If you’ve never experienced back pain, consider yourself a minority. 

Experts estimate that up to 80% of the population will experience back pain at some time in their lives. 

Of course, those who are active put themselves at more risk, especially if you are using poor form in the gym or not taking proper measures to fully recover from workouts.

But back pain can happen to people of all ages and activity levels. Heck, you could be doing something as simple as picking up a piece of food you dropped on the floor and somehow tweak your back!

Be it from an injury, the gym, or everyday tasks — lower back pain is such a recurring issue that it is said to cost Americans upwards of $50 billion in health care costs each year!

The promising news is that many episodes of low back pain are mechanical, which means it’s an issue with the muscle or irritated joints. You probably don’t need a costly trip to a therapist or doctor for these types of pains.

With the proper at home assessment and professional advice — you may be able to fix your body at home!

To help you determine the root cause of your back pain and what you can possibly do to find relief, we brought in performance physical therapist Dr. Zaki Afzal. 

We will go over everything for you step-by-step in this article. But many people prefer visuals, so we also filmed Dr. Afzal going over each of these issues, assessments, and solutions! 

FIX YOUR BODY AT HOME: LOW BACK PAIN 

STEP ONE: Make Sure Your Pain Is Not Serious
Dr. Afzal says when someone comes to his clinic with low back pain, the very first thing he does is make sure it’s nothing serious! Never assume! You can’t skip this first step! 

You should not try any of these exercises if your back pain is ongoing, chronic, and/or in tandem with things such as …

• Pain that is so severe it wakes you up at night. 
• Tingling, numbness, or radiating pain down your legs. 
• Balance issues 
• Bladder issues

If you are experiencing any of the above or any other issue that seems off, please do not use this article or video to self-treat — go see a professional for an in-person assessment. 

STEP TWO: Give Yourself An Assessment
After you are certain your low back pain is nothing serious, you might need to do a few quick assessments to see where you are limited and what motions you are having issues with.

This will help you better understand the root causes of your pains, so you aren’t wasting your time doing the wrong corrective exercises! 

One thing to remember as you consider the root cause of your low back pain is that your back isn’t usually the culprit! Your back is typically the victim of other parts of your body not working the way you want!

We will discuss some of these other culprits in the next three episodes. For today, we are just going to key in on the lower back.  

3 COMMON CAUSES OF LOWER BACK PAIN
+++
SIMPLE WAYS TO FIND RELIEF AT HOME 

Just because you have low back pain does not mean you have an injury or something serious happening!

Dr. Afzal says that most back pain complaints he sees at his clinic are movement-related, and if it comes on from movement, he says it can generally be fixed with movement!

POSSIBLE ISSUE #1:  “Backward Bend” Range Of Motion
Healthy joints have a full range of motion, but to have that, you need to expose your body to each part of the range of motion frequently. 

Dr. Afzal says unlike a bent forward position, which most people spend a lot of time in (i.e., sitting,) the backward position IS NOT one we usually put ourselves in.

We rarely, if ever, experience a full backward bend throughout the day. Not putting our body in this position regularly can create range of motion limitations that can lead to back pain. 

Check Your Bending Forward & Bending Backward
Keep your knees and feet straight. Relax and reach forward and down toward the ground. Do you feel a good stretch going down the back of your legs? Or do you feel tightness and/or pain?  If it’s the latter, that may indicate an improvement needs to be made in your lower back.

Now, put your hands on your hips and do the same thing, except bend backward as far as you can. Do you feel pain in your lower back, or do you just need to stop because that is as far as you can go without falling backward? Grab a mirror or record yourself. You generally want to see your shoulders pass your heels as you bend backward.

If your shoulders did not go past your heels, or you felt any pain during the bent backward assessment, we have an easy corrective exercise that should help you open up.

How To Improve Backward Bend Range Of Motion
A great exercise to do to put your body in this position is the PRONE PRESS UP.

It is kind of like the “cobra” pose in Yoga, except you will NOT use your lower back or glute muscles to press up. 

• Lie face down on a flat surface.
• Put your hands in a push-up position.  
• Use your ARMS to push yourself off the table. 
• Try to get your elbows straight. (If your hips come off the table, that is fine.)
• Slowly lower back down
• Immediately repeat for 10  reps. 
• Start out doing 1-2 sets.

Important Tips

• Do NOT use your lower back or glute muscles. You need to turn them off so you can get a full range of motion through the back.
• Getting your elbows straight is important! That is your goal! 
• How often you perform this exercise will depend on how frequently your low back pain pops up and your lifestyle habits. For example, if you experience back pain because you sit a lot at work, this is an easy exercise to do. Instead of taking just a walking break, get on the floor and do a couple sets to 

Most pain isn’t because you are injured or because something is wrong; it’s usually because you are using an option of your body too much and not giving it the opposite direction!! 

