- checking login information
Loading...3 Exercises to Treat Back Pain
- Megan, selected from Experience Life
- March 25, 2012
- 4:02 pm
- 237 comments
By Matt Fitzgerald, Experience Life
Shortly after Jon Boyle, 23, competed in his first triathlon in 2005, he developed pain in his lower back and right shoulder. It bothered him most when he ran, but also while riding his bike and sitting at his desk, where he worked 10 to 12 hours a day as an Internet consultant. Guessing that postural imbalances were to blame, Boyle, who now lives in Boca Raton, Fla., sought help from Eric Cressey, CSCS, owner of Cressey Performance Training Center in Hudson, Mass.
“Right away I saw that Jon lacked mobility in his thoracic [middle] spine and stability in his lumbar [lower] spine,” says Cressey, who specializes in balancing athletes’ bodies. He designed a strength-training program to correct these problems. “The pain went away completely within two months, and I’ve been pain-free for two and a half years now,” says Boyle.
While most people will seldom feel pain directly along their thoracic spine, Cressey and other experts understand that its relative immobility can cause pain both above and below it in the back’s kinetic chain.
Reclaiming Flexibility
Considering how dramatically an inflexible thoracic spine can affect your body, it’s surprising how few people even know where it is. Located in the mid-back, the thoracic spine consists of the 12 vertebrae sandwiched between the five vertebrae of the lumbar spine and the seven vertebrae of the cervical (upper) spine. “The curvature of the spine naturally forms three main segments,” explains Cressey.
These segments each have a primary function. “The lumbar spine and cervical spine are designed to provide stability, while the thoracic spine is designed to provide mobility,” says Michael Boyle, CSCS (no relation to Jon), a Massachusetts-based strength-and-conditioning coach and editor of www.strengthcoach.com. Specifically, the thoracic spine allows you to bend your trunk forward and backward (flexion and extension) and side to side, and to twist your trunk each way (rotation).
For many of us, the thoracic spine does not extend and rotate as well as it should. “Sitting is the main culprit,” says coach Boyle. “When you’re seated, your thoracic spine is locked in a flexed position. Over time, people who spend most of the day sitting lose some of their range of motion.”
Next: 3 Exercises to Correct Back Pain
Read more: Fitness, Health, back pain, Exercises, lower-back, lumbar spine, mid-back, posture, sitting, thoracic spine
Megan, selected from Experience Life
Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit experiencelife.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter, or to subscribe to the print or digital version.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
Are you kidding?? I do everything possible to AVOID struggle ~ it's a good way to live.
When all is said and done "Moderation" will have killed more people than all the second hand smoke p…
good to know
What beautiful, graceful creatures. I wonder if there is any way to save them.
An owl hooting - now there's a revelation!! I hope this is a rescue bird and not a captive bird or …
237 comments
+ add your ownThank you.
I get some back pain so this is good to know
I've done the tennis ball thing before. It feels great!
Really great article on getting pain relief from Sciatic nerve pain. Have you seen this other site on interventional pain management review, it's similar to yours. interventional pain management review This site is contributing to all people with any chronical pain.
thanks
Great information. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for valuable article and its very useful,especially for chronic suffers.Cheers
Well, I do home care, so I'm not exactly what you'd call sedentary. My thoracic part of my back is sore, and no, I'm not weak... My muscles there are just as strong as a strong man's. Yet it's always hurting, constantly. and is stiff, and no, it doesn't seem to matter what I try. I am so stiff and sore that no, I can't get on the floor, it's difficult, and then impossible to get back up w/o help. If my spine in the area is cracked wrong, I get pneumonia. How do you exercise when you can't move?
I've dealt with back pain issues for years and have found yoga to be the best preventative and remedy, provided you listen to your body, know its limits, and do what's appropriate for your skill level and current condition.
Last night I went to a yoga class designed to help backpain. I dont really get backpain but my body feels great after.
login to add your comment
use your care2 login
add your comment