Show Notes
If you've been doing core strengthening for a herniated disc and it hasn't worked, the problem usually isn't effort — it's what you're strengthening. You've had a herniated disc — a slipped disc or disc bulge at L4/L5 or L5/S1 — maybe even surgery, and you've been diligently doing your core exercises. But the flare-ups keep coming. This session explains why. Most core rehab is done lying on the floor — dead bugs, marching bridges, bird dogs — building control but never loading the one structure that actually needs to bear load: the spine itself. Meanwhile, the moment you finish and stand up, sit down or get out of a chair, you put far more load through that spine than the exercises ever did. 🎓 Join the Back In Shape Program: https://backinshapeprogram.com We explain why recovery is a race — to get your rehab to the point where it challenges your spine more than daily life does, because until then your carefully-done floor exercises are the gentlest thing you do all day. We put real numbers to the loads going through your spine when you stand, sit and rise from a chair. We cover what the core really is (the whole trunk — front, sides and the spine in the middle), why the squat and hip hinge have to be front and centre, why form matters so much, and why how you feel is a poor guide to how you're healing. Along the way: managing flare-ups, what your MRI does and doesn't tell you, and why the machines people reach for — wall sits, the Roman chair, hip thrusters — often rob the exercise of what makes it useful.
🔑 Key Topics Covered 🎯 The core is your spine — and that's what most rehab forgets: the core is the whole trunk, front, sides and the load-bearing spine in the middle. Endless floor exercises build control but never load that spine. The squat and hip hinge have to be front and centre, or it isn't core strengthening. 🏁 Rehab is a race: the goal is to make your rehab more challenging than your daily life — because right now it isn't. For a 75-kilo person, standing sends about 38 kilos through the spine, sitting adds 15 to 34 more, and rising from a chair badly adds another 45. Your floor exercises barely register. 📹 Why form matters more than you think: the very same 20-kilo lift can mean a 35% difference in the load on your spine between good and bad technique. That's why you go to a consistent depth, keep a neutral spine, and record yourself — what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing are often different. 🩹 Why how you feel is misleading: a graze can stop hurting long before it's healed — tap it and there's no pain, but it's not repaired. Your lower back is the same, except you can't see it. Feeling better is not the same as being better, and your loaded squat is the honest test.
Chapters 00:00 Why your core strengthening hasn't worked 01:00 The Core 6 — and why you already load your spine daily 03:00 Your rehab should be the hardest thing you do all day 07:00 Why form comes first (good vs bad form, by the numbers) 11:00 When to train, and looking after yourself afterwards 14:00 Why how you feel is misleading (the graze that hasn't healed) 17:00 What your MRI misses (it's taken lying down) 19:00 March at the speed of the slowest soldier (working around bad knees) 24:00 Commit for the long term — and stop blaming the exercise 27:00 Hamstring tightness is a symptom, not the cause 29:00 Take accountability, and why rehab often starts too late 32:00 What "strengthening" actually means 34:00 The phases — and why wall sits and elephant walks miss the point 40:00 Flare-ups, nerve blocks and filming your form 47:00 The core is your spine — the bit most rehab forgets 50:00 Why PTs contradict each other, and the McGill Big 3 53:00 Machines: the Roman chair, hip thrusters and cable RDLs
#HerniatedDisc #CoreStrength #BackInShape #Sciatica #SlippedDisc #BackPainRelief #SpinalRehab #BackRehab
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