Sprinkle in some extension (backward bend) throughout the day, so you aren’t spending ALL your time in flexion (forward bend), and you should see a considerable improvement! 

POSSIBLE ISSUE #2:  Nerves
You have nerves that run out of the back, down the back of your leg, and all the way down to your foot.

Even if you don’t have numbness or tingling in the leg or shooting pain, you can still have an issue with limitations in the way the nerves feel. 

Opening them up can make you feel better in terms of movement and pain. 

How To “Open Up” Your Nerves
People often think they need to bend over, reach for their toes, and hold a hamstring stretch when they have lower back pain.

It is true that muscles typically like longer stretching, but your nerves don’t like to be held in a stretch for an extended time.

If your back issues are because you need to “open up” your nerves, you want to avoid “static” stretching and incorporate some movement in the stretch.

Try this in-and-out movement called NERVE FLOSSING. 

• Lie on your back on a flat surface.
• Take your right knee and bring it toward your chest.
• Take both hands and put them behind your knee. 
• Straighten your knee until you feel a stretch down the back of your leg.
• Hold it for one second.
• Come back down and do that motion repeatedly in and out.
• Do this for 15-20 reps for 1-2 sets. 
• Repeat on the other side. 

Important Tips

• If you want a deeper stretch, point your toe down. 
• As you bring your leg up, also bring your head and chin up at the same time.

As for that last tip, you may be wondering how moving the UPPER body could help with LOWER back pain.

MRI studies show that when you move your neck, nerve movement happens all the way down your leg into your foot!  In short, this means that movements up top can move nerves down low! 

POSSIBLE ISSUE #3:  The Way You Squat
There is a huge fear in the gym-based population that they will “fall forward” and go into flexion when they squat. When that happens, people tend to go the opposite and over-extend.

If you ONLY squat that way, you will potentially cause stress on your back that can leave you having low back issues. Dr. Afzal says staying in a “stacked” position is much more efficient than going into an over-extended position.

Other “rules” that many have ingrained in their heads that Dr. Afzal says are probably NOT the best for your back …

• Driving your butt back when squatting.
• Not allowing your knees to go past your toes. 

I’m sure you are giving us that “say what” kinda look right now, especially on that second one about allowing your knees to go past your toes.

If you have knee issues, Dr. Afzal says that “rule” may possibly be beneficial. But probably NOT if you are concerned about keeping your back healthy. 

There was a study done that shows that you take 40% stress off your knees when you don’t let your knees go past your toes when squatting. But the same study also showed that not letting your knees go past your toes caused a 1000x percent increase of stress on your hips and lower back!!!

Is it worth the knee trade-off? Dr. Afzal says, probably not!

The bottom line with any lifting “rule” is not to immediately say something is off-limits. Dr. Afzal says that nothing is off-limits. It’s all what your body is used to and ready for. You need to find a squat position that works for you.

Dr. Afzal says safely allowing your knees to go past your toes is probably beneficial for most people with back issues or those hoping to prevent them.

How To Correct Your Squat To Lessen Your Risk Of Back Pain
Follow these simple steps the majority of times you squat. For a visual demonstration, click here.

• Do a gentle exhale. You want your ribs down and chest facing forward. 
• Slightly scoop your butt “under.”
• You should now be in a “stacked” position with your pelvis pointing down.
• Squat DOWN, not BACK. 

Important Tips

• The direction your pelvis is pointing is the direction your hips will go. When squatting, you want your pelvis pointing down because you want your hips to go in an up/down movement. An example of when you would want your hips to go back and forth would be when doing deadlifts. 
• You need to be pretty aware of your body to be able to “feel” this. One “cheat code” to help you “feel” this position a little easier would be to elevate your heels. You can do this by placing plates underneath your heels.  

Dr. Afzal says it is rare that any movement would be off-limits forever. Still, sometimes your body needs a break from the things that are giving you an issue, and performing your squats like this MOST of the time should reduce stress in your lower back — often immediately.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS THIRD EPISODE
OF OUR SPECIAL SIX-PART SERIES
 “FIX YOUR BODY” with Dr. Zaki Afzal

If you have any questions about this episode, leave them in the comments section HERE, and we will do our best to get you answers! 

Make sure you come back next week! We are moving on down the body and talking about how to fix your hip pain! 

