Ivy Fixes Neighbors Fitness - Making Results Last

Ivy from New Zealand continues making her community healthier, one neighbor at a time. What does she do that helps so many? Here are just a few stories from her many updates:

In December 2009, Inspirational Ivy wrote me:

"Thought I would share this amusing little story.

"Yesterday, I was talking to a 64 year old woman who is a new resident to this country and she told me that she was experiencing back pain. I told her that I could help her - she was most insistent that she hated exercise so I promised that I would not have her exercising that what I would show her would be what she could do as she went about her daily life. I showed her how to lie on the floor and lift herself up on her elbows. She marveled at the instant relief. I then showed her how to squat and do lunges which she was most receptive to. I showed her how to sit up straight, shoulders back and suggested that she lift her ribs (to learn to unround the upper back instead of forcing the straightening from the shoulders or neck). I was most amused she put her hands over her rather ample breasts and lifted them up. It looked so funny. It is the first time I have had someone do that to lift her ribs."

In January 2010, this update came:

"Just the other day when I spoke to Jean she remarked how young I look. (Jean is the lady who I helped re back pain) She said that she felt envious when she compared herself at 62 with me at 73. I remarked that I could not help but be surprised as all I see are the wrinkles when I look in the mirror. No, she replied, we all get wrinkles, it is your slim, fit body plus the fact that you walk so fast. So........., there is hope for me yet!!!!! Smile,
"Hugs to you both
"Ivy"

In January, Ivy sent me a happy e-mail. The large-chested neighbor who thought pain was due to her size was able to stop upper back pain with healthy techniques, and holding her weight in healthy positioning on her muscle, rather than letting shoulders round and slouch in painful position:

"Jean tells me that she is now free of back pain. She is lying down on her stomach lifting herself up on her elbows on a daily basis. Needless to say she is very happy with the results.

"Re the trapezius and pectoral stretch - she will be visiting me over the next few days (to check good positioning learned from it).

"Re: Merlene (Strengthen a Neighbor, Strengthen a Community) - I did not have to telephone Merlene, she called me to ask if I could vist her. She showed me how well she was doing re her balance. Also, she was delighted re her weight loss. I checked her posture and it was perfect. No longer any back pain.

"She asked if I could help re strengthening her legs. I showed her how to do lunges.

"Merlene is always a pleasure to work with. She is a delightful lady. Love and hugs to you both
Ivy"

At the end of January Ivy wrote again:

"Jean: I visited her at home this morning to show her both the Pectoral and Trapezius stretch. She tells me that she no longer has any pain in her back and hip. She also tells me that she has shown her daughter the back stretch and she, too, no longer has any back pain. So.........two very happy women.

"Merlene: I also contacted Merlene this morning to see how her lunges are going. She, too, is happy with her progress.

"Jean did make a comment as to how much I could help people here in the village. I replied that I do try, however, the request has to come from them personally. It is all a matter of choices. Some choose to take medicines, others do not (and use healthy ways to fix the pain without needing medicines).

"Love and hugs to you both
Ivy"

February brought this:

"Over the weekend, I received an e-mail from a friend who lives in Australia, telling me that she had back ache. She had had it for a week and had decided that once the weekend was over, she would go to the doctor to get some pain relief.

"I wrote back and told her to lie on the floor or bed and lift herself up on elbows. I have just received a reply saying that the pain has gone.

"Today while shopping in my local organic shop I got talking to a lady who had decided that she would shop for healthy foods instead of the usual junk food. She explained that her family had minor health problems and thought that perhaps if she changed their diet, the health of the family would improve. She noticed what I had in my shopping trolley so asked if I would mind helping her. Actually, I must admit that I did enjoy doing so. She could not believe the knowledge that I was able to pass on and was most grateful. One of the things she asked was how to make sprouts. Not a problem I replied and explained how I, personally, do sprouts. I hope I see her again soon so I can catch up on their progress.

"My shopping which usually takes 20-30 minutes took more like an hour and a half. I assure you, it was time not wasted.

"Hugs
Ivy"

Does Ivy meet people who work against themselves? Last October she wrote me about one:

"Thank you for the post re helping oneself. I must have missed your post "Somebody Please Do My Personal Responsibility For Me." (my computer would have been out of action) To be honest, I could not help but burst out laughing at some of the excuses, as I, too, hear these same words time and time again.

"As an example, about 3 years ago, a lady approached me for help re her weight. I might add that she was morbidly obese.

"I wrote her out what I believed to be a balanced diet with plenty of food so that she would not feel hungry. She was thrilled to see that she had lost 16 lbs when I weighed her the following week. For the next few weeks there were no weight losses at all. I asked her if she was following the diet. No, was her reply, you allow me too much food, so I cut down on the quantities. I then get hungry and eat what I shouldn't. This went on for 6 weeks.

"Needless to say, I gave up on her.

"This same lady now lies in bed all day. She does no exercise what so ever. Her husband does everything for her. Once in awhile I see her go out with her husband in the car.

"It is so sad. I did but try. No doubt you can tell many similar stories.

"Have a great day
"Hugs,
Ivy"

Wisely, Ivy has focused her energy on others since.

Fitness Fixers Ivy Taught Neighbors:

• Face down, slightly propped - Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
• Leg Exercise That Helps Your Back - Why The Lunge?
• Pectoral (Chest) Stretch - The Most Common Mistake in the Best Shoulder Stretch
• Trapezius stretch - Nice Neck Stretch
• Fast Fitness - Sprouts Inside and Out
• Ivy helps Merlene - Strengthen a Neighbor, Strengthen a Community
• Inspirational Ivy
• Is Healthy Living Less Expensive?
  
