Fast Fitness - How to Feel Change to Neutral Spine

Friday, May 02, 2008

Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - Use a wall to learn neutral spine while standing, to know how to stop a major source lower back pain during standing, walking, and running.

Many people learn pelvic tilts lying on their back in physical therapy or fitness classes. What does that do? Little. The purpose of learning the pelvic tilt is to know how to do it during real daily life so that you do not overarch (hyperlordosis) and create back pain. My student Dennis, Olympic medalist in wrestling, demonstrates learning a functional pelvic tilt (he is holding his shirt away with hand so you can see better - you can relax your arms at your sides):

1. Stand with your back against a wall. Touch heels, hips, shoulders, and the back of your head.
2. If you allow a large arch in the lower spine there will be a large space between lower back and the wall. Press your lower back toward the wall.
3. Don't touch or force your lower back to the wall. Just learn how to tilt the hip so that the lower spine comes closer to it and reduces in arch.

Use a wall often to practice, then the idea is to hold neutral spine without the wall during the rest of your day.

Reducing a large arch back to neutral stops the painful lower spine compression on soft tissue and facet joints during standing activities (and bad pushups and handstands).

• Another short movie that shows the same idea, without the wall - Friday Fast Fitness - Neutral Spine in 5 Seconds
• Another short movie - changing hyperlordosis to neutral spine while holding a pushup position - Fast Fitness - Strengthen by Changing Your Plank
• To learn why hyperlordosis causes lower back pain - Neutral Spine or Not?
  
• Still to come - changing hyperlordosis to neutral spine during handstands.

Labels: facet joints, fast fitness, lordosis, lower back, neutral spine, video/movie

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