Category Archives: Exercise Injuries

Jun 4 2011

Top 5 Causes of Low Back Pain

You can lessen your risk of low back pain or injury with proper training and good posture. Bad movement patterns over a long period can cause some serious low back pain. In some cases, you may need to consult your doctor.

Low back pain is a major problem for the American population. As many as 75%-80% of adults have experienced significant low back pain. Lack of core stability and strength is the major cause of low back pain.

According to research, here are the Top 5 Causes of Low Back Pain:

1. People with chronic low back pain have inadequate firing of the transversus abdominis, internal oblique, multifidus and deep erector spinae.

2. Training the abdominal area without proper pelvic stabilization increases intradiscal pressure and compressive forces in the lumbar spine.

3. Core training done without proper recruitment of the tranversus abdominis, multifidus and other stabilizers will lead to the development of muscle imbalances and inefficient neuromuscular control of the kinetic chain (human movement system). Brace before doing core exercises (like you’re getting ready to take a punch to the gut).

4. People with chronic low back pain have inadequate stabilization endurance. When training the core, the stabilizer muscles (which are primarily slow twitch muscle fibers) are best trained with the “time under tension” method. This method of contraction lasts for 6-20 seconds. This method also improves static and dynamic stabilization.

5. Maintaining the cervical spine in a neutral position during core training improves posture, muscle balance and stabilization. If the head protrudes (forward head) during training, the sternocleidomastoid (anterior neck muscle) is recruited.

This can lead to pelvic instability and anterior rotation of the pelvis. When this happens, the eyes re-align and are not level. This will negatively impact your exercise performance.

Strengthen your core with exercises like planks, side planks, bridges, cobras and back extensions.

If you already have a specific back injury you are suffering from and are looking for relief, visit the Healthy Back Institute. Since 2001, their team of pain relief experts has helped over 240,000 people in 100 countries from around the world find lasting relief from their pain.

They have given away over one million copies of the new book, The 7-Day Back Pain Cure, by Healthy Back Institute co-founder Jesse Cannone. Get a Free Copy of The 7-Day Back Pain Cure now!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Apr 12 2011

Shape Your Body and Correct Your Posture

So, you’re fired up to shape your body and get “smokin’ hot!” Good idea. You also need to correct your postural problems or you will have a “smokin’ hot” body in terrible pain. Its important to look great and feel great. Quality of life is what you want and need.

One danger of “jumping into an exercise program” is that you have postural problems that need to be identified and corrected (as much as possible). If you skip this step, you will “jump right into injuries!”

Remember, exercising is about Health, Fat Loss and Weight Loss! Don’t leave out the health part of the equation. You will always hear me stressing both health and fitness! Its possible to wreck your health in the quest for a “hot body.”

So, what about postural problems do you need to know?

1. Its very important to do exercises with correct postural alignment. For example, you shouldn’t let your head drop down or rise up when you do bentover rows (the head should be in line with the torso, looking down). There are thousands of examples like this one.

2. Stay out of the injury cycle. Uncorrected postural problems will keep you in the injury cycle. If one part of the kinetic chain (human movement system) is out of alignment (and stays that way), you are headed for a pattern of muscle injuries, trunk injuries and even arm and leg injuries.

3. Some common injuries caused by postural problems include: hamstring strains, groin strains, low back pain, headaches, biceps tendonitis, shoulder injuries, plantar fascitis, shin splints and patellar tendonitis (jumper’s knee). There are many others.

4. Its important to strengthen your core and not just focus on sculpting six-pack abs. About 80% of all people experience low back pain and injuries. This is usually due to a weak core. Having strong arms and legs doesn’t help you much if your core is weak.

5. As you burn fat and lose weight, continue to work on improving your posture. This will make your workouts more efficient and pain-free.

Get your free women’s fat loss guide now!

“Exercise is not my life…..exercise makes my life better!”

Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Check out my other great blogs:

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named one of the 50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody—including athletes!

Nov 20 2009

Shoulder Injuries Limit Your Workouts

Try working out with a shoulder injury!  A shoulder injury will affect almost any exercise you try to do!  Protect the shoulder joints at all costs!  These injuries are painful and hard to recover from!

It takes an integrated training program to lessen the chances of shoulder injuries. There are no guarantees, but taking the following steps can help keep your shoulders injury-free:

1) Poor Technique: Bad throwing/motion habits will certainly lead to shoulder problems. When fatigue sets in, the shoulder problems increase. It is critical to learn proper throwing/motion technique in your sport.

2) Flexibility: Adequate flexibility is important for every part of the body and especially so for the shoulder. Freedom of movement for the pelvis, trunk, scapula, and humerus are important. For the rotator cuff, balancing the forces centering the head of the humerus and freedom of movement is critical. The rotator cuff muscles are dependent on good positioning of the scapula for effective control. Bad positioning of the scapula results in decreased ability of the shoulder muscles to produce power. Static stretching for flexibility should not be done prior to training or athletic competition (a dynamic flexibility routine prepares the entire body best for competition).

3) Core Strength and Stability: All movement begins with the core, so it is essential to strenghen and stabilize it. For the shoulder, the important areas are the lumbar spine, cervical spine and the scapulothoracic joint. If these areas are not stable, extra loading and strain is passed on to the shoulder joint.

4) General Muscle Strength: Once the body’s core is adequately strengthened and stabilized, the body’s limbs should then be strengthened. A strong core maximizes limb strength and power.

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“Exercise is not my life…..exercise makes my life better!”

Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Check out my other great blogs:

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named one of the 50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody—including athletes!