• Fast Fitness - Somebody Please Do My Personal Responsibility For Me!

Labels: fix pain, lower back, readers inspiring story, upper back

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Shoveling Snow - Reader Wins Mother Nature's Fitness Challenge with Fitness Fixer

Reader Peg S. put healthy bending to work in real life, wrote in with this success story, sent a title for it, took photos and sent them with captions. Thank you Peggy for great work:

"Dr. Bookspan, your emphasis on squats and lunges in place of unhealthy bending has saved my back during long hours of snow shoveling.

"Lots of snow has fallen in far western Maryland - over 265 inches so far this season - with three back-to-back blizzards (22 feet of snow, or 673.1 centimeters).

"All that snow needed to be moved. I avoided unhealthy bending and had no back discomfort after hours of lifting snow-laden shovels.

"When I took a break, I emailed my yoga class students reminding them of the healthy movements such as squat and lunge in their snow removal efforts. They later thanked me for the reminder.

"Thank you for the information on back health!!!"
Peggy S

Peggy is teaching these and other healthy movement techniques to developmentally disabled adults to train useful work skills and prevent injuries. See the first results in Functional Fitness as a Lifestyle By Mail Room Workers

Peggy, her colleague Patty, Reader Paul J, and I have been working on Peg and Patty's project of using human powered devices like bicycles, to make electricity. More on this to come. Contact me if you can offer real input to design or build.

Related:

• Reader Success - Using Good Bending For Shoveling Snow
• How to teach this to your groups - Fast Fitness - The First Group Functional Training Exercise, Good Bending for Back and Knees
• How to do this for yourself during all daily life - which means Fitness as a Lifestyle - Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle
• How often should you use this technique? - How Often Should You Be Healthy?

Labels: fix pain, lower back, readers inspiring story, shoveling/digging, squat, yoga

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Winter Biathlon

Ski fast and shoot rifles! A biathlon is usually a race of two sports in the same event. In the winter Olympic biathlon, athletes ski cross-country then shoot at targets (not competitors in front of them).

The Winter Olympics currently offers four different biathlon races. In each, skiers carry .22 caliber rifles, weighting just under 8 pounds (3.5 kg). Skiers race to each shooting stop along the course. Half the shooting stops are prone (lying face down). Half the shooting stops are standing. The commemorative medal at right shows a hyperlordotic stance (overly arched at the lower back) during standing aim that will be covered in future articles on back pain and target shooting. Check the article, Prevent Back Surgery, and see if you can guess the cause, and how to change stance for shooting without back pain.

Winter biathlon is said to originate with Norwegian soldiers training for military maneuvers. Other northern countries offer their own history of training these disciplines for military and defense.

A summer biathlon usually combines cross-country running and shooting.

Related Fitness Fixer on biathlons and duathlons:

• The Olympics, The Challenge

Fitness Fixer on Prone Lying:

• Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch

Related Olympic and Racing Fitness Fixer:

• Triathlon
• Ironman Triathlon
• Tour De France 2008 and Increasing Aerobic Capacity
• Olympic Calories for Michael Phelps and Everyone Else

Random Fun Fitness Fixer:

• Fast Fitness - Get in Shape with Good Deeds

Labels: biathlon/duathlon, lordosis, lower back, marksmanship/target shooting, Olympics, running, ski

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Doctors Don't Prescribe Effective Back and Neck Pain Therapy - Exercise

Studies have confirmed that directed exercise is beneficial for chronic low back and neck pain. Is it being used? In a survey reported in Arthritis Care & Research, of 684 patients with chronic low back or neck pain, only 14.4% were prescribed exercise by their physicians. By contrast, 63.8% of those seeing a physical therapist and 33.1% of those who saw a chiropractor were prescribed exercise.

Other significant predictors of an exercise prescription were being female, having greater than a high school education, and being on workers' compensation.



My colleague, family medicine physician Dr. Fabrice Czarnecki sent me this:

A study did a review "prospective controlled trials of interventions." These are studies that evaluated effectiveness of various interventions to prevent back pain (BP) in working age adults. In short, after all the math and big words were sifted through, they found that, "only exercise was found effective for preventing self-reported BPs in seven of eight trials. Other interventions were not found to reduce either incidence or severity of BP episodes compared with controls. Negative trials included five trials of education, four of lumbar supports, two of shoe inserts, and four of reduced lifting programs."

Their conclusions: "Twenty high-quality controlled trials found strong, consistent evidence to guide prevention of BP episodes in working-age adults. Trials found exercise interventions effective and other interventions not effective, including stress management, shoe inserts, back supports, ergonomic/back education, and reduced lifting programs. The varied successful exercise approaches suggest possible benefits beyond their intended physiologic goals."



Not all exercise fixes pain. Many exercises cause lower back pain, even those commonly used in rehab and PT programs. Prescribing random exercise is not effective.

Top Methods That I Have Found Effective:

• Leg Exercise That Helps Your Back - Why The Lunge?
• No More Crunches No More Back Pain

Options To Stop Causes of Pain In The First Place:

• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
• The Cause of Disc and Back Pain
• Back Pain in Pregnancy - and Why Men Can Get It
• Fix Disc Pain Without Surgery
• Prevent Back Surgery
• Prevent Neck Pain and Get Upper Back Exercise Carrying Backpacks
• Fast Fitness - Stop Neck Pain From Biking

Related Fun Fitness Fixer:

• How Effective Are Medical Treatments For Back Pain?
• Prevent Back Surgery
• Studies Say Back Surgery Not Needed
• Quick fix?
• Trainers Don't Exercise Enough?