If you missed Episode 1 on neck pain — you can WATCH HERE.

If you missed Episode 2 on shoulder pain — check that one out HERE. 

Source — https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/What-is-Chiropractic/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics 

The post 3 Possible Reasons Your Lower back Hurts  and How To Find Relief appeared first on V Shred.

If your shoulder is bothering you and you aren’t sure why or how to find relief, you’re in the right place!

We’ve teamed up with a performance expert doctor for a really cool 6-part blog and video series called FIX YOUR BODY!

Today, we are focusing on SHOULDER PAIN!

If you do a lot of manual labor or hit the gym hard, you most likely have at least one part of the body that causes you some sort of discomfort.

Even if these pinches, aches, and pains seem minor or come and go —  it’s important to not brush them off.

Getting to the root of your muscle or joint pains and correcting them can not only prevent injury but can also make your workouts more effective! 

If your pain is muscle or joint related, you probably won’t need to see a doctor or therapist in most cases.

With the right expert guiding you, many body pains can be pinpointed and fixed at home!

We may know a lot about health and fitness here at V Shred and Sculpt Nation, but we aren’t doctors specializing in muscle and joint pains. So we called in performance physical therapist Dr. Zaki Afzal to help us out with this 6-part series.

Each week, Dr. Afzal offers his expertise as we work our way down the body to address the most common reasons people experience body pains and how you can correct them at home in an educated, safe, and simple way!

In Episode One, Dr. Afzal went over a few reasons people have neck pain and how to find relief at home! If you missed it, you can watch it HERE!

It was interesting to hear him explain why the source of most neck pain isn’t even in the neck! Everything is connected, so it makes sense that WHY you hurt isn’t always WHERE you hurt. 

The same goes for pain and stiffness in the shoulders. As you will learn today, when your shoulders hurt, the issue probably doesn’t even originate in the shoulder itself. 

Before we go over 3 reasons you could be experiencing shoulder pain and give you some easy at-home solutions, keep in mind that sometimes you need a one-on-one assessment from a professional.

DO NOT attempt any of the corrective exercises we are showing you if you have severe pain, accompanying issues such as numbness or tingling, or if you feel that your pain is not muscle or joint related. Speak to your doctor or a trained medical therapist.

3 SOURCES OF SHOULDER PAIN AND HOW YOU CAN FIND RELIEF AT HOME 

1:  RIB CAGE MOVEMENT
If you have shoulder pain when bench pressing, your ribcage could be the issue.

Because they are attached, if the ribcage doesn’t move the way you want it to, the shoulder blade will have a hard time experiencing full range of motion. 

Typically, this occurs because of internal rotation limitations, which generally happens due to the inability for the ribcage to move up toward the chest. 

In some instances, the issue could also be your sternum, which should move like a pump handle. If it’s not moving that way, you could have limited internal rotation, leading to shoulder issues.

To determine if either of these limitations are the source of your shoulder pain, you need to first test out your internal rotation range of motion. 

How To Access Rib Cage Internal Range Of Motion

• Lay on your back on a flat surface.  
• Bring the elbow of your right arm straight out to the side to form a 90-degree angle between your torso and arm. 
• Take your left hand and put it on top of your right shoulder to hold your shoulder blade down from the front, so it doesn’t move. 
• Lower your arm to see how far you can get your hand toward the table without the right shoulder blade coming off the table. You should be able to get to about 70-90 degrees. 

While you are in this position, go ahead and repeat going in the opposite direction to test external rotation. You don’t have to hold your shoulder down; just allow your arm to go back as far as you can without your shoulder lifting.

You should be able to go 90-degrees (flat/parallel to the ground) or further. If not, you could have limited external rotation. This is usually an upper back issue that manifests as neck pain, not shoulder pain, which we talked about last week in our neck pain video.

If you notice your external rotation is limited when doing this assessment, check out the 2nd corrective exercise demonstrated HERE. 

Corrective Exercise: Full Exhale Breathing
Getting the air OUT is what really unlocks the full shoulder and rib motion you need for healthy shoulders.

Something as simple as FULL exhale breathing can be the easiest fix. Yes, just breathing! But when done correctly, it’s a little more complex than it sounds!

• Lay on your back.
• Bend knees, with feet still on the ground. 
• Place a foam roller upright between your knees and squeeze with about 10% pressure. 
• Lift your toes and dig your heels into the ground (also about 10% effort.)
• Make sure your back remains flat on the ground/table.
• Take a deep breath in through your nose and then blow out ALL the air through your mouth (like you are blowing out candles.) 
• Two sets of about 5-6 reps should do the trick!

