Can pills, shots and surgery be the solution for back pain and dysfunction?

By Juan Ruiz-Tagle

Here is the problem…

1. There is an average of 60 % more pressure on the spinal discs when we are sitting than when we are standing.

2. Most people sit between 6 to 8 hours per day (driving, watching TV, using the computer, eating, reading,etc.)

3. Most people sit with poor posture.

4. Most people do not move often enough.

5. Most people lift with their backs and not with their hips and legs.

6. Most people exercise the trunk muscles “core” by doing some type of sit-ups and “supermans”, which puts between 1000 to 1200 pounds of pressure to the spinal discs (Stuart McGill PhD 2006).

7. Most people exercise with machines, isolating muscles and blocking their proprioceptors and most of their stabilizers.

And then, after all this, when people develop spinal problems, such as, bulging disc, herniated disc, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, etc., a common approach is to go from ibuprofen to pain killers and when that doesn’t work, to go from steroids to epidural injection and when that doesn’t work, to go from laminectomy (surgery) to spinal fusion (surgery) and when all that doesn’t work, they are told to get more surgeries and more addictive pills.

Here is a better approach to prevent this from happening:

1. Walk with arm swing at least 20 to 30 minutes everyday (dog walking is OK but it does not count as therapeutic walking).

2. Sit with your spine in neutral (not too slouched nor too arched) and change you posture within a neutral zone every 30 minutes.

3. When lifting, keep your spine in neutral, use your legs (bend your hips, knees and ankles joints) and keep the object close to your center of gravity, in other words your belly button.

4. Floss your sciatic nerves 10 reps 2-4 times per day every day (See post 60).

5. Build neuromuscular endurance by speed walking, opposites (bird dog) exercises, planks (don’ arch your back…keep it in neutral), squats, lunges and balance reach.

6. Avoid exercises that are harmful to the spinal discs such as: sit ups, prone leg raises, superman exercise (lying flat face down and raising both legs and arms up), knee to chest stretches, toe touch stretches and spine twisting stretches and don’t put your self in danger with dumb exercises such as standing on a exercise ball.

7. Eat often and eat a balance diet of protein, complex carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits and clean water.

8. Rest, restore and recover through good night sleep, active rest and therapeutic massage.

9. Be patient. Although you may progressively feel better, it may take six to twelve months before you see results and get better

Please check out more from www.OneMileRunner.com Consultant, Juan Ruiz-Tagle, on his blog at backtofunction.blogspot.com.

Toe Touch Your Way To Stronger Legs

Here is a video showing The Toe Touch Matrix. This exercise really works the proprioceptors in your feet. It mobilizes your hips, knees, and ankles. Instead of touching with your hands in a balance reach, touch the 10 matrix spots with your toes. Spend close attention to the back corners of the matrix as those spots really hit difficult areas of your body. Again, this is a multi-directional, multi-joint, and multi-muscle exercise.

Take a few moments to shake up your balance and fire this one-legged exercise that you will feel way up in your glutes!

Running Stretches

In this training video, I am working with my trainer, Juan Ruiz Tagle. These are some of the stretches that I use in my post workout. After training or competition is the best opportunity to elongate muscle tissue. These exercises are not used as a warm-up, but as a cool down.

After suffering from Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis in late 2008 and early 2009, I added these moves into my program.This video shows some of  stretches that I do to protect and stretch my lower extremities. I can continue to do these diligently throughout The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time. I hope these stretching exercises help you develop greater flexibility.

Push-up Matrix


Traditional push ups are a wonderful way to build upper body strength. This video shows the variations that you can do to work different upper body muscle groups. Have fun with your new push up routine!

Advanced Stretching (Functional Flexibility)


How should you finish any workout for any sport? The answer is Functional Flexibility! This video shows how I finish my day. Check out this video with the 3D Stretching routine. It is the best way for your body to find restoration and recovery. Functional Flexibility is against gravity, free from artificial stability, using multiple joints, multiple muscle groups, with 3 dimensions, and in 10 directions.

With the use gravity, doorways, medicine balls, dumbbells, and tubes, there is elongation without pain. It is the most incredible way to stretch your way to improved flexibility. This is an advanced stretching routine, but one that anyone can do.


Functional Flexibility is mobility and stability training that is done with a specific purpose, and it is done in a three-dimensional and multi-directional way against gravity, so we don’t over stretch and cause instability and tissue damage.

Mobility
is how effectively and efficiently our body moves throughout the range of motion.

Stability is how well we can control that mobility and our body in a three-dimensional and in a multi-directional way.


Remember: Too much flexibility will cause instability.



I only do these exercises after I am done with my training/running. When my muscles are warm and the lactic acid has been produced, I do these three-dimensional moves to elongate my muscles. I do not look to elongate my muscles before I train or compete. I use the lunge matrix, squats, and balance reaches to mobilize my muscles and joints and get them ready to fire.
I hope you enjoy this new way of finishing your workouts. It will give you the confidence before you get in your car to drive home that you have cooled down properly and efficiently.

Resistance Training (Part 1)


Part of my strength workout utilizes tubes. By using the tubes I can work lateral or horizontal power.


Here are the two main reasons why we believe horizontal resistance training is important:



1. When we are running, our bodies are opposing two types of forces, vertical (gravity and ground forces) and horizontal (air and wind).



2. When we are running, we are swinging our arms and legs powerfully to displace our bodies forward, but we are also required to work against the backward swing.



To control and dominate these forces and not let these forces control us and slow us down, we must train not only vertical resistance, but also horizontal resistance.

This is where the strength training with the tubes comes in – working that horizontal power!

Check out this video to learn more:





Part 2 of my Resistance Training Program will come next week.

Avoid Back Pain And Strengthen Your Core


Add this medicine ball routine to your core workouts. Using a 4-6 pound medicine ball, be certain to keep your back in neutral at all times. Remember, strong muscles do not protect the disks in your back. Great form and technique will.

Running Exercises


At the end of 2008, I met with a foot doctor who wanted to immobilize me in a “walking boot” for one month due to my injured Achilles tendon. Not liking that scenario, I searched for a second opinion and that is how I met Juan Ruiz Tagle. Juan, who is now the training consultant at www.OneMileRunner.com, changed my training program and my running style. Functional training and a “stiffer” and more powerful running style has now taken me to the brink of my new event – The New England Marathon….One Mile At A Time.

Take a look at this video showing a few of my running exercises.



I hit the road tomorrow as I drive from Florida to New Hampshire. If all goes well, I should arrive in the New England area on Monday afternoon. My first race is the initial mile of the Boston Marathon on July 1st.

Planks Will Make Your Core Stronger and Not Hurt Your Lower Back


Planks done properly are a terrific way to strengthen your abs while protecting your lower back. The days of isolating and shortening your ab muscles are history! Your core is for stabilization, not isolation. Just because you feel an isolated burn in your abdomen while doing crunches does not mean that you are strengthening your abs properly. Functional training uses multiple joints and multiple muscle groups. The video below will show you different variations of the plank.

Some people feel that planks are boring, but this is just one of the ways that I strengthen my core while maintaining a neutral posture. By realizing the value of a plank, I think you will find an effective exercise for core development and strength. So walk away from the ab machines and “walk the plank” to core stabilization.

Punch Your Way to Upper Body Strength


My favorite upper body exercise is the punching matrix. It is a multi-directional, multi-functional exercise. We have rehabilitated shoulders and alleviated pain with this unique exercise. It will be part of my strength training 3 times a week this summer even as I am on the road racing 3 times a week.

Have fun punching your way to power!