Random Fun Fitness Fixer:

• Secret To Get Better and Fitter

Labels: fix pain, lower back, practice of medicine

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Fast Fitness - New Understanding of Hyperlordosis and Disc Injury

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - a new possible contributor to vertebral disc injury, and how to avoid it:

1. In my previous studies, I found that overdoing the inward lower spine curve (hyperlordosis) pinches the lower spine like a soda straw. It forces the spine joints, called facets, backward against each other, eventually wearing them, and compresses surrounding soft tissue. After long periods of standing, exercise, and lifting with too much inward curve, lower back pain is not a big surprise or mysterious to fix.


2. Hyperlordosis was not previously thought of as a direct herniating force on discs. The major factor was and still is too much forward bending. Weighted flexion (bending forward bearing your body weight) opens the space between vertebrae in back, and over years of slouched sitting and bad bending and lifting forward, presses discs outward through that space creating herniated discs (an injury, not a disease). In my previous work I found that for someone with a disc already herniated, hyperlordosis pinches it, adding pain to the separate problem of the disc. Showing people how to stop standing in hyperlordosis greatly reduced their disc pain. In recent work, I found that hyperlordosis exacerbates, and possibly initiates disc herniation itself.


3. My new work is showing that hyperlordosis is a probable mechanism to directly shift disc position. I made a diagram showing the disc injury coming from overarching/ hyperlordosis/ hyperextending the spine that is so common in pop fitness.

Hyperlordosis (overarching the lower spine) is a spine damaging posture. Hyperlordosis and the pain from it can be changed as easily as moving your spine to a smaller, healthier degree of arch (neutral spine). It is not tightening your abs, just moving your spine, as simply as bending your elbow. Links below tell more.

Related Fun Fitness Fixer:

• I wrote of this in May 2009 when I was on the way to present my work at a medical conference - Comments, A Medical Conference, New Findings on Discs
• How To Spot and Stop Damage from Hyperlordosis - Prevent Back Surgery
• Damage from the opposite problem of injuriously done forward bending - The Cause of Disc and Back Pain and Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix

Random Fun Fitness Fixer:

• Down the Stairs

Labels: disc, facet joints, facets, fast fitness, fix pain, injury, lordosis, lower back, posture

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Reader Success - Using Good Bending For Shoveling Snow

About two feet of snow fell over the weekend in the Northeast US. I got a lovely Christmas card shortly after. I wrote back to thank the sender for remembering me.

KathyB replied,

"I not only remembered you, I've had you on my mind, as I so often do. I was thinking on Sunday, after I'd shoveled snow for 3 hours straight without hurting my back, and again yesterday when I did another half hour, that you gave me a gift that just keeps on giving, that I'll NEVER forget what you've done for me, and I thought how wonderful it must be to be able to do something like that for people.

"I wish you and Paul the very best always,

"Kathy"

Kathy - you make it all worthwhile.
Kathy writes well. In fact, she is a professional mystery writer. I will ask her to tell us about some of her exciting books in the future.

In 2006 KathyB stopped 13 years of back pain using my work. She describes what she did in the comments of:

• What Abdominal Muscles Don't Do - The Missing Link.

She checked good bending habits for her back and inflamed Achilles tendon in the comments of:

• Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix

She brought up important questions in the comments of:

• Exercise is More Important Than Calcium Supplements for Bones

Random Fun Fitness Fixer:

• Thaipusam - Exercise of Body and Spirit

Labels: abdominal muscles, achilles stretch, cold, fix pain, lower back, readers inspiring story, shoveling/digging

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Fitness Tests - Do They Do What They Claim?

A number of conventional standardized fitness tests, surprisingly, are not accurate. They do not test what they claim to test. To get real answers that you can use, it is important to know if you are doing what you think you are doing.

An example of a test that does not test what it claims is the "Sit and Reach" test. Sit and Reach is assumed to test hamstring flexibility, but is more a measure of how much you can round your spine. Many people can pass the Sit and Reach with little hamstring flexibility and an unhealthful angle at the hip - tilted back (shown by shorts side seam) rather than vertical. The Sit and Reach is required testing for numerous military, corporate, and school fitness programs

Another standard fitness assessment uses crunches or sit ups, supposedly to test abdominal muscle function. Bending or curling forward does not give a predictive measure of how well you can use your abdominal muscles to adjust your spine position for spine health, for sports ability, to prevent back pain, in short, to move in healthy ways in real daily life and work where you need it most.

A test may be reliable, which means it gives the same answer each time you test the same thing. For example, a scale should measure the same item at the same weight each time. A reliable scale may not be accurate. That means, it may be wrong by the same amount each time. But it does give the same answer reliably. Having a reliable test does not mean it will be accurate. Accuracy and reliability are both necessary components of devising tests that are actually helpful.

I worked years researching more prognostic and beneficial tests for several common fitness measures. If your military or police division, school, or industry wants to hire me to train you in simple new reliable and accurate tests, let me know.


Related:

• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
• Good Life Works Better Than Bad Ab Exercise
• Can We Teach Young Doctors to Be Healthy?
• Abdominal Muscle Exercise - Better, Different, Not What You Think

Random, Unrelated Fitness Fixer:

• Exercise Your Sense of Humor

Labels: abdominal muscles, hamstring, leg stretch, lower back, practice of medicine, sitting, stretch, tests of fitness/health

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Reps of Exercises Don't Fix Pain; Fixing Causes Does

Monica from Montana bent over dogs daily in her dog boarding kennel. She spent the summer doing stretches, exercises and going to chiropractors for severe back pain. She did all her "sets and reps" (repetitions) of the exercises her various practitioners gave her. The pain kept coming back. What did she do differently that stopped this cycle?

