Many of my clients with chronic back pain want to understand what is going on in their bodies, and how they can get better. That’s awesome, and this post is a list of helpful resources.
Dr. Stuart McGill is a world famous back pain expert based out of Canada. He’s authored over 240 peer reviewed studies on back pain. His books are as follows:
Back Mechanic was written for people who have back pain, but have virtually zero knowledge of anatomy.
In this book you’ll find myth busting around the causes and solutions to back pain, descriptions of what can cause back pain, and how to take care of your painful back. This book is short and sweet, but jammed packed with useful information you won’t receive from many medical professionals.
This book is less written for the lay person, but not difficult to understand. It includes plenty of myth-busting around topics like flexibility, strength training, and back health, in addition to lots of helpful commentary around understanding what makes a smart training program.
The only caveat I offer to those buying this book is that it doesn’t include, in my opinion, enough concrete recommendations for exercises.
If you want a challenge, this is a pretty fat textbook you can read cover to cover. Naturally, it shares many of the themes of the other two books, but takes slightly different detours. It’s a great book, but I’d recommend the other two first.
Dr. Evan Osar is a physical therapist that I stumbled upon thanks to my friend and colleague Bob Gazso. Osar is very smart and corky, and sells a lot of educational content in addition to his free resources.
1. Evan Osar’s Youtube Channel.
Dr. Evan Osar’s YouTube channel is the first place I started to learn many gold nuggets that shaped how I treat my patients with correct exercise. A caveat – many of Dr. Evan Osar’s videos are somewhat long winded and take awhile to get to the point. When he does get to the point, however, it’s so worth it!
Another caveat – while I believe Dr. Evan Osar is better than 99% of PTs, I no longer use his exercise system. This is because, frankly, his stuff is not the very best of the best. I’ll cover who I think is the best of the best later in this post.
1. Evan Osar’s Book – The Psoas Solution.
The psoas solution chronicles the mistakes that Evan Osar made as a young physical therapist, and the misunderstandings most profesionals have regarding the function of the psoas muscle. This book also contains useful exercises in addition to some progressions of those exercises. This books is easy to read and understand as much as it is enlightening.
If you’ve been following me for awhile, it’s no secret that I’m a total fanboy for Ultimate Sandbag and the Dynamic Variable Resistance Training (DVRT) curriculum they created. I become such a fan, in fact, that I made at least half of what I do at Pain Solutions DVRT.
Ultimate Sandbag is owned by Josh Henkin, a strength coach, and his wife Jessica Bento, a physical therapist. Both have a history of severe lower back pain. Jessica was a swimmer whose Olympic hopes were ended by (5!) herniated disks and torn rotator cuffs. Josh, on the other hand, has had (7!) spinal fusion surgeries due to a degenerative spinal condition.
Their story, in essence, was that Josh was developing his Ultimate Sandbag because he believed it could help him achieve for himself and his clients outcomes that he couldn’t achieve with any other piece of fitness equipment. That’s when he met Jessica. Jessica had become a physical therapist at this point in her life, but she was in a ton of pain. Her lower back was, in fact, in such poor condition that she couldn’t squat without lower back pain.
So Josh had Jessica try a squat with a pressed out Ultimate Sandbag. Jessica was amazed because it was the first time in a long time she had been able to squat pain free. They continued to date, got married, and now work together on Ultimate Sandbag and DVRT.
I believe that Josh and Jessica are true pioneers in the fitness space. I believe they are the diamond in the haystack everyone is searching for. Their information has allowed me to solve by own back pain, and I use their system to help my clients achieve real solutions for any problematic area.
1. The Ultimate Sandbag Blog On Lower Back Pain
This blog is filled with gold that’s hard to find anywhere else. A caveat is that some articles may be slightly technical, as their audience is often highly trained personal trainers and physical therapists.
Pain Solutions Massage Therapy & Personal Training
Phone: 415.518.2125
Email: ben.beeler2014@gmail.com
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 8:30am-10am, 1pm-7pm
Wednesday: 8:30am-10am, 1pm-7pm
Thursday: 8:30am-10am, 1pm-7pm
Friday: 8:30am-10am, 1pm-6:30pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 2pm-6:30pm
