When we use our bodies through movement and exercise, the cells and tissues of our musculoskeletal system (MSK) experience mechanical force; load. During the rest and recovery period our MSK system adapts to the load it has experienced.
Cells and tissues change and adapt so that if they experience this load again, the MSK system will have an enhanced capacity to handle the load. For example, when you do an exercise for the 1st time you are likely to be sore, but if you keep doing that same exercise your body will adapt and the soreness will lessen.
Too much load
If our tissues are subject to mechanical forces that are far greater than they are prepared for, or we don’t get adequate rest between training sessions, we increase our risk of injury and tissue sensitivity.
The tissues of your spine are no different, they can adapt to the demands placed upon them and become more efficient and resilient, as long as the conditions are right.
An example of adaptation in sport & exercise
By stretching the tissues of the spine with a forward bend, the tissues will become more efficient at lengthening. By loading the spine with a squat for example, the tissues such as the bone will become stronger and better at tolerating heavy loads. This results in a full spectrum of outcomes; at one end we have flexibility and at the other we have stiffness, according to the type of load applied.
In sport and exercise the spectrum would be a Yogi’s supple spine at one end and a power lifters stiff spine at the other. Both spines are perfectly adapted for the desired goal.
Load in everyday life
An individual may develop pain when bending forwards (lumbar spine flexion). An example of this is someone sitting at a desk for up to 8 hours a day with a rounded lower back. Although many of us are disciplined to exercise to overcome sedentary jobs, how we exercise is important. For example, someone who sits at a desk all day may go to the gym and perform knee hugs to warm up their back, cycle for cardio, squat for weight resistance and finally perform abdominal crunches – all of these movements cause lumbar spine flexion – exactly the position they have been sat in all day.
It is important to note that lumber spine flexion isn’t bad for you, our spines are designed to move this way. We all have different capacities to tolerate load, for some people the previous example wouldn’t be a problem, they would be able to adapt to this load.
Concept applied to rehabilitation of low back pain
When considering a rehabilitation programme for your low back, you should consider the following:
- Pain triggers and the reasons why these have developed
- Current stage of your injury
- Rest and recovery
- Mobility as it pertains to required movement in daily life and exercise
- Current level of endurance, core stability, strength, power
- Goals
Other factors that can affect pain need to be considered such as:
- Lack of sleep
- Anxiety, fear of movement
There is often a gap between how we train our spines to move, resist load, endure load, create force, react to force and the demands that our sports and lives place upon our spines. This gap can be the reason why we get injured and keep re-injuring our lower backs, it is this gap that your rehabilitation programme should target.
If you would like to understand why you keep re-injuring your lower back and how to rehabilitate, contact Tony to see how he can help.