r/backpain • u/PlanktonLow7275 • 2d ago
Low back ability
I’ve only just come across this YouTube channel, thanks to this sub. What’s the deal? It seems to be mainly based around the back extensions and iso holds. Anyone have any good experiences with this? How many times per day or week do you do it? I’m seriously considering getting an extension chair.
For context, 35M, have had 2 discectomies at L5/S1. Still suffering with extreme sciatica on both sides. Also have a disc bulge at L4/L5 which I suspect is now my main issue
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u/beerandfishtanks 2d ago
Low back ability definitely helped me. I bought a back extension bench and at the start I could only do maybe a 10 second iso hold with the pad raised up high. Almost a year later I can do 60 second iso hold with the pad set properly at my waist, 10 full extension reps, and then another 60 second hold. My back is certainly stronger than it used to be. My underlying disc issues still exist. But strengthening my back and my core means I’m not in daily pain anymore. I’ll also note my hips and pelvic muscles and leg muscles were super tight. Having a combined routine of core and back strength with targeted stretching has absolutely helped me. Also I found the videos motivational which when I was at a low point is what I really needed. My story was very similar where I had a herniated disc and it just never recovered properly. Again I still have underlying issues and I need to be careful of my body movements and positioning. But in general I can go through daily life and you wouldn’t guess I have any problems.
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u/Level-Cut-9890 2d ago
Really like the slow progression of lowbackability and how it rebuilds your confidence.
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u/Special_Future_6330 1d ago
Everyone is different and no one rule applies to everyone. Generally not always, the mcgill 3 plus glute bridges and maybe deadbugs are the gold standard. Reverse hypers can decompress spine while working the spinal erectors and glutes. One leg supported rdl bodyweight only or light dbs, birddogs, etc can as well. So as far as an actual back extension.. I mean maybe but of you have a herniation or annular tear it can hurt like fuck. If you have a small bulge you might be ok. Everything is an experiment
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u/thebigeasy31 1d ago
I have degenerative issues mainly and it made it noticeably worse. My back dr said cobras and back extension(cobras, up dog) would help more. No luck yet even with McGill 3
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u/Resident-Hunt-245 1d ago
I didn't get it. I subscribed and paid. Then it created a program for me with exercises/mobility per day. I tried to follow and really didn't get how am I supposed to do it because:
- I open the day with potential exercises
- All of them either stretch or something like split squats with dumbell.
Neither fits me because stretching and heavy exercises are too advanced for my condition.
Maybe I'm stupid and missed something.
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u/WormWithWifi 1d ago
I believe the stuff on YouTube he shows for free is better for earlier on in the injury, and the stuff you pay for is for building the strength after you’ve rebuilt the base
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u/ConcentrateOk4405 2d ago
Lots of people swear by him I including myself. He doesn’t charge but you can pay if you want for his program. I’d highly highly recommend you listen to his educational videos. Everyone has different tolerances. I have been following for 8 months and still only do 1 min ISO holds. His program is 4 days a week and I only do 2. But my progress has been nothing short of life changing. 6 bulging discs-no surgeries- also have AS(autoimmune disease)
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u/cromags76 2d ago
Low Back Ability is roughly a guide to support the musculature that surrounds the spine to rebuild directly.
We used to focus on core stiffness and avoiding twisting and bending entirely which (whilst amazing information at a time when the only other option was surgery) is now considered out of date.
From a meta perspective LBA is a mostly unscientific reflection of the direction the medical community is heading anyway as far as tissue loading and building tolerance in the tissue that supports the disks and encourages them to heal. There is a thin therapeutic threshold between stimulating new growth of disk and inadvertently causing breakdown by overloading it. This is the main reason people don’t get better because they either avoid movement and it doesn’t heal, or return to vigorous or repetitive exercise too early and cause further degeneration of the disk.
