BPL5: Back Pain from Sitting Too Much
In this episode, the second half of the interview with Karen Gabler, we talk about back pain from sitting too much. Karen explains how sitting causes back pain by shortening the iliopsoas muscle.
We also cover the importance of movement, core training, posture habits and the mind body connection.
Karen also goes deeper into Your Body’s Brilliant Design and the Sustainable Body System.
Karen’s new book, Your Body’s Brilliant Design, A Revolutionary Approach to Relieving Chronic Pain, is out now on Kindle and in paperback.
EXCERPTS FROM THE SHOW
The Iliopsoas and back pain from Sitting Too Much
- A specific muscle called the iliopsoas……along with the sacroiliac joint……the most important muscle to connect to….
- (with prolonged sitting) it gets shortened…..when we get up to stand, it stays stuck in the shortened position and pulls the back out of alignment.
Core Training
- Your core is holding you up from deep inside the body. And that inner core is what aligns all the joints and all the muscles from the inside out.
- We have this cultural obsession with strengthening our abdominals and our glutes and our back extensors, but actually that’s the outer core…………..the inner core is deeper and it needs different kind of training, it’s more subtle.
- The movement muscles are not designed to hold you up, they are designed for movement. The inner core is designed for postural suspension and support. So those muscles work slightly differently and they never run out of energy. It’s a very efficient system that holds you up.
- Deep in the inner core, when it’s relaxed and supple and pliable, it naturally holds you up, so it doesn’t take much energy.
Habits
- We go back to our habits of movement, this Sustainable Body routine helps us break those habits and come into a more optimal alignment.
- A habit is a habit and if we are not using ourselves well we can’t tell because it’s going on unconsciously……my book gives people an opportunity to learn that those habits can change.
The Mind Body Connection
- You cannot be stressed if you are breathing fully and deeply, it’s impossible for the body to do both.
- If you sense things and feel things and put attention to things..things can change.
- When we breathe deeply, we are massaging the spine and the psoas.
The Sustainable Body System
- Sustainable body work is functional movement….how do you use yourself when you sit, stand and walk.
- I am so honoured to be able to work with each of the people I work with. It’s just a privilege that someone comes into my office and says “I’m in pain and can you help me?” And that I can give people with my hands, and with my sustainable body routine, ways to empower themselves to take care of themselves.
- If you really look at the way the body’s designed, it has an architecture that’s perfectly supporting the spine……it’s very well designed, absolutely brilliant, we just need to learn how to use it well.
- My book is about a very user friendly way to take care of your fascia so it can align you and hold you up.
Today’s Guest
Sustainable Body creator, author and therapist Karen Gabler
Thanks for Listening!
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Thanks to Karen for joining me this time.
Best,
Iain
Find more episodes of the Back Pain Liberation Podcast here
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