Back Pain? 5 Myths You Need to Stop Believing
- Feb 10
- 6 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in November 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/cCnTEh9B2M0
Mike: Today, we are diving into five common beliefs about back pain.
Brad: That's right. And as the title says, you'll probably be shocked at which ones are myths and which ones are actually true, which may be all of them.
Mike: Now, for each of these myths, we want to envision you going through this circumstance. However, for the purpose of the article, we're going to use a hypothetical person, and his name is Alan.
Brad: Mike, let's go to myth number one. Can we do that?
Mike: We can. Number one, manual labor is harder on your back than sitting. So in the situation with Alan, he works a desk job, sits most of the day, and he thought he was fine because he was not lifting any heavy objects at work, but he was still having back pain.
Brad: That's right. Now this has been proven time after time. Prolonged sitting can actually be harder on your back than lifting, depending on the situation. But there's no doubt that prolonged sitting is not good for the lower back.
Mike: Now, if you do happen to have a desk job, it's essential to walk and take standing breaks throughout the day. What you can try to do is, after each meal, maybe just take a little five to 10-minute walk, and it can help release some tension or back pain you may be experiencing. And a tip you can try is actually standing and walking with your hands behind your back like this. It helps encourage a nice upright posture and gets you out of that flex position you often get stuck in while working at a desk.
Brad: There you go. Let's go to myth number two with Alan.
Mike: Avoiding exercise is best for back pain. Now, Alan thought that if he didn't exercise his back because it was already hurting, his back would hurt more if he started exercising.
Brad: And actually, in most cases, that couldn't be farther from the truth. The key is, which exercises should you be doing? Find the appropriate ones that don't irritate it, but help it, and do those.
Mike: Now, obviously, if you went to therapy and have some specific exercises from your therapist, you can do those. But other activities, such as walking, swimming, or specific things provided for you, are going to be most beneficial.
Brad: That's right, and you can find a lot of those at Bob and Brad on our YouTube channel, and look for back pain exercises. There are a lot of different ones. We refer to Stuart McGill and what he recommends. Walking. We're going to get more into this. He's a world-renowned expert in back pain.
Mike: Myth number three is rest is best for back pain. Now Alan kept resting his back, lying down, not doing much because he wanted to avoid injuring it again, but actually, it may not help with his recovery.
Brad: All right, there may be certain situations right when you injure your back, and you're in that acute phase where everything hurts, and you're just very uncomfortable, then I'll rest with a cold pack. Things like that may be appropriate, but within a day or two, you need to start moving and find out what movements like we had just covered.
Mike: So most experts say moderate activity is beneficial. No, we're not saying go back to lifting heavyweights in the gym. If you happen to do that right away. But just getting up and moving, a gentle range of motion. Can any activities that feel good be beneficial for you?
Brad: That's right. So we call it light movements. Doing things gently, carefully. And of course, you're going to watch your body mechanics and keep that back protected while you're moving. Use good judgment.
Mike: Myth number four is that strengthening will solve all your back pain issues. In this scenario, Alan is feeling better, and he thinks that if I just get a stronger back, I won't have any more pain.
Brad: That's right. Now this has been known not to be true. If we look at Stewart McGill's work, he addresses this very specifically, that strengthening your back is partially important, but even more important is spine stability. Keeping your spine in good posture and good body mechanics while you're moving it, as well as motor control, all relate to monitoring your spine position, whether you're in a static posture like sitting or standing, or moving, bending, and lifting. And that gets more detailed as we look into it.
Mike: And it's important to build up your endurance for your back. Say you're just getting back into working out and weightlifting. Start with lower, lighter-weight controlled repetitions. Don't do too much too soon because often as we start fatiguing, our mechanics get worse and worse. So build up slowly over time. Get that endurance going.
Brad: That's right.
Mike: Myth number five is that stretching will save your back. Now, in this scenario, Alan thought that if I started stretching some more, it would help relieve my pain, and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.
Brad: That's right. Now stretching can help your back if you do it appropriately. But one of the big things that Stuart McGill mentions is doing stretching early in the morning, that's a big no-no because your discs actually absorb fluid or imbibe, they call it. And they're more susceptible to injury, particularly if the stretches are not the ones you should be doing. For example, fingertips to toes, which a lot of people feel is a good low back stretch. In this case, that wouldn't be particularly good in the morning.
Mike: So any type of stretching or movement where you have excessive rounding of the back or anything where you're working on your hamstrings a lot, because they're connected right to your back. Avoid those things as well, early on. Make sure you do proper warmup, and then later in the day you can get into those as long as you're feeling good.
Brad: That's right. Now we did want to go back to strengthening exercise. We said you don't need to strengthen or don't strengthen a lot, but there are three strengthening exercises that Stuart McGill does encourage, and he specifically outlines these. We're not going to go through them in this video, but you can find them in the video, "The Best 3 Core Exercises To Do Daily For Seniors."
Mike: And if you like this video, make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, and leave a comment down below if any of these tips helped you out.
Brad: That's right, take care of your back. We all want to see you back in the goal. No pun intended.
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