Mcgill spine program

Listen At: Youtube. Stuart McGill This is a wonderful discussion regarding the spine flexion issue when lifting heavy objects with world strongest man Martins Licis and Aaron Horschig from Squat University. Dr McGill was a beacon of light during a dark and difficult time of my career.

I had just suffered my first serious injury and it was debilitating, taking away from my training and causing me constant pain. Dr McGill taught me techniques and principles to follow that I use every day and have improved my injury drastically. To the point now where it is almost non existent.

I also use the lumbair in my car every time I drive. For a long time I have been searching for an effective program on how to restore my back to a high level performance. Shortly after I sought out Professor McGill and he right away created for me a thorough plan of action. This allows them to build muscular endurance without fatiguing the muscle. Start with a higher number of repetitions for the first set e. Hold each movement for no more than eight to 10 seconds.

As endurance increases, add repetitions to each set e. For side-bridge and birddog, hold eight to 10 seconds per side. Pull your head, shoulders and chest off the floor, as though they were all locked together. Lift them up as one unit. Keep your back in neutral position. Hold for 10 seconds. Slowly lower yourself down. Do half of the repetitions with your left leg bent and half with your right leg bent.

Lie on your side, with your forearm on the floor and elbow underneath your shoulder. Place your hand on the opposing shoulder to stabilize your torso. Pull your feet back so the knees are at a degree angle.

Lift the hips off of the floor and hold for 10 seconds. Try to maintain a straight line from your head down to your knees. Make sure that your hips are in line with the rest of your body.

When completed turn over to other side. Raise the left arm forward while simultaneously extending your right leg back until both are parallel to the floor. Ensure that hips are aligned with the torso and not tilted to one side. You can start by moving your hand placement from your opposite shoulder to the top of your hips or even move to a full side plank bodyweight supported by your feet and elbow. Perform the full side plank with one foot directly in front of the other, because you can also take it one step further and incorporate a rolling pattern where you would tilt or rotate your body towards the ground and back towards the ceiling if the side plank alone is easy.

Make sure to keep your shoulders, torso and upper leg in a direct line during this roll to keep the low back safe. If you are unable to accomplish even the modified side plank bridging from the knees due to shoulder or arm pain, you can perform a side lying leg lift.

Start by lying on your side, brace your core muscles appropriately and raise both legs off the floor together a few inches. Hold them for seconds before relaxing down. This is an excellent exercise to promote a stable core while movement occurs at surrounding joints either the legs or arms and legs together.

The combination of movement occurring at the hips and shoulders while the low back remains stable allows this exercise to have excellent carry over to movements you perform throughout your day and in the weight room. Step 2: Without allowing any movement to occur at the low back, kick one of your legs backwards while simultaneously raising the opposite side arm until both extremities are fully straightened.

Making a fist and contracting your arm muscles as you hold it in the extended position can also increase muscle activity of the core especially of the erector spinae muscles. If you are unable to perform the arm and leg movement together without pain or it is too difficult without losing balance, try the modified version with only leg movement. Again, perform the same descending rep-scheme as the previous two exercises. You can progress this exercise by drawing a square with your outstretched hand alone or your hand and opposite foot together.

Early in my career as a physical therapist, it was common to prescribe certain stretches like pulling your knees to your chest while lying on your back as an exercise for many with low back pain.

At the time this exercise made sense. Those who had difficulty standing for long periods or lying flat on their back often felt better when in a flexed position.

Many who complained of feeling stiff and painful in their low back had instant relief of their symptoms after performing a few of these stretches. However, I realized after reading and studying from Dr. Stuart McGill that this relief is only a temporary relief for most. When you stretch your low back, you are stimulating the stretch receptors deep inside the muscles that give the perception of pain relief and the feeling of less stiffness.

As I have written about in earlier blogs, most of the muscle pain and stiffness you may feel in your back is consequence of a chemical reaction called inflammation that occurs from the real injury located deeper in the spine disc bulge, facet irritation, etc.

For this reason, rehabbing from a back injury for a large majority of athletes should aim to stabilize the core and reeducate proper movement to treat why the problem started rather than stretch the surrounding muscles to increase mobility of the low back and treat the symptoms. It is common to see athletes with back pain also have an inability to properly activate and coordinate their glute muscles.

Simply put, the butt muscles can fall asleep. Picking your toes up and driving your heels into the ground can help increase your glute activation during this part of the movement.

Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can in this bridge position for 5 full seconds before relaxing back to the ground. If you find your hamstrings cramp during this motion, bring your heels closer to your hips.

This shortens the length of the hamstrings and gives puts them at a disadvantage to contribute to the movement a concept called active insufficiency.

Eventually work your way up to second hold. Step 2: Brace your core in this bottom position and drive your knees to the side while keeping your foot in an arched position this should turn on the outside of your hips or glute medius muscle. Step 3 : Rise a few inches and squeeze your glutes like crazy. Hold this for 5 seconds before sinking back down. This translates the glute activation from the previous exercise into something functional that mimics your squat technique.

This should only be attempted if you can perform it without any back pain. The combination of these exercises should be safely performed daily if you are trying to recover from back injury but should not be performed directly after rising from bed in the morning that is the time at which the discs of your spine are most hydrated and prone to injury.

The last thing Dr. Start with smaller bouts of walking minutes at first with a fast pace that causes you to swing your arms. The goal should be to eventually reach a minute walk three times a day. If you continue to have back pain I suggest following the detailed program in Dr.

In , she launched a local nutrition office and partnered up with local gyms to help their clients take the steps needed to better health. Picincu is a regular contributor to these platforms where she provides either health-related content or coaching to those who are interested in achieving a balanced lifestyle.

Bailey is a physical therapist with an additional degree in psychology and board certification in hand therapy. Bailey is also an Anatomy and Physiology professor and has been writing health and fitness articles for over 10 years.

The bird dog pose is a great back exercise. Video of the Day. Tip Got back pain? Who Is Stuart McGill? Why the McGill Big Three? But First, the Brace. Lie on your back, on a firm surface. Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor. Place your hands on your hips, with your fingertips in front of your front hip bones. Gently press into both sides of your abdomen with your fingertips.

Tighten your abs as if you are pulling your belly button toward your spine. You should feel the muscles under your fingertips tighten. How to Do Them. Bend one knee and place your foot on the ground. Keep the opposite leg straight. Reach your arms behind you and position your hands underneath your low back. This will help preserve your arch during this exercise. Lift your head, shoulder and upper back off the floor, as a unit. Try not to move each area individually.

Hold this position for 10 seconds, then slowly lower back down. Move 2: The Side Bridge. Lie on your side, on a firm surface.