ARTICLES:
- Carbs, Fat & Protein
- Low Back Pain
- Neurological Training
- Nutritional Guidelines
- Periodization
- Recovery, Weightloss & Gain
- Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements
- Weight vs. Technique
- Youth Guidelines
Athletes and Low Back Pain
Many athletes are plagued with low back pain and stiffness, some being more susceptible than others due to the nature of their sport or the position they play. Sports that require the repetitive use of one side of the body such as throwing or kicking are particularly susceptible. Engaging in an activity where one side of the body is predominantly used over the other, over time can lead to the occurrence of weaknesses and imbalances. Unless preventative measures are taken low back issues can and often will arise. If you already suffer with low back pain or stiffness, it can be corrected.
From a Strength and Conditioning care and prevention standpoint, this ailment is often commonly due to one or a combination of three reasons. The first being, the athlete has a weak, underdeveloped, or perhaps imbalanced core. Secondly, the muscles in the low back are perhaps being used as hip extensors instead of the glutes and hamstrings. Finally in conjunction with the second reason, the bilateral biomechanics of movement may not be equal and one side of the body may be working in a different sequence than the other. Therefore the glutes, hamstrings, and spinor erectae are not firing in the order or intensity that is optimal for performance and varies from one side of the body to the other.
What can you or your athlete do to either treat or prevent low back pain? Start by strengthening the abdominals and be sure to target all areas of the abs. Often the lower abdominals and obliques are neglected but they are equally important in the care and prevention of low back pain. Pain can be produced by access curvature in the low back and sometimes improving the strength of the abs, especially the lower abs will help to “pull the hips back under center” and decrease some of this curvature.
Next, strengthen the low back. Why train what’s in pain? Low back pain often occurs due to muscle fatigue. Strength and endurance must be built up in the low back to relieve it from the debilitating effects of low back pain. However, simply doing back extensions, reverse-hypers, or good-mornings will not correct this problem. Yes, the athlete needs to strengthen the low back and yes they need to do these exercises, however they must be done properly. If an attempt is made to strengthen the low back without the proper activation of the involved muscle groups, then the problem will only be worsened. The biomechanics of the movement must be retrained to allow the glutes and hamstrings to become active prior to the activation of the low back.
Extensions, reverse-hypers and even good-mornings should not specifically target the low back. If done properly, the athlete should also feel these actions targeting the glutes and hamstrings. These muscles should be firing first and should do the majority of the work as they are the primary movers for hip extension not the spinor erectae. These exercises help to place an athlete in a limited and controlled environment where they can begin to focus on the muscles and retrain their body to move properly. It’s not about just doing a movement, but instead doing the movement properly and efficiently. Unilateral work must also be performed. Train one side of the body at a time. Performing single leg back extensions or reverse-hypers helps to keep the body balanced, especially for those involved in sports described above.
After strengthening the core and learning how to use the glutes and hamstrings as hip extensors, the athlete must learn how to use them properly in compound movements such as the squat. The proper use of these muscle groups will help to minimize the stress placed on the low back as well as maximize athletic performance. Start the retraining process of the squat mechanics by performing the movement on the edge of a platform or any low sturdy raised surface. Only the heels should be in contact with the platform while the balls of the feet hang off the edge. This forces the glutes and hamstrings to do more of the work while the athlete sits into the squat. (By driving through the ball of the foot, as many inexperienced lifters do, too much emphasis is placed on the quads and the low back is forced to work harder trying to stabilize the body. This forward lean also forces the low back to work as a hip extensor and can often lead to tight hip flexors.)
Low back pain and stiffness often occurs in athletics. However, through the proper mechanics and training of movement, this sidelining annoyance can be rehabilitated and prevented through the methods described above.
Kevin Ebel, M.Ed. CSCS
Sources
Benardot, Dan. (2000). Nutrition for Serious Athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
Clark, Nancy. (1997). Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Brookline, MA: Sports Medicine Brookline
Berning, Jacqueline, & Steen, Suzanne. (1998) Nutrition for Sport and Exercise. Garthersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, Inc.
Australian Institute of Sport: http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/ Retrieved February 15, 2003.
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