Source: www.slatershardware.com
If you guys have been following this site for any length of time you know that I’m a huge fan of cleaning up your technique on all of your lifts. It will do just about everything from making you a more efficient athlete and reducing your risk of injury to filling in your bald spot on the top of your head.
I think that most coaches and athletes understand the idea of keeping your spine in a neutral position and moving from your hips during exercises like squats, deadlifts and olympic lifts. I know I run around like a madman at class screaming back flat!
Taken from eorthopod.com
The flip side of the coin is keeping your lower back in a stable position as we press overhead, perform pushups and work on toes to bar. When I was competing more often in strongman I’d see a lot of athletes with something called spondylolisthesis. Sounds bad right? Well it is. As you can see in the picture you’ve got a slippage of your vertebrae forward on the vertebrae below it.
Unfortunately you’ve got something important called your spinal cord that sits inside of your spinal canal and it can be pressed upon when you’ve got this condition. Bad news bears to say the least.
Taken from nismat.org
How do we get it? Overextension. It’s a common injury in gymnasts because they are constantly hyperextending their lumbar spine (lower back) as part of the demands of the sport. Basically the spine is being bent backwards too far. It’s not just spondylolisthesis that is problematic though. Overextension of the lumbar spine can cause plenty of pain and damage to the lower back (facet joint damage, spondylolysis, spondylosis, arthritis etc. etc.) without actually causing the more severe spondylolisthesis.
Source: www.crossfit.com
Why is this a problem in crossfit and overhead pressing athletes? Well, you can easily get overextension in your lumbar spine during things like overhead press, handstand pushups and as seen to the right, kettlebell swings overhead.
Well why does this happen?
- Poor thoracic Spine and Shoulder Mobility
- Poor core stability
- The weight’s too damn heavy.
Next week we’ll go over strategies to fix this. Until then don’t go out there and destroy your lower back in the meanwhile!
Love and Push Press,
Dan
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Can over extension of the spine be an issue when doing thoracic spine mobility training with a foam roller? I put one under my upper/mid back while laying on the floor to try and get some motion in the thoracic spine. I don’t have any discomfort while doing it. Thanks
Hey Justin! Thanks for the question. I’ve never seen that being an issue. Foam rolling the thoracic spine is a great thing. Usually overextension is a problem at the lumbar spine (low back) so I’d be careful not to do much foam rolling in that region. Hope that helps.
Hey Dan, thanks for the fast response! I should clarify that I’m doing more of a stretch on the roller. I’m trying to wrap my thoracic spine around the roller, figuratively speaking. If that makes sense. This area has been mildly problematic for me since I transitioned from standing dumbbell presses to standing OHP with barbell. My mobility seems OK since I passed the test you have for OHP safety. But I still have some aching between the shoulder blades at times. Thanks!
Good stuff Justin. Have you always had pain between your shoulder blades? Just curious what causes pain. Here are some other good thoracic spine mobility drills I like http://fitnesspainfree.com/?p=2642
I will check out those mobility drills. The first time I remember getting pain between the shoulder blades was when I narrowed my grip with the press. So that my elbows faced more to the front and not to the outside, and my hands were just outside of shoulder width. I thought that was a better position for my shoulders because they were more externally rotated. Sleeping on a soft hotel mattress can also cause some pain too. Thanks
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This article is somewhat alarmist and has some wrong info. Good form is always important. That said, Spondylolisthesis is a very common spinal abnormality. It is the most common. 7% of people have it and in some populations it is 50%. It is overwhelmingly a stable benign condition and does not cause pain in the majority of people who have it. Most people don’t even know they have it and it is often noted incidentally when there is an xray and it is seen and likely blamed when it has nothing to do with any pain. Meanwhile many people without any apparent spinal pathology have serious back pain.
Most people’s spondy develops at a very young age. Way before they get involved in exercise or see weights. It usually is due to a defect in the pars from birth and then the vertabrae slips a little in time. In most cases it does not go far at all because there is a very strong ligament and muscles holding the whole vertabrae in place. As one doctor told me, if you could grab that vertabra with both hands you couldn’t budge it if you tried. That is why most have a grade one at the l5 level, which by the way is not near your spinal cord like stated in the article. The spinal cord ends higher up at L3 so it is not going to press in to your spinal cord even if the vertabrae fell off completely, the most extreme slippage.
Could Spondy be made worse with overextension like with say the extreme movements and stretches of gymnastics? It could, but so can other movements, especially if there are heavy weights involved. But spondy is not caused by overextension. Women in general tend to get this worse then men because they have more ligament laxity. Most people with spondy learn to avoid overextension naturally. Most people with spondy do not have pain and are unaware they have a vertabrae out of place and are quite active with no issues.
Hey tens, thanks for the reply. As per the spondy comments I have no idea which research you’re getting that info from but I’d love to see some citations. As per spondy being benign I have not specifically heard that but a lot of back issues that show up in diagnostic imaging can be benign (degenerative disc disease, disc herniations). I’m with you there. I do in fact have a few friends that gave themselves spondy with heavy log press and it is without a doubt a debilitating condition.
You’re right, at L5 you don’t have the spinal cord but you do have the cauda equina, an extension of the spinal cord. Compression of this is no better then on the cord itself and it a very serious situation.
The point of this article was to show that overextension can and does frequently cause back pain, not to state that all overhead pressing will lead to serious debilitating injury (I just re-read my article, I don’t believe it sounded this way?). In it’s least severe instance you might get a bit of back pain and it’s most severe form you can cause spondy.
Hi.
Some info from a textbook that includes references:
http://books.google.com/books?id=FiMoQ-OtbB0C&pg=PA253&dq=Frontera:+Essentials+of+Physical+Medicine+and+Rehabilitation+spondylolisthesis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=F7eGUei6L4PB4AOarIHQDA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Frontera%3A%20Essentials%20of%20Physical%20Medicine%20and%20Rehabilitation%20spondylolisthesis&f=false
Note:
- Most people with spondylolithesis are asymptomatic and remain that way.
- The incidence of back pain in this population is similar to those without spondy.
- The severity of degree of slippage is not associated with pain. No study has linked progression of slip, with pain symptoms.
- In general, progression of spondy slippage occurs before and during the early teens years and only minor progression occurs after skeletal maturity.
- Even in the event of back pain and a spondy, health care providers should be cautious in linking the two.
- In cases of incidental spondy, there is no need for treatment nor restriction of activities, including aggressive sports.
Also note that most spondylosis (4.4% out of of total 6% of the population), the pars defect/breakage that makes (non degenerative) spondylolisthesis possible, is found in young children age 5-7. This is not a age group known for intense hyperextension exercising of the back. Not many elite athletes in this group.
I’d be more concerned with heavy weight loading of the spine moreso than hyperextension of the low back. Most spondys avoid the lordosis position and hyperextended position as it generally doesn’t feel good.
Anyway, a lot of people get all freaked out with spondy, but the fact of the matter is, most people suffer no pain or symptoms from it. You are just as likely to have pain with a seeminly perfect spine and vertabral arrangement. Everyone should be careful with hyperextension, which is not a useful range of motion anyway.