Further Back Extension Accessibility & Understanding

Safely reduce your chances of lower back pain and injury

Every person reading this has access to something to start safely reducing their chances of lower back pain and injury. Simply holding this position until fatigued has been used in physical therapy for over 60 years:

You could even start progressing that motion:

The #1 way to injure your lower back is bending over, usually to pick something up.

With a back extension, we have a way to improve that ability without having to bend over.

For further protection, you can smoothly progress range and strength with a machine.

Further observable factors:

1. Demands in life vary.

How strong you should be varies greatly.

Even if you had the strongest back in the world, if enough pressure was on it, it would injure you.

Humans adapt, but not continually upward.

Example:

Building from 0 pounds for 10 reps, to 45 pounds for 15 reps, would increase the protection of your back.

Let’s say that took you a year.

Well, even if you keep that up for the next 20 years, you won’t be doing 15 back extensions with 900 pounds.

No matter how perfectly we train, we do not escape physics or human biology.

For my parents, progressing their body’s weight for higher repetitions has worked well.

For me, 10-20 reps holding an extra 50-100 pounds in sandbags ($4 each) gives me the desired protection I’m seeking as a father of three (higher demand). I haven’t had a knee or lower back problem in over a decade, and I’ve seen how smartly building extra support pays off over years.

2. Your lower back relies on the rest of your body, too.

Example: More than a decade ago I had a bad ankle sprain in basketball. A few weeks later I was trying to do a squat, and my ankle was so stiff that my back wound up in a very different position than normal. I tweaked my back before I had time to self-correct.

Your ankles, knees, hips, other core muscles and upper back all affect how your lower back functions.

No matter how perfectly you train your lower back, your body will still have better chances with a well-rounded regimen.

Conclusion:

It would be a lie if I said: “Your back only needs this one thing.” (This is a common reaction to finding out how simple and effective a back extension is.)

It would also be a lie if I said: “Your back problem is not a back problem.” (This is a common reaction to finding out how the lower back has supporting factors.)

A statement closer to the truth would be: “Your lower back health relies on the ability of your lower back and its supporting factors to handle your demands in life.”

In this overall game of demand vs. ability, a back extension machine is one of the very few pieces of machinery I wouldn’t want my family to live without. Back pain is in the highest category ($100+ billion per year) of USA medical expenses, resulting in a loss of well over $50,000 per family (over a lifetime). I don’t know anything that could more realistically reduce (not eliminate) a family’s lower back expenses.

Yours in Solutions,

Ben

For further ATG Basics program help ($19 to $99/mo) and the custom equipment I make for my coaching: ATGonlinecoaching.com

To see if I’ve certified an ATG coach near you: map.ATGforcoaches.com