The place that hurts isn’t always the place that started the problem.
If you’ve ever rubbed your lower back after sitting at your desk, finishing a workout, getting out of the car, picking up your kid, or spending two hours at baseball practice, you’ve probably had the same thought:
“My back is killing me.”
Fair enough. Your low back is the part of your body that’s complaining.
But here’s the question I want you to ask before you decide your lower back is the problem:
What if it’s just the part of your body that’s doing too much?
The low back is often the body’s backup plan.
When something above or below it isn’t moving, stabilizing, or participating the way it should, the low back frequently picks up the slack. And just like the person at work who keeps covering everyone else’s shifts, eventually it gets tired of doing everybody else’s job.
That doesn’t mean your low back is weak.
It doesn’t necessarily mean your spine is damaged.
And it certainly doesn’t mean your spine is fragile.
It may simply mean your body has found a way to keep moving.
And your body is very, very good at finding a way.
Your Low Back Isn’t Always the Culprit
Let’s say your feet aren’t providing a great foundation.
Maybe you have flat feet. Maybe your ankles don’t move particularly well. Maybe your knees collapse inward when you squat or walk. Maybe your hips aren’t moving well.
Your body still has to get you where you’re going.
So something else has to compensate.
Move up the chain and you might eventually find yourself at the pelvis and lumbar spine.
The same thing can happen from above.
Maybe your thoracic spine doesn’t move well. Maybe you’ve spent years sitting at a computer with your head forward and your shoulders rounded. Maybe your body has become very comfortable living in a flexed position.
Your low back still has to help you stand, walk, lift, bend, rotate and stabilize.
So it does.
The place that hurts isn’t always the place that started the problem.
Sometimes the low back is simply the employee who keeps getting handed everybody else’s work.
Your Diagnosis Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
You may have been told you have lumbar lordosis, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc changes, a disc issue, scoliosis, sciatica, or another diagnosis involving your spine.
Those diagnoses can be important.
But here’s the part I want you to think about:
What does the diagnosis actually tell you?
It may tell you what is happening in your spine.
It doesn’t necessarily tell you why the body ended up there or what the muscles are doing—or not doing—that contributed to the way the body is moving.
That’s the part we want to look at.
At Professor Posture, we’re not diagnosing spinal conditions. We’re looking at the body from a movement perspective.
Because knowing that something exists and understanding how your body is moving are two different conversations.
And sometimes the second conversation is the one that has been missing.
Your Spine Isn’t Fragile
Somewhere along the way, we’ve gotten very good at making people afraid of their own backs.
Don’t bend.
Don’t lift that way.
Don’t round your spine.
Don’t twist.
Don’t sit too long.
Don’t do this.
Don’t do that.
Eventually, a person starts treating their spine like it’s made of glass.
But your spine was designed to move.
Your body was designed to bend, rotate, extend, absorb force, produce force and respond to changing demands.
The goal isn’t to protect your spine from movement forever.
The goal is to give your body the ability to manage movement well.
There isn’t one perfect posture that you need to maintain from breakfast until bedtime.
There is a body that has learned to live in certain positions for certain amounts of time.
And that’s an important distinction.
There Is No Perfect Posture
Let’s talk about posture.
You may have heard that you have “bad posture” because your head sits forward, your shoulders round, your pelvis tilts, your low back arches, or your hips aren’t level.
But posture isn’t a beauty contest.
Your body doesn’t get a gold star because every joint lines up perfectly.
There isn’t one perfect posture.
There is a body that has learned to live in one position for too long.
That’s a different problem.
If your body spends eight hours every day in essentially the same position, it becomes very good at that position.
The body only gets good at what it practices.
That’s true whether you’re sitting at a computer, standing behind a counter, lifting weights, running, playing baseball, or scrolling through your phone.
Your body is always practicing something.
The question is: What are you teaching it?
Sitting Isn’t Evil
Office workers, you’re going to like this one.
Sitting isn’t evil.
I know. Put away the pitchforks.
You don’t have to spend your entire workday standing at your desk to have a healthy back.
The problem is spending eight hours sitting while very little of your body participates in the activity.
Yes, sitting can actually be a sport.
And just like any other sport, your muscles should participate.
Your trunk muscles still have to stabilize you. Your pelvis still has to be controlled. Your spine still has to be supported. Your hips still need to be able to move.
The difference between sitting and collapsing into a chair is worth noticing.
If your muscles are completely checked out for eight hours, don’t be surprised when your body isn’t thrilled when you ask it to suddenly stand up, walk across the parking lot, bend over and pick something up.
Your body has been practicing sitting.
Then you ask it to perform.
That’s a pretty big change of assignment.
Your Low Back at the Gym
Now let’s talk to the gym rats.
You may have strong legs.
You may have strong glutes.
You may have a six-pack that could grate Parmesan.
And you can still have a low back that is doing too much.
One of the biggest misunderstandings about the “core” is that people think it means abs.
Your core isn’t just your abdominal wall.
Think of it as the collection of muscles that helps control and stabilize your trunk and connect the upper and lower parts of your body.
Your back muscles matter.
Your abdominal muscles matter.
Your muscles around the pelvis matter.
Your hips matter.
Your ability to coordinate all of them matters.
If your erectors aren’t doing their job, doing endless crunches isn’t going to magically teach them how to stabilize your spine.
And this is where exercise form becomes interesting.
