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Have You Had Frustration With the Vicious Pain Cycle?

Years ago, before meeting exercise physiologist Rick Kaselj, MS I found myself caught in this vicious cycle after having a football related lower back injury. In fact, I’ve “thrown out” my back on multiple occasions but not once since consulting with Rick.

As Rick later explained to me this cycle is very common and has happened to most of his clients in the past. It goes a little something like this…

STEP 1: At some point in your lifting career you come home and your back tightens up on you and you know something just isn’t right so you take some anti-inflammatory pills and throw an ice pack on. It’s not a big deal and part of playing sports and training hard right?Hopefully in a few days it will be completely better, but usually some kind of discomfort or pain lingers. That’s no reason to miss a workout though. Besides you can just avoid whatever causes it to flare up.
STEP 2: Eventually this gets old and if it doesn’t feel better after a few weeks or months it’s probably time to visit the doctor to find out what’s going on. After using up a sick day and sitting for an hour in the waiting room it’s pretty annoying when the doctor tells you to rest, ice, and don’t do things that hurt.
Seriously? If your insurance isn’t that great you’ll probably have to go back to your primary care doctor to get a referral to see a specialist. They’ll have you do an MRI which is super expensive so hopefully you have a low deductible. You’ll have to schedule another appointment for that though.
STEP 3: After the MRI you’ll get the diagnosis at your next appointment. How many appointments is that so far? I’ve lost track already…sigh
STEP 4: of the pain cycle is when you get sent to a physical therapist. If you’re in luck your therapist has worked with athletes in the past but who are we kidding, most of the people in the center are not physically fit at all.
STEP 5: Modalities you might be exposed to include hot packs, cold packs, ultrasound and electrical stimulation to name just a few.
STEP 6: Once your insurance runs out or you think you know the stretches and strengthening exercises well enough you can continue with the rehab on your own time.
STEP 7: If it still doesn’t feel better it’s time for another MRI……cha-ching, the cost is really adding up fast.
STEP 8: Next you can try more physical therapy or you can cover the symptoms with a cortisone shot that will numb the pain for a couple months. After that there’s always surgery, but something in your gut tells you that’s not what you really need. Listen to your instincts.

Hopefully you’re asking yourself…Mike, how do I make sure I don’t get caught in this twisted back pain cycle? I’m glad you asked and my reply is outlined below.

Deal With the ROOT of the Problem Not the Symptoms

Having chronic back pain most of my adult life I have spent a lot of time researching alternative back rehab solutions.

With these traditional back pain protocols, they focus on purely stretching and strengthening. This alone does not work or at best provides temporary back pain relief. The reality is that stretching focuses on symptoms, not necessarily the problem.

“Neither Strengthening nor Stretching Will Help You Until Your Lower Back
Has Been Reshaped Into a Pain Free Lumbar Spine.”

While strengthening is important, it needs to be done when the lumbar spine has been reshaped into a pain-free back area. If you have not reshaped the lumbar spine into a pain-free area, you are just adding more strength to a painful region and making the problem worse. In time this stress leads to repetitive back injuries, increased vertebrae damage and overall lower back pain.

If you’re a personal trainer like me, this example will illustrate what I mean by reshaping. Lets say you want to become a strong deadlifter but your form is all jacked-up.

All the workouts in the world aren’t going to do you any good until you get your technique down. Once you have your technique perfected you have the platform to start planning your reps, sets, assistance exercises and other areas of your overall program.

It’s the same deal with your back. Don’t jump ahead to the stretches & exercises until you’ve reshaped the lumbar region to give you a solid foundation to progress from.

In tomorrow’s update we’ll share with you how to re-shape your back so that when you strengthen it you will NOT be causing more damage.

Get back to training hard,

Mike Westerdal & Rick Kaselj, MS

Other Updates:

Early Bird VIP Cut the Line Notification List (52% Off Coupon)

5 Pitfalls at the Gym Leading to Back Pain & Injury (PDF Direct Link)

What Kind Of Run-Around Have You Been Through With Your Back Pain?