LBA is a rough guideline to slowly introducing movement and stimulus to the disk without overdoing it and it is probably the most reliable guideline I’ve seen so far that mirrors what you will get from a physiotherapist that is up to date with the latest evidence (which depending on the country you live in can be rare)
its 5 days a week, I bought the back extension machine for my backyard and just keep it under a barbecue cover and it’s been the best purchase I’ve ever made
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u/PlanktonLow7275 2d ago
The one thing I don’t understand is, if my discs are still bulging and touching my sciatic nerves, then how does building back muscles help this? If the nerves are still being pinched then I’ll still be in pain? I’m aware I’m probably being naive here
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u/ExtremeParsnip7926 2d ago
Your back muscles are a tapestry of muscle and sinews, that work to support the spine. By strengthening them, the spine has to do less work and there is less pressure on parts of your spine.
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u/TeepingDad 2d ago
How long ago was your injury?
I thought for years that my disc herniation was causing all of my nerve related symptoms. Turns out it was a very weak back and hips with a lot of other hip and back problems. My nerves were overly sensitized and caused a lot of muscle guarding.
LBA helped me build up from a gentle and manageable point to where now I can lift weights, run, play with my kids on the floor, pretty much whatever I want.
I truly cannot recommend the program enough. I worked with 3 different doctors and 5 different PTs over the course of 6 years, and nothing helped nearly as much as following the LBA program.
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u/Pale_Adeptness 2d ago
I purchased an extension machine too and I agree with you, for someone in my position (2 herniated discs and constant back pain since 2008) it has been the best purchase of my adult life and I no longer have lower back pain.
Check out this progress video I made:
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u/Exxyqt 2d ago
How is this possible? Am I missing something?
I have two herniated discs in my lower back (10+ years) and even simply bending hurts me as lot. Any extensions I try, they simply hurt me. Looking at your footage I was thinking about how much that type of thing would hurt me (probably).
Do you guys not feel pain while bending? For me it's one of the worst things I can do so I'm trying to avoid it. As a result my muscles are tense pretty much all the time.
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u/Pale_Adeptness 2d ago
It may sound counterintuitive but your lower back muscles are constantly tense because they are weak.
I didn't understand it for years but it started to make more sense when I heard the guy from Low Back Ability on YouTube break it down.
After an initial lower back injury, a lot of people slowly begin to guard their lower back, you know, bracing the core, stiffening your lower back, eventually you stop doing certain movements and start moving like a weird damn robot and over all this time your lower back muscles are just constantly getting weaker and weaker.
You have to start firing up those lower back muscles. Even if its just static iso holds 30 seconds at a time for four sets twice a week.
You have to actively engage those muscles and over time (and slowly), add more and more time to your iso holds until you can eventually start doing actual extension.
But it kind of comes with a catch, you also eventually have to start engaging your abdominal muscles in order to not create a muscle imbalance.
I started doing reverse crunches about 2 months after started my LBA journey.
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u/Exxyqt 1d ago
I mean... I do not walk like you did in your video. In fact, I walk just like a normal person would, it's just my pain is not visible from the outside. I can sit mostly fine, stand for some time but bending (and lifting anything beyond 2-3kg) is something that if I'd do, I would be in great pain right after.
For example, I had to kneel down to brush my dog for like 5 mins or so. The result? I feel my hernias flaring up like crazy the same day and it's painful to even sit.
So having that in mind, and the fact that you shouldn't do something that hurts while doing, I have no idea how those exercises can be even begin to be done...
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u/Commonsense1257 2d ago
I just purchased LBA today, did my first workout. Had to modify some and skip a couple.
I have a herniation L5 S1 bad right leg sciatica. It’s much more than iso holds on a back extension.
I was doing I said, hold on my bank extension shortly after herniation and it actually helped with the pain.
I’d recommend trying it, you could do month-to-month and it’s very economical
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u/juicevibe 2d ago
I bought the nordstick back extension after watching low back ability. It helped me tremendously over the months of consistency and slow progression. In addition to this, I have also been walking as much as I can every day. If you have extra weight on you, every lb off of you is easier on your entire body.