I first heard from Monica through her short happy note:

"Thank You!! So much. I've had quite the drain of lower back pain the whole summer. Finally I got online and read your article and have now begun the fast road to recovery. The first day I did have relief. Now it's been three days and I can't stop talking about how good I feel. Today I drove six hours and was still comfortable!
"Thank you again,
"Monica
"Montana"

I wrote to thank her for using my work as intended and taking time to tell me. She replied:

"Hi Dr. Bookspan,
"The whole summer of 2009 was plagued with lower back pain, I thought due to raking pine cones. I did my usual routine. Going to the chiropractor. Doing stretches (the wrong stretches) all day long thinking they were giving me relief and come to find out by reading your website I was re-injuring my back over and over by doing these improper stretches of bending forward. When I found your website it all made sense so I immediately implemented your instruction and what do you know I immediately started feeling better.

"The pain did not all go away over night, it has taken time to heal, tolerable time thank you. At the end of August I wrote to you saying thank you. It is now the first part of October and the lower back pain is pretty much gone.

"When the pain makes an appearance I immediately pay attention to body position and it (the pain) goes away. I also suspect the chairs I use at work were a part of setting me up for this injury. The chairs are like saddles to "help with upright posture." The molded hard part of the back of the chair is protruding to where it was subtly pushing on my tail bone I've now realized. I think that's a part in why the injury was so low in my back. Plus I think the saddle part of the chair had been affecting my hips. This has taken some time to realize I was so used to these chairs. This whole combination has caused quite a bit of pain and discomfort but due to your website I started looking at all of these things and am reaping the benefits.

"Thank You Dr. Bookspan! You are a bright expression of this essence we all are. The essence of compassion, clarity and skillful means.
"Much Love,
"Monica

Thank you Monica, for lovely writing.

I wrote back to Monica to see what, specifically, she found helpful, and make sure that after time, she remained pain free, had her life back, and could do more than before she started using my work. To help readers, I make sure these reader inspiring stories are tutorials, not just testimonials. For new readers who have not previously heard of fixing causes rather than doing a few sets and reps of exercise and stretches, I ask success story writers to include specifics.

Monica continues with two commonly prescribed forward bending stretches that add to a common source of pain, rather than fix any problem:

"The main (wrong) exercise I kept repeating over and over was to sit in a chair, bend forward with arms between my legs to stretch as much as I could. This would make my spine move as if straightening - I thought. I also found that bending forward over the front knee created a stretch that would make my spine move. I realize now this was not a good thing."

She also described habitual body positioning that are classic contributors to pain. Even if you do all your sets and reps of exercise and stretches, if you don't prevent these causes of pain, you won't stop the resulting pain:

"My habits have been to let the bottom of my pelvis bend back at while sitting or standing. You know the "butt out" posture. While walking, my feet tend to face outward too. I've now been more conscious to keep my feet square and tilting the bottom of my pelvis forward to give my spine more support. Works like a charm.

"For real life bending... The first thing I do in the morning is go feed dogs in my dog boarding kennel, so in order to pick up bowls and put them back down I now bend my legs instead of bending over using my back. I try to keep my heels to the ground and come up easy while I'm still gaining strength to take care of my knees. My legs have adapted quickly. I bend using my legs all day long and really try to take care of my knees and back.

"I hope this helps someone.
"Warm Regards,
"Monica"

If You Have Questions How To Do This For Yourself:

• Good Life Works Better Than Bad Ab Exercise
• Fixing Discs by Fixing Causes
• Innovation in Abdominal Muscles
• 14,000 Miles on a Bike - Herniating and Fixing Discs
• Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending
• Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
  
• Getting the Right Yoga Medicine
• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
• How Many Sets And Reps Does It Take?
  
• My website articles on fixing causes of musculoskeletal pain.
  

Random Unrelated Fun Article:

• Collapsing Astronaut Gives Healthy Reminder

Labels: fix pain, lower back, readers inspiring story, stretch

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Healthy Aging Starts Now

Robert Davis, frequent Fitness Fixer success story contributor, wrote to me with observations that will encourage, educate, and help many -

"I am beginning to see an almost "plague" in our society. That plague is auto-assumption that age automatically will start to equal degradation of your body."

Mr. Davis, a young lifter, had first left a comment to a Fitness Fixer article last year asking about fixing his back injury from weight lifting. His success stories came in frequently from there, telling how he gained better health and ability than before his injury. In a recent update letter to me, he sent these insights:

" I have not mailed in a few months. However I did not want to forget what got me back to what I love. I have had no issues with my back for months now. It went from dreadful to move, to better then ever.

" It is all so simple once it becomes ingrained. At first it does seem to be a chore learning to (bend right with a lunge and) squat and all the other things to correct bad habits. However these things, with conscious repetition, become habits. No longer do I have to think about healthy movement!

" This has been beneficial not only for my back, but for all areas that were troublesome. The more I loosed up, bent correctly, and used movement correctly, the more minor problems just seem to fade away!

" I have a new mantra when I workout with weight. It is called "on the muscle" chant. Every exercise I perform I say this in my mind and concentrate all weight on the muscles (instead of making it easier by shifting weight to joints). If I feel it is too heavy and I am doing some joint crushing, I back off the weight. I do not lose anything backing off. I gain something. More strength to do the same "on the muscle". In sum, I have really really chosen healthy movement over getting in an extra few pounds with "joint/arch or whatever" assistance. It is not worth it. You will get it eventually "on the muscle!"

" One sad thing I am noticing though lately after going thru stuff myself is this. I am beginning to see an almost "plague" in our society. That plague is auto assumption that age automatically will start to equal degradation of your body. I grew up as a pre-teen/teen in the late 80s and into the 90s. I never remembered regarding people who were much older as limited. I think this phenomenon is a cultural condition based on no facts, and the massive influx of pharmaceuticals. I could be wrong but that is what I see.

