THE HINGE - an essential movement pattern for anyone suffering with back pain.
This is a fundamental movement pattern that I enforce with all my patients. If you start to train your body to move in this way, and that means repetition, repetition and more repetition, then your back pain may become a very distant memory.
Flexibility and forward bending should come from gross joint movements at the hips and not from the spine.
Bending from the waist distorts the natural curves of the spinal column. Some vertebrae are hyper-flexed (overextended), while others are hypo-flexed (reduced mobility).
The S-shape of the spinal column should be retained while bending forward, as shown in the illustration. To avoid injury and brace your spine properly, you need to extend your back in a straight line from your gluteals (bottom) to your neck and bend from your hip joint.
Bending this way removes pressure from the discs and places it on the muscles surrounding the vertebrae, which then form a brace for the spine. Activating your core abdominals, particularly transversus abdominis, as you make the hinge will ensure extra support.
When you correct your movement patterns, all of the tension, compression, and friction go to the hips and posterior chain instead of the tiny spinal muscles.
