BPL15: Creep and Back Pain
THE BACK PAIN LIBERATION PODCAST
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SHOW NOTES
Creep and back pain. In the second part of the interview with Dr. Jeremy James, we talk about the biomechanical phenomenon of creep and how it affects the back.
I’ve been training for many years to keep my back healthy. From experience, I know that it’s not a good idea to sit still for too long.
It’s very interesting to learn about the science behind this.
According to Dr. Jeremy, under these circumstances, creep can cause discomfort and also make the back prone to injury:
“After about 20 minutes under a static load, e.g. sitting, the discs and ligaments in your back start to bend”
Excerpts from the show
Aside from the creep and back pain, we cover topics around exercise with back pain as well as long term use of pain relief medication:
Today’s Guest
Founder of the Backforever program, and co-author of The Younger Next Year Back Book, Dr Jeremy James
If you click the above link and buy on Amazon I will (probably) make a small commission at no cost to you. For a chance to win a copy of The Younger Next Year Back Book click here.
Creep and Back Pain
- Creep is a protective mechanism in your ligaments and discs
- After about 20 minutes under a static load, e.g. sitting down, the discs and ligaments in your back start to bend
- The muscles in your back have to take over the job that usually the ligaments will do. The muscles are working overtime and that will cause back pain immediately
- Long term, since the ligaments are more lax, you are at heightened risk of serious injury; like a disc bulge or herniation
- If you sit for 30 minutes then run and pick up something heavy; your back is much less protected
On Taking Steps to Prevent Creep
- Getting up and moving around is optimal
- If you can’t do that, then even changing the position that you’re sitting in is helpful
Exercises to Avoid with Lower Back Pain
Gym Exercises to Avoid with Lower Back Pain
Dr. Jeremy talks about patients who try to do the right thing by exercising. It goes wrong when they go about it the wrong way.
- They do what they think is right for their backs. For instance, lots of heavy weights in the gym, or they’re doing 100 situps every day
On the sit-up:
- Where you are lying on your back and you come up to a full seated position…so your lumbar spine comes off the ground…that is how you would herniate a disc in the lab – repetitive flexion
A crunch is better
- A crunch – you keep your lumbar spine on the ground
The Best Yoga Exercises for Back Pain
- Yoga can be fantastic for backs if you learn to only do moves where you’re moving from your hips. And you keep your back relatively still
- The degree of risk (in Yoga) is higher than doing exercises that are specifically safe for the back
How to Exercise with Chronic Back Pain
- The details do matter – about how you move
- It is very likely, if you have developed a chronic back problem, that you got there, at least partially, because of the way that you move; and the way that you’ve learned to use, or not use specific muscle groups
- When you do these exercises that are important for back rehabilitation, it’s really likely that you are going to bring those same bad habits into the back exercises. You have to pay attention to the detail every single time. You can never zone out
- Take the bird dog for example. Far more often than not, people do this the wrong way when they come into my clinic. Almost always, people will use the upper traps to bring the arm up. You should engage the lats by retracting the shoulder blade towards your waistline
- Endurance is important because you have to maintain that neutral spine all day long
- Neutral means the position where the least amount of harmful load is placed through the tissues of your back
- It’s much more important to train endurance, rather than strength
Hi, I’m Iain Barker creator of Back Pain Liberation.
I got back pain young and it got worse over time. Like many others in this situation, I saw plenty of doctors and therapists – all to no avail.
In the end self-help worked best – it often does for bad backs. Now I train regularly, focus on what works, and don’t get back pain.
My goal is to share what I learned. To help you find a more effective way when treatment doesn’t hit the spot.
Back Pain Medication Side Effects
- You want to avoid meds if you can. If you take them long enough, there’s almost always some sort of side effect
- People who are prescribed opioids…if they have a pre-disposition…they do become addicted…it’s a huge problem
The Younger Next Year Back Book Giveaway
I will be running a giveaway next episode with Jeremy.
Check back for a chance to win a copy of The Younger Next Year Back Book – The Whole-Body Plan to Conquer Back Pain Forever by Chris Crowley and Dr Jeremy James
Thanks for Listening!
How did you cope with your thrown out back? To share your experience, leave a comment below.
To help out the show, click a link to iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn:
- Subscribe.
- Leave an honest review.
Thanks to Dr Jeremy James for joining me this time and explaining how to fix a thrown out back; As well as all the other good stuff he shared with us.
Best,
Iain
Find more episodes of the Back Pain Liberation Podcast here
BPL15: Creep and Back Pain
SHOW NOTES
Creep and back pain. In the second part of the interview with Dr. Jeremy James, we talk about the biomechanical phenomenon of creep and how it affects the back.