" I am amazed at all the people I run across in the gym who are told to "not do this or that". I often think of my grandfather and the time period he grew up in. He was very active and working under cars and whatnot till a few months before he passed away. No one told him his age would hamper that.

" I could go on and on about this but I think particularly in America, we are in a self created plague where age is a bad thing and something to postpone. What little do people know is that healthy movement, awareness, and lifestyle help one get thru all this without having to stop what they love.

" Look at me. From a debilitating back injury to returning to what I love to do - "lift weights in the gym." I was skeptical I would have ever made it back when I got hurt. However I am kinda glad now I did get hurt as sometimes there is a gem inside what otherwise would seem problematic. That Gem was learning (from you) how to do what I love to do without worry of age or injury ever detouring me from that. I am in my mid 30s now and plan to stay on top of myself with your methods for as long as I have a passion for this(and I feel that is a very long time). After all I see the body builders in the 70s and am truly inspired to keep going.

" Thank you! I also wanted to just check in and give a little insight of what I was doing and my thoughts on things =P
"Robert Davis"

Related Fitness Fixer:

• Exercise and Aging - Don't Limit the Patient to Limit the Pain
• Autumn Yard Work - Limiting the Person Instead of the Injury Again?
• What I Learned at the Aging Conference
• 91 Year Old Decides to Run and Sets Record
• Are You Stronger Than A 67 Year Old Lady?
  
• Mr. America Urges Goodness and Responsibility
• Secret To Get Better and Fitter
• All the More Reason To Try - Exercise to Overcome Each Difficulty

Some of Mr. Davis' Success Stories, Videos, and Photos:

• Cardiovascular Cleanup
• Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise
• Fast Fitness - Better Legs and Pain Relief Comes From You Not The Exercise Ball
• Fast Fitness - Add Balance, Stability, and Portability to Military Press - Handstand Pushups
• Fast Fitness - Double Arm Strength, Endurance, Balance, Stability, and Free Inversion Table

Unrelated Random Fitness Fixer:

• Want Weightlifting? Plant A Food Garden

More from Mr. Davis next week, plus why he couldn't send us a photo this time - Healthy Aging Starts Now - Part II.

Labels: aging, fix pain, injury, lower back, readers inspiring story

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Fast Fitness - Count How Many Times You Help Or Hurt Your Body Daily

Here is Fast Friday Fitness - a simple tool to help you notice how many times during your ordinary day you can either get functional built-in exercise for leg, back, and hip muscles plus a Achilles tendon stretch, or produce a common factor in back and knee pain.

1. Every time you bend down to reach or retrieve something, count it
2. See how many bends you do for ordinary chores and by the end of the day
   
3. Choose if you want to hurt or help your fitness each time.

David from Belgium has written numerous Fitness Fixer success stories and created many photos and videos for better learning. He writes:

"I just spent half an hour vacuuming our house downstairs.

"When I do chores like these, I try to practice some focus instead of letting my mind wander all over the place.Usually this means I try to remain aware of my breathing (breathing normally, not grunting, straining, or holding breath to reach or lift things).

"But today I thought of one of your articles that said how many times on average a person bends over during the day. So I decided to count this for myself, just for fun and something to focus on.

"In the roughly 30 minutes of vacuuming, I counted 67 squats. Now that's a good workout! =)

Photos by David of squat and lunge for household bending

Bending over "wrong" is a common factor in back pain, and not only for out of shape people. It is common in many weight lifters. Bending "wrong is often done as an exercise. It doesn't strength back muscles as much as other ways, and puts large load on the discs, So it's not a helpful trade-off.

Previous Fitness Fixer posts explained that doing a few good rehab exercises and stretches for back pain won't undo a day of bad bending, and that you bend hundreds of times each day. "Fitness as a lifestyle" does not mean doing crunches during TV commercials or doing squats while on the phone. It means how you live. Get real exercise, built in, during real daily movement.

You get to choose whether you add an obvious check mark in the pile of things that don't benefit your fitness or whether you get functional exercise.


Fitness Fixer post on good bending for knees and back at the same time:

• Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending

Related Fitness Fixer:

• How Good Would You Look From 400 Squats a Day - Just Stop Unhealthy Bending
• Readers Count - Second Missed Cause of Back Pain With Golf
• Household Fitness in the New Year
• Fast Fitness - Better Back and Leg Exercise When Vacuuming
  
  

Labels: achilles stretch, fast fitness, knee, lower back, readers inspiring story, squat, tests of fitness/health

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How Effective Are Medical Treatments For Back Pain?

Many well-known conventional treatments for injured athletes and military personnel came from ways to keep wounded combatants able to continue fire, not to maximize their long-term survival or later health.

Years of my career laboratory research was improving physical training for athletes and military, and developing injury protocols that were healthy, not just a remedy for the moment. I also found that much good sports medicine for athletic motion was never applied to the more common body motions needed all day. Not only can the athletes benefit, but everyone else. Many patients and readers have success using my improved non-surgical methods, and write us their stories (click for reader stories). Many more have success without writing about it. Other readers asked about various medical (surgical/drug) treatments, and why don't I use them.

Thank you to my colleague Fabrice Czarnecki. M.D. emergency room physician, for sending me a report, recently published in a prestigious medical journal. The work was a systematic review of the "benefits and harms of nonsurgical interventional therapies for low back and radicular pain."

