I watched two workout videos on YouTube recently-one from a female Division 1 NCAA basketball player, and the other from a celebrity actor.
Both workouts had something in common-they both contained exercises which had repeated twisting of the spine.
Research into the development of issues which cause back pain has shown that repeated twisting of the spine can eventually lead to disc bulges which can cause pain.
With repeated twisting, the fibers of your spinal discs weaken and eventually the central portion of the disc is able to protrude out of the weakened fibers on one side of the rear of the spine. This protruding disc will often cause debilitating pain amongst other symptoms.
Here's the thing though: It takes time for this to happen. Do the twisting exercise once, you probably won't feel anything. Do it for a week, maybe even a month and you may not notice it. But each time you do it, the fibers of your spinal disc will get a bit weaker and eventually something will happen either inside or outside of the workout that will cause the disc to bulge. How soon it will happen will also depend on your individual spinal structure.
In the two videos I watched, the specific types of twists that were being done were risky in different ways. The basketball player was twisting from her lower body. This is dangerous because of the potential for the lumbar spine to rotate-which it isn't designed to to. The actor's workout was risky because they were holding a weight when they were twisting, which adds load to the twist.
We have more access to information than ever before, and from seemingly credible sources. However, what I see is that a lot of workout and exercise content is still being very slow to catch up to what the latest research tells us, and that means that even people who are health conscious and looking to find content to help them preserve their bodies aren't protected from things that could be more likely to cause them pain.
Your spine is designed to be a stable platform, and the muscles that support it are designed to keep it that way as much as possible, so exercises which bend, and twist the spine are outdated-they're not up to date with what we know about the functional anatomy of the spine.
We don't spend time exercising, we invest our time into exercise. In order to get the biggest return on that time investment, it's important that exercises have low level of risk with maximum possible benefit, and this is the approach I take when working with my clients.
So if you want to get the best return on the time investment you make into being physically fit, especially if you care about your lower back health, please feel welcome to get in touch.
About The Author
Steve Shreeve is a Virtual Fitness Coach with more than two decades experience in the fitness industry.
Steve is one of the top 10% of UK Personal Trainers who holds a level 4 qualification, Including being a Level 4 Specialist In Exercise for Lower Back Pain.
Steve works with people nationally and internationally. If you’re interested in working with Steve, you can contact him here.