No, this isn’t Keanu Reeves dodging bullets but maybe you can do that if you follow my instructions very carefully. Are you ready to take the red pill…or was it the blue pill…I can’t remember…but you get my point.

Years ago I got introduced the fine gentlemen at the Gray Institute. They specialize in training health professionals; Doctors, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, strength coaches and osteopaths (like me), to become better at their jobs.

Most advanced training on movement in the world

They do this by offering the most in depth course in the world on functional movement. For example, they go deep into the ‘chain reactions’ of the body. Which means by the end of the 40 week course I can trace someones tennis elbow pain back to their old ankle sprain, treat that and, as if by magic, their elbow pain clears up.

Cool, huh?

So, what’s this got to do with back pain?

Well, over the years I’ve observed some common problems that most people have with lower back pain. They usually have feet that are stiff, hips that are tight and a weak locked down upper back. These things all club together to give the lower back a hard time. This manifests in arthritis, disc bulges or herniations, osteophytes and a whole host of conditions beginning with the word spondy…

Once people get a diagnosis of one of those conditions they usually shut themselves in a self or societal made ‘cage of fear’ and end up avoiding anything that could make their back worse. But this is exactly the wrong thing to do.

When I was 18 I was in a car crash…

…that left me with debilitating back pain. I remember getting out of the car outside my chiropractors office and then collapsing to the ground in pain and crawling into the waiting room. I had x-rays and was told that almost everything that could go wrong with a spine was wrong, (spondylolitsthesis, facet asymmetries, schmorl’s nodes, schermann’s disease…the lists goes on)

For a while I believed it…I stopped activity and put myself in that ‘cage of fear’. But I was an active kid. I played rugby, did judo and worked as landscaper in the holidays so it didn’t last long, but I did have intermittent back pain and was always scared that I was making things worse.

It wasn’t till I went to osteopathic college that I realized that none of those things on the x-ray were responsible for my pain and most of them are common, incidental, findings on x-rays.

Now I’m in my 40’s…

… I still play rugby and live a very active life! But I do spend a lot of time working on my foot, hip and spinal mobility in conjunction with keeping strong.

What’s the secret?

Here is a short back strength work out that combines elements of what I learnt from the Gray Institute, yoga and self experimentation over the years. If you try it, it will make your back stronger and more flexible!

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