Eagan Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist Explains Why Many People Have Low Back Pain And What They Can Do About It
Whenever I’m approached by an avid exerciser or athlete who complains of knee or lower back pain, the first thing we do is check out their backside and lower abdominal function.Most lower back pain will come from tightness in the hip region or other muscle imbalace. In the majority of minor cases of low back pain that I’ve personally seen, there’s a lack of gluteal (butt muscles) function, and more notably, a visible lack of gluteal development in the individual. As part of the investigative process, I always listen to a client’s subjective descriptions of discomfort and pain but also observe areas of the body for visible abnormalities. The easiest area to start off with is the glutes.
Gluteal atrophy is always evident in cases where the complainant is a member of the general population and exhibits one or more of the following attributes: Our personal training clients that have low back pain tend to have:
· Occupation: Sits for prolonged periods of time in a vehicle or desk
· Poor lifting habits: Has poor lifting techniques that may contribute to hip flexor dominance and excessive lumbar flexion (rounding of the back)
· Past injury: Experienced injuries to the area or an area that may be involved in the functionality of that prime muscle
Gluteal atrophy can be caused by a combination of things listed above, which can lead to poor neural activation, decreased contractions and coordination, and a loss of muscle mass. Some pathologies can also contribute to gluteal atrophy like nerve damage, stenosis, and vertebral damage.
Most articles provide insight on gluteal exercises that promote function, firing, and strength. However, this article will describe the potential causes of gluteal atrophy and the obvious outcomes that stem from it.
Brief function
The gluteus maximus is the most powerful muscle in the body. Because of its attachment, it provides the human body with incredible leverage and sets our species apart from other primates (upright versus four-legged).
The gluteus maximus is important in many daily activities including walking, running, and lifting, and it plays an important role in pelvis stability. The glutes are comprised of three muscles—the glute minimus, the glute maximus, and the glute medius. These muscles are involved in extending and outwardly rotating the hip and extending the trunk.
The act of developing this muscle is as simple as adding a few exercises like squats and deadlifts into a program. However, like most muscular dysfunctions, simply “calling on” the muscles doesn’t always mean that you’ll receive an appropriate response.
The process of gluteal degradation
The desk worker has a tough job. They sit constantly from early morning to early evening, removing themself from their desk a few times a day for an occasional trip to the restroom, filing cabinet, or water fountain. One may think that the job is not physically demanding. However, their fight with gravity is a constant barrage of force aided by boredom, inactivity, and deviated posture resulting in weakness, stress, and fatness.
At our Eagan personal training studio we tell clients that sitting for prolonged periods of time—meaning years (think of someone who has had her job for 10–20 years)—causes atrophying of the gluteal muscles due to constant pressure and disuse. This constant neglect of the powerful glutes can contribute to lower back pain that leads to difficulty in movements that require their involvement, such as rising from a chair or climbing stairs. This is also exacerbated by the lack of non-exercise physical activity such as taking the stairs at work, parking further away, or moving from one area to another.
The glutes are only partially responsible for giving the buttocks their characteristic shape. The subcutaneous fat that also contributes to the “roundness” of the buttocks is called the panniculus adipous. If the gluteus musculature is atrophied and subsequently “absent” from providing shape, the overlying panniculus adipous is responsible for the “sagging butt” appearance. This appearance is no illusion and gives credible evidence that the glutes don’t function properly by means of weakness and neural deviation.
It also isn’t alarming that most lower back pain sufferers are also prolonged desk sitters that either exhibit:
· Excess body weight of more than 15 pounds (Check out our wt loss programs)
· Sporadic participation in activities without proper conditioning (weekend warriors)
Gluteal atrophy is often seen in those with sway back posture, and the neural deviation previously mentioned can be a result of the “flattening” of the lumbar spine causing compression or herniation of the vertebra discs. Cosmetically, it is also unsightly to those desiring a more “bountiful” rear. Also abetting this process is the so-called ergonomic thought process of keeping all useable office tools in close proximity to avoid sudden movements (i.e. keeping staplers, tape, memo pads, and the phone an arm’s length away on an office desk).
Poor lifting habits are born through mechanical disadvantages and invalid instruction. Both can be a result of one or the other. For instance, most indoor cyclists demonstrate enormous quadriceps development and hip flexor action. This popular fitness activity demands resisted knee flexion in a high stressful hip flexion position. The seated position also exacerbates the inactivity of the gluteals during a class and reinforces the degeneration of this muscle. Most participants will attest that a typical indoor cycling class also involves simulated hill jumps where the buttocks are raised off the seat, which may involve the glutes to some degree. Even so, the neural programming shuts off the gluteals simply because it can’t “undo” itself to fulfill an activity that supposedly involves its potential action in such a short time period.
Many indoor cyclists who participate in these classes fall into three categories:
· They have been participating in the class regularly (three times per week) for over six months and show signs of quad/hip flexor dominance. The longer they have been spinners, the more pronounced the aforementioned.
· Typically, they have seated occupations and then add another hour or so seated again in class (in a high stress knee/hip flexed position). Most are office workers who wait all day to hit the 6:00 p.m. indoor cycling class.
· Most don’t participate in weightlifting activities that may be able to strengthen the glutes. Most don’t perform loaded squats, deadlifts, or Romanian deadlifts.
That’s why in our personal training sessions and our fitness boot camps, we always use moves like squatting, deadlifts, lunges and step ups
Invalid instruction contributes to neural programming due to the exerciser unknowingly laying the foundation for dysfunction by continuously performing the erroneous movement. During a typical task of lifting, the gluteus maximus has an important role in extending the hips and stabilizing the pelvis. Research shows that an emphasis on contraction of the glutes aids in stabilizing the pelvis and ensures a safe and effective movement to occur. Exercises that assist this occurrence include deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, squats, split squats, stationary lunges, and step-ups. However, most typical exercisers resort to leg extensions, seated leg curls, leg presses, and adductors/abductors, furthering the “shut down” process.
It has been shown that injuries or pain also contribute to gluteal dysfunction or atrophy. In one study, patients who had suffered ankle sprains were shown to have a reduced activation level of the glute maximus. This may be caused by damage to the proprioceptive feedback mechanism via lateral ankle sprain. These findings confirm that changes in muscle firing patterns, particularly by the gluteus maximus, can lead to muscle inhibition and/or atrophy (neural program altered). This compromise could result in a compensation of the lower back. A situation where an injury has likely occurred and has altered the normal function of the human body (gait, running, sitting, getting in or out of a car) should emphasize the importance of corrective exercise and rehabilitation.
Most individuals who don’t receive proper rehabilitation for such injuries like ankle sprains develop scar tissue and immobilization of the ankle joint that further exacerbates atrophy of the gluteals. Most basketball players who experience low back pain have a history of ankle sprains that have altered the function of the glutes—which become more important for the taller athlete because of the longer limbs creating a “longer lever” stress on the back.
At the Body Project we examine your body for muscle imbalances and then teach you how to regain the proper muscle balance so you can not only look better, but feel better and perform better. Call today to schedule your appointment for a thorough examination and get back to being the best you can be. 952-220-7201 Check out our amazing testimonials here.
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