The medical methods they looked at were local injections, botulinum toxin injection, prolotherapy, epidural steroid injection, facet joint injection, therapeutic medial branch block, sacroiliac joint injection, intradiscal steroid injection, chemonucleolysis, radiofrequency denervation, intradiscal electrothermal therapy, percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation, Coblation nucleoplasty, and spinal cord stimulation.

Their results: "For sciatica or prolapsed lumbar disc with radiculopathy, we found good evidence that chemonucleolysis is moderately superior to placebo injection but inferior to surgery, and fair evidence that epidural steroid injection is moderately effective for short-term (but not long-term) symptom relief. We found fair evidence that spinal cord stimulation is moderately effective for failed back surgery syndrome with persistent radiculopathy, though device-related complications are common. We found good or fair evidence that prolotherapy, facet joint injection, intradiscal steroid injection, and percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation are not effective. Insufficient evidence exists to reliably evaluate other interventional therapies.

What does all that mean? They summed it up in their conclusions: "Few nonsurgical interventional therapies for low back pain have been shown to be effective in randomized, placebo-controlled trials."


Medical reports on these methods (as well as general strengthening exercises) frequently show what is called a scattershot success - meaning if you try it on hundreds of people, it's bound to hit a few of them. Often these hits (moderate improvements) are about the same as chance or as time passing and the person heals on their own over the weeks of the treatment and recovery. Use those medical treatments if you believe in them and prefer them.

I prefer a direct approach:

1. Instead of shots to anesthetize the area, or surgery to remove or fuse an area, retrain movement to be healthy so that you no longer injure the area and it can heal.
2. Instead of medicines to mask the damage you cause, stop the damage.
3. Stopping damage does not mean stopping movement, activity or fun. Use healthy body mechanics to become able to do more than before.

Continue Activities You Love

• Autumn Yard Work - Limiting the Person Instead of the Injury Again?
• When Did Health Become Thinking Out Of The Box?
• Why So Many Aerobics Injuries?
• What is "Fitness as a Lifestyle?"

Notice Damaging Body Mechanics

• Aren't You Supposed To Stick Your Behind Out to Sit Down or Do Squats?
• Prevent Back Surgery
• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
• What Does It Look Like to Not Use Abdominal Muscles?
• Simulation Suit To Feel the Pain of Osteoarthritis
• Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?

Fixing Damage Without Surgeries, Injections, or Drugs

• Innovation in Abdominal Muscles
• Surgery for Knee Arthritis, Meniscus, Unnecessary
• Stomach Acid Drugs Increase Osteoporosis and Hip Fractures
• Studies Say Back Surgery Not Needed
• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Surgery Unnecessary
• Fix Disc Pain Without Surgery
• FDA Orders Suicide Risk Warning for Common Back Pain and Migraine Drugs, and Others
• Doctor Fakes Benefits in 21 Pain Pill Studies
  
  
  Coming next - Common, Missed Cause of MusculoSkeletal Pain - Your Drugs.
  
  
  
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  Questions come in by hundreds. I make posts from fun mail. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Why not try fun stuff, then contribute! Read success stories of these methods and send your own.
  Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail" (under trumpet) upper right.
  See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certified - DrBookspan.com/Academy.
  

Labels: drugs, fix pain, lower back, military fitness, surgery

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Comments, A Medical Conference, New Findings on Discs

By the time this post comes out, we should be halfway out West to a medical conference. I'm presenting a study, which took years to do, and which found something unexpected.

I am a medical researcher. I find out the things that doctors (with any luck) then learn and put into practice. A research career has all (and more) of the medical schooling, but without the burden of the medical salary. In previous studies, I found that chronically overdoing the inward lower spine curve pinches the lower spine. It forces the spine joints, called facets, backward against each other, eventually wearing them out, and compresses surrounding soft tissue. After long periods of standing, exercise, and lifting with too much inward curve, lower back pain is not a big surprise or mysterious to fix. In the work I am presenting, I found that although it is known that the main factor to injure vertebral discs is too much bending forward, that overarching backward can hurt discs too. This is a new proposed mechanism of disc injury.

There is supposed to be a small inward curve to the lower spine. With the (very) small normal inward curve, spine bones line up on top of each other like stacks of cups so that there is equal pressure on discs from front to back. That is called normal lordosis (inward curve). Chronic bending forward manages to unequally load the discs so that they push out in back. Overarching also unequally loads the area. It seems to pinch already protruded discs, and may even factor in the herniation process. I will be presenting on years of my work that lead to this finding.

I made a diagram showing the disc injury coming from overarching/ hyperlordosis/ hyperextending the spine that is so common in pop fitness. The Healthline blog software is still not loading any new photos of my own. Stock photos or those from other people's sharing sites appear, but I the blogger is not letting us get my own diagrams and student photos to you, for now. I mailed the image to Healthline.com staffer Jerry, who said he could upload it for you. It should appear here, below this paragraph, so you can understand better why hyper-lordosis, although common, and often taught, it not neutral spine and can make unnecessary pain. The damage and pain can be quick to fix when you know how. Click the labels "facets" and "lordosis" for posts explaining this issue.

I have to pay the travel to get to the conference, pay the conference fee, essentially, pay to work. I have to bring a computer and projector to give my own presentation (or pay an AV fee to the conference) but won't have Internet access to see or answer questions. Leave fun comments but hold questions for the next two weeks.

Related:

Neutral Spine or Not?
What is Neutral Spine and Why Does Sticking Out In Back Harm?
Friday Fast Fitness - Neutral Spine in 5 Seconds
Aren't You Supposed To Stick Your Behind Out to Sit Down or Do Squats?
Using Abdominal Muscles is Not Tightening or Pressing Navel to Spine
Prevent Main Factor in Back Pain After Running and Walking
Back Pain From Running
Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix

Our Travel to Another Conference Last Year:

The Coming Two Weeks

Story of Past Travel to Underwater Medicine Conference:

Hyperbaric and Aquatic Medicine On Travel

Photo is me, taken on the way on the way to a previous medical conference, out for some barefoot climbing.