Imagine someone deadlifting with a rounded upper back while the muscles responsible for controlling the spine aren’t adequately participating.
Or someone performing a squat and dramatically “bowing” forward as they descend.
The question isn’t simply:
“Is your back straight?”
The better question is:
“Can your body control the position it’s in?”
That’s a much more useful question.
When Your Low Back Feels Like Concrete
Some people describe their lower back as tight.
Others say it feels stiff.
Some say it feels like concrete.
And their first instinct is usually:
“I need to stretch it.”
Maybe.
But maybe not.
Sometimes a muscle feels incredibly tight because the body is using it to create stability.
If the muscles around the spine are constantly being asked to stabilize because something else isn’t doing its job, those muscles may stay switched on.
Now you’ve got a low back that feels like it needs a crowbar.
And stretching it harder isn’t necessarily the answer.
If a muscle is already being held in a shortened, working state because your body is trying to create stability, continually stretching that muscle may be the last thing you want to do.
The better question is:
Why is the muscle working so hard in the first place?
That’s the question I want you to start asking about your body.
What About the Young Athlete?
The same concept applies to kids and teenagers.
In fact, it may be even more important.
A young athlete can be strong, fast, conditioned and highly skilled while still lacking a solid movement foundation.
They may spend hours sitting at school.
Then they go to practice.
Then they sprint.
Cut.
Jump.
Land.
Throw.
Swing.
Lift.
Repeat.
The body doesn’t care that these are separate activities.
It’s all movement.
And if the feet, ankles, knees, hips, pelvis or trunk aren’t doing their jobs particularly well, the low back may become the backup plan there, too.
This is one reason I don’t want parents or coaches to think about athletic performance as simply a question of strength.
Performance begins long before strength. It begins with movement.
An athlete needs to be able to control their body before asking it to produce more force.
Because getting stronger doesn’t automatically make a movement pattern better.
Sometimes it simply makes the existing movement pattern stronger.
The body only gets good at what it practices.
So What Is Your Low Back Actually Doing?
Here’s where I want you to become curious about your own body.
Not worried.
Curious.
Try this simple observation.
The Pencil Test
Stand normally and place a pencil on the floor in front of you.
Then bend over and pick it up.
If your body is able to comfortably do this, have someone take a photo of you from the side while you’re reaching down.
Don’t pose.
Don’t “fix” your posture.
Just move normally.
Then look at the picture.
What is your spine doing?
What is your pelvis doing?
Where are your hips?
Where are your buttocks?
Is your low back actually moving, or does your entire body move as one rigid unit?
Ideally, when you bend forward, the pelvis and lumbar spine should be able to participate in the movement. You shouldn’t have to keep your entire spine locked in one position to accomplish a simple task.
Again, this isn’t a diagnostic test.
It’s simply a way to see your movement instead of guessing about it.
And sometimes seeing your body from the side is a little humbling.
That’s okay.
We’re here to learn, not win a posture pageant.
The Wall Test
Here’s another simple observation.
Stand with your back against a wall.
Bring your heels, buttocks and, if possible, your mid-back toward the wall.
Now notice what happens.
Do you feel like you’re going to pitch forward?
Do you have to dramatically change your position to get your body against the wall?
Does your low back feel like it’s doing all the work?
Again, we’re not looking for perfection.
We’re looking for information.
Your body is constantly giving you information.
You just have to learn how to read it.
Are You Bowing?
Here’s another one for the gym and the athletes.
Stand in front of a mirror or, even better, have someone take a side-view photo while you perform a bodyweight squat.
Watch what happens as you lower.
Does your torso stay relatively controlled?
Or do you dramatically “bow” forward?
If your entire trunk pitches forward, don’t automatically assume you have weak legs.
Your body may be making a movement choice based on the mobility, strength, coordination or stability available to it.
And once again, the low back may be asked to help manage the situation.
That’s what compensation does.
It solves the immediate problem.
It just isn’t always the best long-term strategy.
Your Body Has a Backup Plan
This is the part I want you to remember.
Your body is smart.
It doesn’t wait for everything to be perfect before it lets you move.
If something isn’t working well, your body finds another way.
That’s survival.
That’s adaptation.
That’s why you can have flat feet and still walk.
Why you can have limited ankle mobility and still squat.
Why you can have stiff hips and still run.
Why you can sit all day and still get up and walk to your car.
Your body finds a way.
But eventually, the backup plan can become the primary plan.
And that’s when the low back may start complaining.
Not because it’s necessarily broken.
Not because your spine is fragile.
But because it has been asked to do more than its share.
The Question Isn’t “What’s Wrong With My Back?”
The better question is:
“Why is my back working so hard?”
That question changes everything.
It moves the conversation away from simply chasing the painful spot and toward understanding the body as a system.
Maybe the feet aren’t providing the foundation they should.
Maybe the ankles aren’t moving.
Maybe the knees aren’t tracking well.
Maybe the hips aren’t contributing enough.
Maybe the pelvis isn’t being controlled.
Maybe the thoracic spine isn’t moving.
Maybe the muscles that should be stabilizing aren’t participating.
Maybe you’ve simply trained your body to live in one position for a very long time.
The answer isn’t always obvious.
But the place to start isn’t necessarily where it hurts.
Because the place that hurts isn’t always the place that started the problem.
And your low back?
It may just be the body’s backup plan.
The goal isn’t to blame it.
The goal is to figure out why it had to step in.
