LOWER BACK PAIN

Hey everyone, I have a bad lower back and think that its my tight hips hamstrings etc that cause my back pain. I also have poor spinal rotation so things like windmills are very hard. I am doing Foundation 1

My question: 1) What happens if I pass the mastery for one of the sections but am still on the first or second mobility? what do I do…should I be passing all mobility and mastery before investing in foundations 2?

2) WHo do I contact about the workout tracker errors? Will this course help my strengthen my core (not just core endurance) and help my lower back pain (its muscular spasm etc from tightness not anything bone related) or will it make it worse

thanks everyone

You need to pass the mobility and strength for each series. But you do not need to complete all seven F1 exercise before going into F2. So you could be doing RC PE6 with HBP 16.

By the time you get into F2 your core will be stronger than 99% of people.

Will it fix your back? Well that depends on what is wrong. Foundation is not to replace medical treatment, but used in conjuction with each other there is no better.

The excersises laid out in F1/F2 are all "safe" are beneficial to a bad lower back if done in succession to mastery level. Skip, cheat or settle for less than perfect ROM and you will satisfy your ego for a while and your back will act up again. Ask me how I know..

If it takes 24 or 36 weeks to master the windmill or the cat/camel is inconsequential in the long run if you are already dealing with chronic/semi chronic back pain, make every rep just a bit better than the one before and you will beat the back pain in due time, or learn to live with it in a way that is not detrimental to your goals.

Unless due to an acute injury back pain is your body telling you that you are conducting your life in a way that is no good, so take a look at how you spend the 22,5 hours a day that you are not training as well.

The medical community will statistically not be any more beneficial to your health in relation to back pain than simple rest, so you need to help yourself here. Cavet: some gifted and dedicated health personnel can and will make a huge difference if you can find them, but the it's more about the person than the title they carry.

If you are stuck on the first progressions due to back pain, stiff lower back, I personally would add Jefferson curls light and strict every other day and reps equal to your age for one set. It will not feel nice the first ten days, so start with 5kg:)

Happy healing!

Thanks guys...this really is a supportive community I reall appreciate you taking the time to respond.

One more question...can I be in F2 for strength while still being n F1 for th same exercise so for example the hollow back press being in F2 for strength but F1 for the mobility part

It's quite normal for people to be staggered through the courses. They are broken into parts for convenience only.

However if this is what you mean, no you cannot separate the strength and mobility pair you must pass both to move on.

Having several exercises in F4 and one in F2 however is no problem. Just trust me

Sorry I misread the question, Jon is 100% correct, don't go ahead of the iM - EVER!

Ok so what should I do for example. I passed the strength for F1 hollow back strength but haven't passed the mobility. Do I stop working the strength all together for hollow back press until I pass the mobility? Will this make me lose the strength that I gained

MikeR said:

Ok so what should I do for example. I passed the strength for F1 hollow back strength but haven't passed the mobility. Do I stop working the strength all together for hollow back press until I pass the mobility? Will this make me lose the strength that I gained

Completely wrong.  There is no progressing on strength elements unless the accompanying mobility element has been mastered as well.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Keep working the strength element until you can show mastery of the mobility element it is paired with too. If you lose a little strength it will be regained quickly; more likely if your struggle with mobility you are strong *because* you are tight and will need to rebuild it as necessary

Longer term this is saving you time, especially if you are risking plateau or injury due to mobility deficits

In my opinion, the Foundations Courses in combination with the Stretch Series Courses will most definitely eliminate lower back pain if it's due to tightness...strengthen it, mobilize it, stretch it over and over again over time (the gb way) is a winning formula for getting your body to biomechanically work and move correctly and feel good doing it without pain.

All of this of course is based on the premise that there is no underlying pathological condition like pinched nerve, etc.

The GB Courses are well rounded and targeted formulas to fix biomechanical weaknesses throughout the body, but there may be supplemental or targeted therapies that facilitate fixing things, for example making sure your posture is good throughout the day, etc.

OK I think I got it but my I'm a bit confused…which one is correct

So for example for the front level,

1) If I pass PE1 strength but do not have absolute mastery of of the PE1 mobility I  can't go on to the PE2 Strength and keep working on the PE1 mobility

or

2) I can move on to PE2 strength  but cannot go on to the Foundation 2 program until I pass all the mobility

thanks and sorry for the confusion

Number one is correct.

In my professional opinion lower back pain is never 'just from the muscles', there will be issues with your spinal mechanics (meaning that the vertebrae and intervertbral discs will be involved to some degree).

Muscles don't spasm on their own accord, they cramp when worked beyond what they are currently conditioned to do, but tightness pr what you refer to as a 'spasm' will always be driven by a neural reflex in response to another source of irritation (and with lower backs 9 times out of 10 it is some degree of compression on a disc).

Mastering the mobity is crucial, here yiu are not only restructuring on a pysical level but resetting erroneous or 'non beneficial' neural patterns and control habits.

I know this is sounding very technical but I believe it's important to understand the depth of what has to change in order for you to move and feel differently from what you currently do.

Foundation courses can help tremendously and the mobility elements are no less impirtant.

Keep at it and be honest with yourself and how you measure your progress, your back will thank you!

Wesley