Labels: disc, education, facet joints, facets, fix pain, lordosis, lower back

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How To Remember Good Kid Lifting and Carrying

Back pain from lifting and carrying babies and young children is common. Rehab and PT programs commonly have people spend time (away from their children and other important things they need to do) to lift weight to strengthen back muscles.

Here is an idea - if weight lifting helps, lift the kids. Just lift them right, so that you do not get the back pain in the first place. It is not the lifting that causes the pain.

Good Kid Lifting:

1. Prevents pain,
2. Strengthens your muscles,
3. Gives built in exercise (functional exercise the way your muscles work),
4. Increases contact with your young kids, important to their development,
5. Improves ability to keep time with your children fun, healthy, and happy.

Readers asked me to make reminders for them about how to lift and carry their young children.

I created several different reminders on good lifting, bending, carrying. Fun T-shirts for kids are available in several colors and fabrics. There are bibs, singlets, and shirts for babies, and fun Back and Neck Saver reminders for grownups too.

Related Post:
Mothers Day and New Parents Back and Neck Savers

Get the T-Shirt:
Click www.cafepress.com/AcademyGifts

Labels: children, education, fix pain, lower back, partner exercise, repetitive strain

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Mothers Day and New Parents Back and Neck Savers

Readers, patients, and students have asked me for years to write down for them about good lifting and bending over babies and children. I wrote articles and books. I did experiments in the lab. They still said they couldn't remember. So I made something for all of you. You can give these to everyone in need for Mothers and Fathers days, coming up, and all year.

Here it is, quicker and easier than reading the books:


I designed singlets and one-piece suits for infants, T-shirts for toddlers and children, various sizes and colors.

One student had asked me to write down and hang the information around her neck so she would have an easy way to remember all the time. So I made a bib too - for the baby - so she could see it each time she bent to feed and lift.

I was surprised people wouldn't just remember on their own to live in a way so important to their health. But they kept coming back asking for me to tell them again. I am drawing the various concepts and putting them on daily items as funny reminders. I will show them in future posts if readers are interested.

Labels: children, education, fix pain, holiday, lower back, neck, partner exercise, posture, upper back

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Fast Fitness - Better Legs and Pain Relief Comes From You Not The Exercise Ball

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - Be healthful when you do health activities. What a concept.

1. How fit is it to use fitness equipment in unhealthy ways?
2. When you pick up and put down an exercise ball, or any exercise equipment, how do you bend? Unhealthfully? During an activity you use to improve your health?
3. Robert Davis sent in this change of bad bending to good bending . Good bending shifts weight and leverage off lumbar discs and onto leg, hip, and back muscles.

Robert Davis wrote. "I had to use my cell phone on timer so the pictures are not the greatest quality."




Robert Davis was a weight lifter with a painful back injury from conventional lifting. He fixed his back pain with Fitness Fixer, intelligently applying principles of healthful movement for everything during exercise and also daily life. He wrote:

"I took a picture of what was causing "ouchy" because it is so normal in America *for adults!*.. (upper photo of forward bending). Then ouchy started to go away the more I did, 'ah much better' (squatting)... Pretty soon ouchy was gone from the bad forward bending.

"I am now doing a complete head to toe revision... Point was that my back stopped hurting, and as you said, heals when I let it, with better movement.

"I am glad there is someone out there like you who tells you how it is. It gives encouragement and hope. I have seen people my age already with a few surgeries (and they are in the 20s to 30s!). They were from injuries, and sadly they never had a chance to find that they didn't need it.

"I was encouraged by others' stories and with your statement, "don't let them scare you" because I was a bit scared. I have never been injured before with that much pain. But, I was more then willing to try this because I did not want limitation as I had seen in my friends who had surgery. Some multiple times. "

Mr. Davis has been sending in success stories one after then next. Here are some of his Inspiring Functional Fitness:

• Cardiovascular Cleanup
• Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise
• Weak Hips on Purpose? Running Injury and Hip Strengthening
• Healthy Aging Starts Now
• Fast Fitness - Add Balance, Stability, and Portability to Military Press - Handstand Pushups
• Fast Fitness - Double Arm Strength, Endurance, Balance, Stability, and Free Inversion Table
  
  

Related Posts to Change Unhealthful Exercise

• Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
• The Cause of Disc and Back Pain
• How Often Should You Be Healthy?
• Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending
• Lung Training from the Exercise Ball
• Does an Exercise Ball Make You Sit Straight?

Labels: exercise ball, fast fitness, fix pain, lower back, readers inspiring story, squat, surgery

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Fixed Injuries, Got Strong, With Functional Exercise - Real Life

This fun note and great story came in from Robert Davis:

" I have tried to find a way to contact you for a while now!

"I have a story I thought I would share and I am so glad I had found your books and website.

" I had injured myself via weight lifting in late October. I had felt the warning signs before this, however I ignored them and continued to train full out. The result was I had hurt my lower back very badly. The pain was unbearable.

" Sitting hurt. Getting up and walking hurt. To top all this off, I was so adamant that one's "back" health is determined by how well you can stretch forward bending! So this became a discouraging struggle as the more I tested that, the worse I hurt! I had many bad habits besides that and will go into that in a moment.

