Don’t bend over! Because the discs between your vertebrae are like little jelly donuts. So when you bend forward, even the slightest amount, it is inevitable that the jelly donut insides of your weak and fragile discs will press backwards and implode a nerve in your back leading to permanent back pain that will never heal naturally like almost every other tissue in your body.

I know this because it’s common sense. It doesn’t matter what the data and research say: because the discs are made of squishy stuff that has to mean that if you ever bend with weight in your hands or squat down in your back at all you’re destined to have permanent low back pain.

It is because of this that I recommend that all of my patients don’t even try and pick anything over 5 pounds off of the floor or your back will explode.

Just kidding. Obviously…

I’ve seen too many patients come in not having lifted any weight above 10 pounds for the past 10 years because a clinician of some sort told them not to. This is totally unacceptable. The human body is very resilient and it takes a ton of pressure for a disc to actually herniate, and if it does it would take a massive amount of pressure and other extrinsic factors like repetitive trauma for a long time to have this be the case.

My advice to you is to load your spine and low back to the greatest extent, with proper form kind of like I did here with deck squats - an exercise many would look at as if I was intentionally destroying my back for sport, in activities like squatting, deadlifting and other bent over exercises. This way you can reinforce your already very resilient and strong spine to a level where you have even less to worry about in terms of disability cause by weight training.

Imagine if my intervertebral discs were jelly donuts here? OMG, I would be totes ded.

If you have any questions of concerns regarding treating your own low back pain text or call me at 305-902-6644 to learn about strategies you can invoke today to manage your situation.