted within

13:43

these specific ranges and find

13:47

it more and more difficult to access other

13:49

positions . Sitting

13:55

changes our body and movement

13:57

in ways that directly

13:59

oppose our development . Sitting

14:01

is anti-developmental . It

14:04

makes our core weak and our

14:06

limbs stiff , setting

14:09

us up for trouble down the road , and

14:13

it also destroys our breathing patterns . Changes

14:17

brought on by sitting are steering

14:19

us away from the kind of movement that's

14:21

good for us , where our core

14:23

is strong , our limbs are free to move

14:26

and we breathe properly . However

14:30

, the biggest problems that sitting causes

14:32

actually come from how these

14:35

changes mess with the way we move overall

14:37

in general , and

14:39

this is what is causing the real issues . Our

14:43

bodies are built to move , not

14:46

sit still all the time . Staying

14:49

in one position for too long , like sitting

14:51

, can make us sore and stiff , painful

14:55

, uncomfortable , rigid , because

14:59

it's not what our bodies are meant

15:01

to do , designed to do . Feeling

15:04

uncomfortable , becoming weak and disconnected

15:06

, and breathing poorly from

15:09

sitting too much is just the start

15:11

. If we keep it up

15:13

, putting

15:15

our bodies in the same position day after

15:17

day can lead to long-term pain and

15:19

much more serious problems

15:21

. But

15:25

how does sitting cause back pain

15:27

? We've just discussed

15:29

sitting destroying our ability to support

15:32

our spine , sitting

15:34

destroying our breathing , and

15:36

sitting robbing our limbs

15:39

of movement , breathing and sitting

15:41

robbing our limbs of movement but we still

15:43

haven't looked at back pain . How

15:48

does sitting cause back pain when

15:51

our spine supporting muscles deteriorate ? Unfortunately , they don't

15:53

just land up doing a poor job while we

15:56

sit . These

16:00

changes also persist through the rest of our movement . Let's expand

16:03

on the consequences of each of the three

16:05

changes we just discussed or that I

16:07

just mentioned in the previous section . So

16:10

, firstly , while we are sitting , the

16:13

curves in our spine collapse to the end of

16:15

their range because we're not supporting our

16:17

spine . We become very passive in

16:20

the behavior of our spine . Then

16:23

, when we stand or do anything

16:26

else other than sitting , our

16:29

spinal curves are also going to collapse

16:31

to the end of their range , because

16:34

this is the habit . This is the level of

16:36

our ability to support our

16:38

spine . This is the

16:41

level of our ability to support our spine . This

16:46

is what contributes , then , to the paperclip-like bending back and forth and deterioration in the