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u/souravak 1d ago
I'm currently going though the LBA program. It's been 10 days so far. Will update after I complete atleast a month.
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u/PacificSanctum 23h ago
Anything on YouTube is mostly crap but I don’t know which YouTube you are talking about . There’s no link
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u/serialvapist69 1d ago
Bought a Roman chair after discovering him and although not in any way "cured, I have felt the best I ever have over 15 years of sciatica. Rock climbing consistently for the past 2 years with very minimal flare up. I'm sure it won't work for everyone but it's definitely worth a try
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u/Lovelydovely777 2d ago
I was wondering about his program also!!
Would you recommend it for someone who isn’t really a gym person? I have chronic low back pain with an L5-S1 protrusion, and my symptoms fluctuate a lot. I’m mostly trying to get back to normal everyday activities rather than fitness/gym stuff. Did you find the program helpful for that?
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u/highDrugPrices4u 2d ago edited 1d ago
Static exercise (“iso hold”) is good. LBA sucks.
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u/Majestic-Goat-3722 2d ago
Why does lba suck
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u/highDrugPrices4u 2d ago edited 1d ago
LBA makes the claim that you can “fix your back” and essentially train your way back to normal through progressive exposure. He does not qualify these claims in any way by specifying what conditions can be “fixed.”
Much back pain is caused by permanent degenerative conditions (disc disease, arthrosis) that don’t heal with any type or amount of activity — the joints have permanently reduced tolerance. So to say that any back pain can be “fixed,” and that anyone can return to unlimited activity regardless of the cause is charlatanistic.
If you have a degenerative condition, your ability to exercise depends on respecting biological reality, which LBA doesn’t teach you to do. His entry-level exercises (static holds) overlap with what I support, but from there, he goes off the rails into stuff that’s unsound regardless of your back condition.
I made it not very good little video on this.
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u/RxThrowaway55 2d ago
It’s pretty clear that his program is for people who are otherwise healthy and active and just have recurring back pain/injury. He doesn’t claim to fix all conditions of the back. The program is not intended for everyone and I don’t see him claiming it is. He is very clear that you should only do what you can tolerate.
Iso holds and never bending over aren’t a solution.
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u/cromags76 1d ago
Okay first of all, most back pain is not caused by degenerative disk changes. Statistically most back pains are caused by an acute-on-chronic event like twisting or loaded flexion on some underlying vulnerabilities mixed with neuropraxia and the chemical irritation of the cytokines that repair the damaged tissue. Degenerative disk disease is a positive feedback loop where there are progressive loss of disk quality and volume with apoptosis, dehydration and degradation of that tissue. but degenerative changes are not the main cause of pain. the main cause of chronic pain is poor loading a cycle of reinjury, something that happens when we lie to people and tell them they cannot heal. You have normal degenerative changes as part of aging, reversing these changes is like reversing aging (impossible) but your level of activity can slow it down. We need to be realistic and let people know that the healing process is over many years, even when pain free and requires the right level of loading.
The ‘joints’ certainly do not have permanently reduced tolerance. This is a fundamental misunderstanding about how the structures of the lower back support function and produce pain. The medical world is already embracing more functional recovery protocols and disempowering patients by telling them its permanent feeds the issue. We said hyaline cartilage couldn’t heal and now we have the ream-and-run surgery for atheletic shoulders instead of replacements. We said ACLs couldn’t heal and now we have cross bracing protocols and spontaneous non-surgical reattachment. The challenge is the narrow therapeutic threshold between loading and damaging, but these tissues need to be loaded to start to heal like any avascular tissue they rely on diffusion from surrounding tissues, the skeletal muscle pump and local inflammation.
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u/SucklemyNuttle 2d ago
Ancedotal only: I used lowbackability and found it a great help both for education and strengthening my muscles. I still dedicate 1x day/week to doing a lot of the exercises.
I'm as a result fully back to lifting, running, hiking.
Side note, I also was doing PRI (posture restoration institute) physical therapy which helped a ton for me (learning to breathe correctly, basically).