Three Minutes a Day to Keep Back Pain Away

Oct. 16, 2007 — -- At one time or another, we will all experience pain in our body. And for many of us, that pain will come in the form of twinges, aches and soreness in our backs.

Of course, back pain is a very broad term that can refer to any number of specific regions in your back. In this article, instead of the terminology, we will look into possible causes and solutions of back pain. And most important what you can do to prevent or to improve back pain when you have it.

More then once, clients who come to me for my Strength 123 training program want to jump right into it. However, many times after a pre-program body analysis I have found patients with back pain caused by imbalances in their muscular system.

My first step is to find out what might have caused this client's back pain. In short, I need to determine when the back pain started and which movements might be the reasons.

Keep in mind, though, that there are many factors that can cause back pain. Here are just a few that I have encountered over and over again (keeping in mind, of course, that a comprehensive list of possibilities would probably be too long for this article!):

Monotonous movements: Think about a cashier at the supermarket. Is he or she pushing items from one side to the next, day in and day out? Most likely, an imbalance will be created in the internal and external obliques and in the lower back musculature, which includes the erector spina, multifidus and gluteus.

Through the same rotation over and over again, one side will develop a stronger musculature while the other side will become more elongated — and therefore weaker. Those are imbalances that need to be considered.

Now for golf players, this concept of imbalance may ring a bell. Yes, playing golf might be a cause of lower back pain as well. Ask Tiger Woods about his workout program; I am positive that he works with a very skillful athletic trainer who understands this concept and how it will influence his training program.