Over the course of the last year, between my continuing 300hr yoga teacher training education and in studying (and passing!) the National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Training program, I learned so much about the body and how we can better protect our backs.
One of the most common back injuries I see as a yoga teacher is low back issues. Minor low back issues may be prevented with a strong core, glutes and hamstrings, but we also have to be mindful of how our bodies move. I recently met up with Eva, Namaslay® YTT Graduate and Posture Queen, studying posture as part of her PhD work, and she helped me identify some of my own movement patterns that were the root cause of back pain I’ve been struggling with for months. With her guidance, I’ve found incredible relief and am much more aware of how I move my body. Every day, we pick things up and put them down, which is one of the reasons I love functional fitness training and have been posting my workouts on the YBC® app. Think about how often you bend down to pick things up. Maybe it’s unloading the grocery bags from the car. Maybe you’re the parent to a baby or toddler. If back pain is starting to happen, think about your body mechanics. Are you loading your hips through a proper hip hinge? If not, that may be the root cause. In the photos above, you can see the demonstration. In the photo on the left, I’m sending my hips back as I should, but the hamstrings and glutes aren’t fired on, and if I were to pick up those weights, my back would bear the brunt of the work. In the photo on the right, my hips are going back, and I’ve lengthened my spine enough to feel the loading happening in my glutes and hamstrings. You could even get into this position, then tap your glutes and hamstrings, and feel that they’re tight. Then, I can press through my feet to lift the weights, and therefore my hamstrings and glutes will fire on to lift up, rather than my back. That’s the difference. If you notice difficulty lifting from this position, or find it’s hard to engage your glutes and hamstrings, try this lower body workout, or these glute and hamstring exercises, to help you build strength and awareness in your back body.
Give it a try the next time you pick up your child or your groceries, and let me know if it feels different from what you normally do. If posture, body mechanics and back pain are current struggles, I’m excited to let you know about our newest online learning resource, Posture Program: How to Retrain Your Mind and Body for a Better Posture and Youthful Movement in Less Than 15 Minutes a Day. Eva and I collaborated to design this postural program with more than 40 instructional videos and a 107 page workbook to help you identify your movement patterns, muscle imbalances, postural habits that could contribute to chronic pain, and show you small changes you can make each day to move toward long term improvement. All it takes is 15 minutes a day. You can access it here, and if you think you might need more personalized support, you can book a consultation with Eva by sending an email to: hello@changewitheva.com
