Remember when you were a kid and could run around, jump out of trees, fall over and bounce back up? No warms up were required and we didn’t worry about getting injured or have fear of hurting ourselves. Unfortunately, as we age we lose much of this body elasticity and mobility. The most obvious reason is the prevalence of the sedentary lifestyle in modern society. The muscles in the body become less flexible and specific postural muscles become weak due to inactivity. Learning to activate specific postural muscles with simple exercises can reduce pain, and improve mobility and flexibility in the body.
Muscles are comprised of muscle fibres (cells) which are comprised of smaller units called sarcomeres (contractile elements). Imagine sarcomeres as many connected rubber bands tied to each other generating tension between each attachment (tendon to bone). Desk jobs and being a couch potato will eventually cause the back muscles in the body to become either super tight (rubber bands shrinks and has less elasticity) or other muscles like the gluteals to become weak (rubber bands become loose and floppy with minimal tension along chain). Force output will be reduced in the entire chain, so things like walking up stairs and picking up your kids will now become much more difficult compared to a relaxed pliable muscle. This will eventually lead to back pain and postural asymmetries.
Back Pain is common among 80% of adults. Imagine holding a bag of shopping for 2 hours in one hand. Your bicep and forearm muscles would be burning like crazy in a shortened position, and even the next day you would feel some tightness and pain because they have remained in this shortened non optimal length. The lower back pain you are experiencing is the same in principal, poor posture has caused an overall shortening of the erector spinae muscles and when any extra force is applied pain presents due to the muscles being overworked and stuck at a shortened length. This is why simply having a massage will only alleviate the back pain in the short term; rather strengthening the posterior chain, opening up the hip flexors through mobility and stretches, and learning to activate the core muscles correctly will provide a pathway to a pain free back and younger body.
So back pain (excluding a bulging or ruptured disk) is a symptom of overworked, tight postural muscles along the spine and/or shortened hip flexors. A muscle knot can occur (think of a rubber band twisted over and over in a chain of normal bands), which will cause increased tension in the entire muscular chain, ie tight hip flexor will cause the hips to pull into anterior pelvic tilt, creating further tension in the lumbar spine also shortening the erector spinae muscles which will lead to lower back pain. Do not ignore pain or stiffness in the body, it will eventually lead to an injury. As little as 5-10 mins of mobility and stretching 4-5 days per week will keep your back healthy and spine feeling young.
Another example of imbalance causing injury is runners knee or chondromalecia patella syndrome. In this scenario the runner will experience pain on the lateral side (outside) of the knee. This is caused from a tight Illio Tibial Band (ITB) band. The ITB connects to the Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL), which attaches to the hip, so tight hip flexors, lower back, adductors can all contribute to pulling the ITB band tighter leading to this pain. Having the runner foam roll ITB band, mobilise hips regularly and maintain optimal muscle resting lengths will almost completely prevent any knee pain from persisting.
Strength training can also have a similar effect, while the muscles are being worked they lengthen and warm up, but once the workout is finished they cool down and shorten. Now if the trainee does not move and warm up adequately before the next workout for a period of weeks, pain will eventually become present somewhere in the kinetic chain. Foam rolling, mobilising, and light cardio can all alleviate tightness and promote circulation to the stiff areas throughout the body.
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