“Layering strength on top of dysfunctional movement is a gross misunderstanding of the primary responsibility of fitness trainers and coaches: reducing injury and increasing longevity.”
I am a firm believer that given the opportunity, with motivation, every single one of us would prioritize our health in all of our decisions throughout the day.
We would all eat our vegetables and snack less. We would all go to the gym, meditate, and do our yoga practice. We typically need motivation to take action. Let’s, face it, this utopia or always having time,motivation, or the inspiration to start does not exist. Reality is filled with kids, work, deadlines, stress, and eating on the go. It is a miracle if we actually get the time to go to the gym or get outside to get in a workout. Even worse, when we actually do have the time, rarely do our bodies feel great. There is always some nagging ache and pain we are dealing with. Far too often, these aches and pains stop us in our tracks and the inability to prioritize our health compounds these problems. You need to create this motivation by taking action. By taking action, you will find motivation through the results. Let your body lead and your mind will follow. True leadership is about holding yourself accountable. Prioritizing your health and having options so that when adversity strikes, you have a game plan to keep pushing forward.
The Best Healthcare Is Self-Care and It Starts With You
Low back pain affects 80% of the population in the United States. There are three major culprits that lead to this epidemic:
- Sitting: The average American sits 13 hours a day. In your car, at your desk, and in front of your TV at night. All this sitting is going to be felt in one place – your low back.
- Stress: From the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, it seems like you are putting out fires. All of this stress is stored as tension in your muscles.
- POOR MOVEMENT: Your body is designed to move in specific ways. Because of problems one and two, your body has forgotten these movement patterns.
Between home and work, the gym, or the great outdoors is your haven. A time when you get to eliminate the stress of the daily grind and focus on your own health. Unfortunately, for you, the sitting and the stress pile up, and the gym is not always a place of health. Squatting makes your back hurt. Deadlifting or lifting weights off the ground feels awkward and is accompanied by some low back tightness the next day. Instead of the gym being a place of health, it has become an additional place of stress, waiting for the next injury. My mission is to create a nation of wellness WARRIORS. My program, co-created with top strength coach Anders Varner, called The Low Back Fix has compiled a list of modifications you can add to your workout to help heal your low back pain and prioritize your health. Your health affects everyone around you. If you are living with lower back pain, these tools will get you healing faster and stronger than ever.