If you had to pick a motion that many people will say relation to back pain it is squatting or bending. When we stand up in good posture, we find a position that can be said to be “neutral spine” and that is the posture that we try to have people maintain in most patterns of motion. The reason or this is that if you imagine the spine to be a series of building blocks that are attached to each other with strong string with a series of thicker string that attaches to each building blocks that come from a multitude of directions, this is what your spine might look like. It is far more complicated than that, as we have not mentioned the critical electrical pathways (nerves) that help to both tell your brain what is happening and let your brain tell your body what to do.
When you bend down to pick up something from anywhere that is thigh height or below, you have an option of what to “bend” and what to keep neutral or stiff. What bends is the mobile (mobility) aspect and what keeps stiff or neutral is the stability aspect. Your hip is the “strongest” joint in the body as it has a lot of very large muscles that surround it. Therefore, this is the joint where you want to do most of the bending from. It is a ball and socket joint so multi directional. Your knee is a hinge, so likes bending and straightening. Your spine is amazingly strong, but nearly all of the muscles that surround it are meant to hold it in a neutral posture, so the message here is to utilise the hip joint as the prime hinge point in a squat and bend!
Stability and mobility are so important in movement flow.
So, why does your back hurt when you squat or bend?
Really, I would say, two main reasons:
- Not enough mobility
- Not enough stability
So, how do you know which it might be?
DISCLAIMER – if you have current back pain that you know is aggravated by squatting, or bending your spine, then you need to get this checked out by a Physiotherapist or movement specialist before going ahead and doing the following.
The following video goes through how to assess your own squat to start to find out what might be happening. Watch and follow along to self-assess your movement patterns.
So, are you struggling for mobility or are you struggling for stability?
The following are a few very important points to consider:
- Not everyone should squat in a gym program the “traditional” way. There are other things that some people can do that will be far more beneficial.
- The foundations of core stability should be the cornerstone of a program where loaded squats are applied.
- The anatomy of the body dictates that the bones that join your pelvis to your ribcage are the bottom of the thoracic and lumbar spine vertebrae. They are not the biggest bones in your body, thafor sure, so the muscles that exist in this area are critical in stabilising the trunk, and especially the lumbar spine.
- As Dr Stuart McGill says, “There is NOT SUCH THING AS non-specific back pain.” There is always a reason.
So, some people will read this and be able to figure things out, which is fantastic. If you read and watch the above and you cannot figure out what is happening, then this is what we love to do and to help you either return to squatting without pain or for the moment find you a suitable alternative that will give you the desired physical result!