16:48

joints of our spine . The second

16:51

point we discussed when

16:53

we lose our ability to breathe properly

16:55

while sitting , this

16:57

also extends into the

16:59

rest of our movements . Therefore

17:02

, we breathe poorly when we sit and

17:04

when we do everything else Plus

17:07

, we lose the coordination to breathe

17:10

and use our spine supporting muscles

17:12

at the same time . This forces

17:14

us between a rock and a hard place constantly

17:16

. Either we can try to stabilize

17:18

our spine or we can breathe

17:21

. Both of these

17:23

are critical functions we need all of the time

17:25

, and sitting puts

17:30

us in a position where we have to choose one

17:32

or the other , and we can do neither

17:34

of them very well . That's

17:37

a disaster . And

17:40

then , thirdly , the range of motion that we lose

17:42

in our limbs robs us of

17:44

uncountable options . We

17:48

lose a massive amount of positions

17:50

and patterns . These

17:52

restrictions , these losses

17:54

, force us to compensate

17:57

, to look for ways to make

17:59

up for what we have lost . And

18:02

, unfortunately , the easiest place to compensate

18:04

, the easiest way to create

18:07

a little bit more movement

18:09

, freedom for our limbs , is

18:12

to ask our spine for a little bit more

18:14

. This , of course , compounds

18:16

the stress that our spines must deal

18:19

with . So , yes

18:21

, sitting is a big part

18:23

of why our spines

18:25

are under so much excessive

18:28

stress and inadequate

18:30

recovery . If you consider what

18:32

sitting is doing to us and how we do it consistently

18:35

, continuously , both

18:37

, and then the implications of

18:40

sitting also extending

18:42

into the rest of our movement , it becomes

18:44

obvious it should become obvious

18:46

how we then don't ever get a rest

18:48

, a recovery , a

18:51

quality recovery from these implications

18:53

of sitting . So

18:56

the stress is excessive and the

18:58

recovery is non-existent

19:02

, and

19:04

this leads to a domino effect

19:06

of movement issues and pain

19:08

. Losing our ability to

19:10

support our own spine causes it to

19:12

flop and bend back

19:15

and forth like a paper clip . Losing

19:19

our ability to breathe robs us of the

19:21

ability to stabilize our spine

19:23

and breathe simultaneously . Critical

19:26

functions we need all the time , and

19:30

losing range of motion in our limbs forces

19:32

us to compensate more with our spine

19:34

. In other

19:36

words , sitting destroys our movement and

19:39

, in turn , our damaged movement

19:41

destroys our spine . This

19:43

is a first order and then

19:45

second order consequence of sitting

19:48

, something that I believe

19:52

that I see is completely overlooked

19:55

, because sitting does not directly cause

19:57

back pain . We

20:00

under appreciate the role of sitting

20:02

in back pain , but sitting directly

20:04

destroys our movement and

20:06

our poor movement directly destroys

20:08

our spine . So

20:12

how do we tackle this issue ? What

20:15

do we do ? Realizing

20:18

that sitting is at the heart of

20:20

our back pain means that we've got to reduce

20:22

or get rid of as much

20:24

of it as possible . Back

20:27

pain is closely related

20:29

mimics

20:31

, the diseases of modern western

20:34

food diets like diabetes

20:36

, heart disease , alzheimer's

20:38

, etc . Sitting

20:41

is the product , or

20:43

is a product , of

20:45

our modern western movement diet . We

20:49

need to reduce our intake

20:51

of this toxic nutrient and

20:54

we need to find ways to incorporate other

20:56

, more nourishing

20:58

movement nutrients . There

21:02

are a few ways we can start to make changes

21:05

right now . Be

21:08

honest with yourself about

21:10

how much you're sitting and

21:13

start to look for opportunities to

21:15

stand up or

21:17

to walk instead in as

21:19

many opportunities

21:21

as you can . If

21:24

the option is there , take it . If

21:29

you can sit on the floor , watch

21:31

how many times you'll change positions

21:34

. This is natural . This

21:36

is healthy . This is movement

21:38

. Pay

21:41

attention to your posture . Start

21:44

paying attention to your posture . Start paying attention to

21:46

your spinal posture . Improving

21:52

how we sit takes a lot of awareness and

21:55

effort because

21:58

we're so used to sitting in a completely

22:01

detached , unaware

22:04

and disengaged way , and

22:09

you also need to think about how often

22:11

you bend your spine in ways that don't

22:14

promote its health . Try

22:16

to keep your spine in a more natural

22:19

and neutral position as much

22:21

as you can . This

22:23

will make a difference , but

22:28

it's not enough to fix what we're doing right

22:30

now . It would be nice if

22:34

somehow stopping sitting now

22:36

made

22:38

up for a lifetime of sitting , but

22:41

it's not . We also have to

22:43

deal with how sitting has

22:45

shaped us over our

22:47

entire life . To

22:50

get our movement back on track , we

22:53

also need to start doing things that unravel

22:56

the effects of a lifetime of sitting

22:58

too much . By

23:10

addressing our current sitting habits , though , we can powerfully

23:12

reduce its effect on us going forward , but then by doing

23:14

something which reverses the accumulated

23:17

effects from our lifetime of sitting

23:19

, we can completely overhaul

23:21

our spine and

23:23

movement . This

23:26

is what we will be packing next

23:30

. We're going to go into these two

23:32

strategies more

23:34

comprehensively . Thank

23:40

you for sticking it out with me to

23:42

the end of this episode . It probably means

23:44

that you found something here that spoke to you

23:46

. If it did hit the mark , don't stop

23:49

now . There's a lot more where that came from

23:51

. If you are

23:53

ready to dive in a bit deeper , pop

23:55

over to craigvanncom

23:57

and check out the Kinetic

23:59

Keystone course . It's

24:02

on the house totally free . This episode

24:04

forms a part of that Kinetic Keystone course . It's on the house totally free . This episode forms a part of that

24:06

kinetic keystone project , and

24:10

if you've got someone in mind who

24:12

could really use this information , or

24:14

maybe someone who just needs a little nudge to give

24:16

it a listen , go ahead and pass

24:18

it along . It's a simple and easy

24:20

way to make a difference today . And

24:25

just so you know , I share

24:27

these discussions through both video

24:29

on YouTube and audio only on

24:31

my podcast , the Craig Van Cast

24:34

. So

24:36

whether you're into watching or listening , or

24:38

both , I've got you covered .