I’ve been training for many years to keep my back healthy. From experience, I know that it’s not a good idea to sit still for too long.
It’s very interesting to learn about the science behind this.
According to Dr. Jeremy, under these circumstances, creep can cause discomfort and also make the back prone to injury:
“After about 20 minutes under a static load, e.g. sitting, the discs and ligaments in your back start to bend”
Excerpts from the show
Aside from the creep and back pain, we cover topics around exercise with back pain as well as long term use of pain relief medication:
Today’s Guest
Founder of the Backforever program, and co-author of The Younger Next Year Back Book, Dr Jeremy James
If you click the above link and buy on Amazon I will (probably) make a small commission at no cost to you. For a chance to win a copy of The Younger Next Year Back Book click here.
Creep and Back Pain
- Creep is a protective mechanism in your ligaments and discs
- After about 20 minutes under a static load, e.g. sitting down, the discs and ligaments in your back start to bend
- The muscles in your back have to take over the job that usually the ligaments will do. The muscles are working overtime and that will cause back pain immediately
- Long term, since the ligaments are more lax, you are at heightened risk of serious injury; like a disc bulge or herniation
- If you sit for 30 minutes then run and pick up something heavy; your back is much less protected
On Taking Steps to Prevent Creep
- Getting up and moving around is optimal
- If you can’t do that, then even changing the position that you’re sitting in is helpful
Exercises to Avoid with Lower Back Pain
Gym Exercises to Avoid with Lower Back Pain
Dr. Jeremy talks about patients who try to do the right thing by exercising. It goes wrong when they go about it the wrong way.
- They do what they think is right for their backs. For instance, lots of heavy weights in the gym, or they’re doing 100 situps every day
On the sit-up:
- Where you are lying on your back and you come up to a full seated position…so your lumbar spine comes off the ground…that is how you would herniate a disc in the lab – repetitive flexion
A crunch is better
- A crunch – you keep your lumbar spine on the ground
The Best Yoga Exercises for Back Pain
- Yoga can be fantastic for backs if you learn to only do moves where you’re moving from your hips. And you keep your back relatively still
- The degree of risk (in Yoga) is higher than doing exercises that are specifically safe for the back
How to Exercise with Chronic Back Pain
- The details do matter – about how you move
- It is very likely, if you have developed a chronic back problem, that you got there, at least partially, because of the way that you move; and the way that you’ve learned to use, or not use specific muscle groups
- When you do these exercises that are important for back rehabilitation, it’s really likely that you are going to bring those same bad habits into the back exercises. You have to pay attention to the detail every single time. You can never zone out
- Take the bird dog for example. Far more often than not, people do this the wrong way when they come into my clinic. Almost always, people will use the upper traps to bring the arm up. You should engage the lats by retracting the shoulder blade towards your waistline
- Endurance is important because you have to maintain that neutral spine all day long
- Neutral means the position where the least amount of harmful load is placed through the tissues of your back
- It’s much more important to train endurance, rather than strength
Hi, I’m Iain Barker creator of Back Pain Liberation.
I got back pain young and it got worse over time. Like many others in this situation, I saw plenty of doctors and therapists – all to no avail.
In the end self-help worked best – it often does for bad backs. Now I train regularly, focus on what works, and don’t get back pain.
My goal is to share what I learned. To help you find a more effective way when treatment doesn’t hit the spot.
Back Pain Medication Side Effects
- You want to avoid meds if you can. If you take them long enough, there’s almost always some sort of side effect
- People who are prescribed opioids…if they have a pre-disposition…they do become addicted…it’s a huge problem
The Younger Next Year Back Book Giveaway
I will be running a giveaway next episode with Jeremy.
Check back for a chance to win a copy of The Younger Next Year Back Book – The Whole-Body Plan to Conquer Back Pain Forever by Chris Crowley and Dr Jeremy James
Thanks for Listening!
How did you cope with your thrown out back? To share your experience, leave a comment below.
To help out the show, click a link to iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn:
- Subscribe.
- Leave an honest review.
Thanks to Dr Jeremy James for joining me this time and explaining how to fix a thrown out back; As well as all the other good stuff he shared with us.
Best,
Iain
The second interview in this series of podcasts was a repeat of the first, when i downloaded it from my ipod. Therefore I’ve not been able to listen 🙁
Oops! Thanks for letting me know something’s gone wrong…I’ll get on to fixing that. Very happy to hear that you like the podcast otherwise.
I have updated the podcast feed with the right episode. It may take a little while for this to filter through to iTunes and other podcast services. In the meantime you can listen right here in the browser by clicking on the podcast player above. Thanks again for letting me know – explains the unusually low number of plays for this one show!