Helpful Tips
** Most people aren’t fully emptying their lungs. For this exercise to work, you need to get out every single drop of air.

** If you are doing this correctly, you should feel your lower abs come “on” pretty strong at the end of the exhale.

** If you don’t have a foam roller, you can also use a soccer ball or basketball. You just need something that is somewhat firm to put between your knees to squeeze.

2:  ISSUES WITH YOUR ROTATOR CUFF
If you feel pain in the front of your shoulder, it may be because of your rotator cuff.

To understand why it could cause your shoulder pain, it is important to quickly tell you what the rotator cuff is and what it does. 

The goal of the rotator cuff is to stabilize the shoulder ANYTIME it moves. 

If your rotator cuff doesn’t have control over your shoulder, it can lead to compensations that result in shoulder pain. 

One thing to keep in mind when correcting this issue is that the rotator cuff isn’t one muscle. It’s actually a collection of four muscles – the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. Three are located on the back of the shoulder blade, and one is underneath the armpit. 

You’ve probably seen similar exercises to the one we are showing you. However, there is a very unique way that you need to perform the movement if you want to isolate the correct rotator cuff muscle that will help keep your shoulders happy and healthy! 

Corrective Exercise:  Side-Lying Rotation
This exercise is a great way to target the infraspinatus – the small rotator cuff muscle that needs to be strengthened to possibly help correct the root cause of your shoulder issues! 

You’ve likely seen this exercise performed standing. But the best way to perform the movement, especially as a corrective exercise, is lying down.

Dr. Afzal explains why and shows you how to do it in this video, but here is a breakdown of how to do it.

• Lay on your left side.
• Pin your right elbow to your side. It should NEVER come away from your body at any time during this corrective exercise. 
• Relax your shoulder blade. 
• Make a fist and rotate your arm up and back (again, keeping your elbow pinned to your side at all times) as far as you can without letting your shoulder blade move. You only want your infraspinatus muscle activated.
• Try doing a few sets of 10-12 reps a couple times a week or on your upper body training days.

Important Form Tips
** If you are doing this exercise correctly and targeting the part of the shoulder we are looking to isolate (the shoulder/rotator cuff muscle), you should feel some fatigue in the back of the shoulder even with 10-12 reps with NO weight.

** If you start to feel fatigue toward your neck, you are probably shrugging your shoulders too much and not using the shoulder itself. 

3:  FOREARM DIRECTION WHEN PRESSING
The key for proper form with pressing (whether it’s overhead or in the front) is in the direction of the forearms!

The direction your forearms are pointing is where you are applying force. You always want your forearms pointing straight up and down. 

How To Correct Your Forearms During Chest Press
When benching, be it with a barbell or dumbbells, any deviation in any other direction other than perpendicular is wasted energy because you are pushing your force in the wrong direction!

If you are using positions like this, you may not instantly feel pain, but you are in a much less efficient position.

For a good visual, check out this video.  

How To Correct Your Forearms During Shoulder Press
This same thing applies when doing a shoulder press.

You don’t want your elbows too far back. This limits your shoulder motion and puts your body in a position where it requires a lot more strain to lift the weight.

If your forearms are pointed too far back, you won’t be able to bring them all the way down to your torso when you lower the weight down.

You certainly do not HAVE to go all the way down when pressing. There are many times you should not use full range of motion. We are just saying you should be ABLE to. 

An easy fix is to just bring your elbows forward into a natural plane of motion.

You will know you are in a proper plane of motion if you can lower your elbows down to your side.

In short, whether you are performing a bench press or shoulder press, if you want to keep your shoulders healthy and get the most out of your lift, you’ve gotta pay attention to your forearms! Make sure they are always straight up and down from start to finish!

We filmed a video that goes over each problem and solution in little more detail…. 

If you are serious about fixing your shoulder pains, we suggest you watch it before trying any of these corrective exercises!!

ALSO, DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU MUST DO BEFORE TRYING ANY OF THESE SHOULDER PAIN SOLUTIONS!!

You need to consider the root of your pain! You should not attempt any of these exercises if your pains are extreme or not related to joints and muscles.

Please talk to your doctor, or if you are in the Las Vegas area, feel free to click here to contact Dr. Afzal. He would love to help you! 

Next week we are moving down the body. Make sure you check back; we will be talking about back pain! 

In the meantime, if you have any questions about this shoulder pain article and video, you can leave them in the comment section HERE.

The post 3 Possible Reasons Your Shoulders Hurt and How To Find Instant Relief appeared first on V Shred.