'I've been incredibly unlucky with a recurring back injury. Now I am feeling good and on track again.'
I overheard this line spoken by a personal trainer to his client in my gym in Leytonstone.
I watched this personal trainer give expert tuition to his client, outlining the many intricacies of the squat. He demonstrated textbook technique and helped his client achieve excellent form with a variety of corrections. The guy obviously knew his stuff.
As the trainer was returning the heavy barbell to the rack, he abandoned all aspects of good lifting technique. His feet were planted, he was stooped over, twisting his back and reaching away from himself while holding the heavy weight.
My suspicion is that luck had much less to do with his back pain than he believed.
"When we identify the things we are doing that may be contributing to our back pain, or any other injury for that matter, it is usually straight forward to eliminate, reduce, or manage them. "-Shane Morris, Principal Osteopath, Leyton Osteopaths-
Almost always there are things, within our circle of control, that we are doing, or not doing, that are contributing to the problem. Start with this assumption, it should be an empowering thought. When we identify the things we are doing that may be contributing to our back pain or any other injury for that matter it is usually straight forward to eliminate, reduce, or manage them.
For our personal trainer that simply would have meant maintaining good technique when returning the weight to the rack as he did when demonstrating the squat. It wouldn't have required any more time or effort to do so, just a conscious effort.
Key Message: Understanding the things you're doing that are contributing to your pain / injury is vital to recovery.