" I kept training "thru" the pain and bad movement thru to about November 24th. I kept aggravating the area thru bad habits (while doing these exercises. Arched back, rounding etc). I finally went to the doctor and he just made me do some simple movements and the typical straight leg lift. He had decided for now that it was not something all that bad and said that we would do a MRI (or was it CAT scan?) if it did not get better.

I struggled for the next few weeks as I was told to simply rest. I realize the fallacy in this because "just taking it easy" had lead to muscle weakness. It was now a double edged sword by Christmas. I hurt in my back, but when I tried to exercise it it was so weak it hurt more.

I finally ran across your website just after Christmas and before the new year. I started to play around with the ideas at first. I was still stuck though on "better" meant no more pain bending forward. So for a week or two more I played back and forth with these ideas.

" Finally around the 15th or so after the new year I decided "what the heck" I will order some of your books. They seemed more promising then anything I had looked at and I realized in an "aha" moment that it was a form of exercise, which I so very much craved at the time as I simply love to exercise. This "resting" was driving me nuts..

I was watching a show on TV one night on beaches and shell collecting of all things and the biggest "aha" came to me in the form of a little girl. I watched adults picking things up and they bend right over without thought. This went on for a while. Then I saw a child pick up shells. She squatted every time! I said to myself "jeez these books are absolutely right, I am basing everything on bad habits!"..

" I immediately started becoming aware of everything I did during and after exercise. I took your book "fix your own pain" and have almost memorized every chapter and decided if I am going to do this I am going to balance my whole body.

" So after weeks of this (trial and error). I slowly got better. Things I learned along the way are this.. Bending over to pick stuff up is not healthy nor is it natural (that child in the show!).. I learned even after doing weight training for 2 years that my legs were still not as strong as I thought. I learned I had developed bad leg positions from unhealthy squatting (on the knee joints instead of behind). I had further learned that I was holding my feet outward and I think this had come from doing leg pressed with feet slightly out to try to target certain areas.

" I learned to strengthen my core much more effectively and better thru the ab revolution and fix your own pain. I was a 500 crunch type person. I am no longer doing sit ups crunches or whatnot. The stuff in your ab revolution is much more difficult to do and healthier.

I learned to strengthen my body thru its own weight, destroying the myth that you need "weights" for gains as I found these exercises to be just as challenging, if not more in some cases because of the added balance and flexibility required.

" I am now sitting here writing this and I tell you that compared to the initial injury and repeated re-injury (doing the same exercises with bad habits) to now, I am close to 100 percent.

" The funny thing is, I no longer have the desire to go back to weight training, which is odd because that was my life! I have discovered a whole new world of fitness with body weight alone. I am trying more challenging things by the day and I have realized that this is actually more fun the weight training for health and I am getting the same, and often better results (since I am not a body builder, just love exercise and looking fit). I had gone and bought a few things like pull up bars and planche devices and am currently working on mastering some very difficult moves that require body strength alone, but at the same time a mindful awareness of how I am doing it by using your techniques (keeping the back straight with slight tilt etc, no arching).

" It is fun working up to one arm pull-ups in good form. Jeez, to think you could bench press close to 300 a few months ago but doing a few of these exercises in your book were hard! I was surprised I could not do very many pull ups or hold these planks and whatnot.. I am set on a new adventure and I love it because it feels so "free" and balancing. I don't have to spend a huge fee to go to the gym. My gym is my body and functional movement.

" Thank you for your knowledge. Having my back back (sorry for that funny saying!) is great. I intend to keep it healthy now and have begun the correction process of all my body, all the way to my feet!

" I don't look at my injury as a mistake anymore. I look at it as a life changing experience and a chance to explore more functional and fun ways of living. I have passed this site and your books on (not my personal copies!) to a lot of friends into fitness. Some are already reporting healing knees and what not and even re-considering how they live and workout!

" PS I have also changed to a Vegan diet just to see what happens. I was very intrigued by the 72 year old body builder who is vegan.

"You are a godsend.
Robert Davis"

Great work Mr. Davis! Robert has been sending me many insightful updates with photos, to be posted with his ongoing success stories. His next story starts here:
Cardiovascular Cleanup.

Vegan Health:

• 72 year old body builder - Mr. America Urges Goodness and Responsibility
• Vegan bodybuilder and mixed martial arts fighter - World Vegan Day is November 1
• Reduce cancer and chronic disease, green the world with World Vegetarian Day
  
• Junk food can be vegan and vegetarian with unhealthful additives, dyes, refined processed sugar and flour. Click the label "Nutrition" under this post for all posts on how to get healthy fun sports food and Healthier Fitness by clicking the label "Green Fitness."

Weightlifting and Weightbearing With Lower Spine Overarching (Sticking out too much in back) Compresses Vertebral Facet Joints:

• What is Neutral Spine and Why Does Sticking Out In Back Harm?
• Aren't You Supposed To Stick Your Behind Out to Sit Down or Do Squats
• Prevent Back Surgery

Ab Revolution - Learning and Using Neutral Spine to Prevent Spinal Compression:

• No More Crunches No More Back Pain - The Ab Revolution™
  
• If Better Abdominal Muscles Are Your New Year's Resolution, Try This
• Back Pain From Running

Spotting Spinal Rounding in Exercise:

• Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch

Rest Isn't The Answer:

• Exercise and Aging - Don't Limit the Patient to Limit the Pain

Lifestyle Functional Natural Fitness:

• Getting Stronger Without a Gym
• Don't Confuse Exercise With Real Fitness
• How Often Should You Be Healthy?
• What is "Fitness as a Lifestyle?"
• More Fun Squatting
  
• Parcours - Old Fun Is New Exercise

• 
  

Labels: abdominal muscles, facet joints, injury, lower back, neutral spine, nutrition, readers inspiring story, squat

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