A resilient spine is key for living a healthy life.
What is a resilient spine? It’s the ability to put stress on your body/back and withstand it without injury. Fragility is the opposite – stress on the body/back causes it to break – you get injured and experience pain.
This is accomplished through a variety of factors.
One – Move correctly. If you’re moving without using your major muscles (glutes, hamstrings, quads), you’re moving wrong and your spine will suffer. You are a disaster waiting to happen. The slightest thing could set it off – just reaching down to pick up a napkin can cause the back to go out when you don’t move correctly for years, slowly weakening your back.
Two – Strength. You need to be strong. Strength training through kettlebells is my recommendation if you don’t already have a strength program. Barbells, gymnastics, rock climbing, even using your bodyweight can all build strength when done with thoughtfulness, awareness and proper technique.
Three – Recovery. You don’t get stronger by training, you get stronger through the recovery process AFTER training. Nutrition, sleep, mindfulness all contribute to recovery. And of course, too much of a good thing is just that – too much. Don’t think that just training more will make you stronger. More does mean better, it just means more. Train appropriately, rest, repeat until strong.
Four – The Mind. Whatever you do focus 100% on what you’re doing. This is especially important when trying to build resilience. All you need is one set done wrong and agghh. There goes the back, or shoulder, or knee. When I train, I don’t eat or listen to music or drink anything or have my phone anywhere near me. I focus 100% on what I’m doing. When I’m not actually doing a movement or set, I’ll actively rest. That means moving around, keeping the body warm, waiting until it’s time for the next set. Never sit down! I typically wait until I can speak normally before I start the next set but that will depend on your goals. Heavy lifting will require much more rest between sets.
Five – Test. How will you know if your program is successful? You have to test your body. For instance, I work in 6 week blocks where I train for something specific. Maybe kettlebell snatches. I train 3-4 days per week with intelligent variation working up to the end of week 6 when I test myself. Maybe do a snatch test – see how many snatches you can do in 5 minutes. Perfect technique and power, of course. Then use the results of the test to evaluate what the next block should look like.
You follow these points and you will become resilient and injuries will become a thing of the past.
The next step is to be Anti-fragile. This is where you stress the body and it becomes stronger. Ready for it?
Contact me for an initial consult: