Why Do Our Backs Hurt? - Dr Stuart McGill - #081

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hi friends, welcome back to Modern Wisdom. My guest today is none other than Dr. Stuart McGill. He is one of the world's leading researchers into back pain. He's worked with top flight athletes in pretty much every sport in the world, from powerlifting to CrossFit, NFL, NHL, gymnasts, yogis and even MMA. When world squat record holder Brian Carroll shattered his sacrum and his L5, Dr. McGill was the guy who we went to to not only get him pain free, but to also take him back to fitness so that he could re-break his own squat record. So my point is that if anybody understands how the complex system that is the spine works, it's Dr. McGill. Today we're talking about why spines are so problematic, how we can mitigate the effects of office work and being sedentary or sat down for most of the day, what Dr. McGill's thoughts are on CrossFit as a training methodology and for spinal health, his favorite rehab exercises including the genesis of the legendary Big Three for back, and so much more. I'm certain that this is going to be an absolute hit with a lot of people who suffer with back pain or know someone who does. So, very fortunately, I have linked up with The Protein Works to incentivize you to give the episode a little share. I massively appreciate all of the support that I get and I wanted to give something back to those of you who helped to spread the message of the podcast. So, listen to the first 30 seconds and you can find out how you can win over 100 pounds of free Protein Works supplements. All you need to do is, well, just listen. Fuck it, I'll stop talking. Dr. Stuart McGill, take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. This episode is brought to you by The Protein Works. I'm very happy to be supported by them again for this episode. They're giving away over 100 pounds of supplements, and all that you need to do to enter is share this episode. I'm absolutely certain it's going to be a massive help to a lot of people. So find a friend that you think would be interested, fire it in a group chat, or feel free to post on your socials. All that you need to do is then send me a screenshot or at ChrisWillX on whatever social media you want. Find me a screenshot or tag me in your share and I will pick someone over the next week and I'll announce that before next Monday. But on to today's guest, Dr. Stuart McGill. We are getting fully spinal today, aren't we? How are you? Welcome to the show.

**Stuart McGill** (2:50)
Well, I'm well, Chris, how about you?

**Chris Williamson** (2:53)
I'm fantastic, thank you. I've been looking forward to this episode for as long as I can remember. I posted it in the gym Facebook group, asking if they had any questions. So we've got crowdsourced questions about spinal health.

**Stuart McGill** (3:08)
All right.

**Chris Williamson** (3:10)
It's going to be a good one today. So first off, I guess, I posted in the group, a perfect example, posted in the group and a lot of people had questions. Why is it that for people who take care of their health and fitness, spines are so problematic?

**Stuart McGill** (3:27)
Well, I could go so many ways with that question. But I think it's because it's so difficult to do things without a robust back. Think of all the things we do. They all involve the back. So I guess that's why they're problematic. But I can be a bit more specific. And that is if we subcategorized spines and people, we would converge on common patterns. And if we did a little bit of pattern recognition, we'd notice some real cause and effect. For example, athletic groups are really fun to study. But there are certain athletes in sports where they just clearly have an underperforming core. They spend a lot of time on other parts of their body. But the demands on their spines simply outpace the foundation that they've built. And they end up with either injury or pain or compromised performance or any of those. But in the general public, why are spines so problematic? Look at our lives. You know, I started as a professor 34 years ago. Computers weren't even invented yet. We would spend time walking down halls, meeting with our colleagues and doing our clinic work and our lab work. Within those 32 years, something happened. I became a computer operator. Students no longer wanted to come to office hours. They would send an email and I'd say, I don't do emails, which you better come and we'll have some hands on. But you know, it was just, I became a computer operator. Now that is, you know, I had a good back, but sitting all day gave me back pain. So this is why I think it's problematic to use your words. And then the solution became, well, now you've become a slave to your chair and your computer for 8 or 10 hours. Now you're going to blow out all of the stress one hour at the gym. So let's compound the biological perturbation here. And people would start treating their spinal joints because they were locked up all day at the computer like ball and socket joints, but they're not. Biologically, they're an adaptable fabric made of collagen strands held together with a ground substance. And they follow different rules. So, you know, there's all kinds of other downsides to sitting a lot. Your hips get stiff. Well, mobile, powerful hips are one of the secrets of skillful athletic performance and spine-sparing strategies. So, are people undoing the chronic adaptations and stress in their hips when they go to the gym? Sometimes, they do the opposite.