8 Steps To A Pain-Free Back

For the Dan John Book Club March selection, I read 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot (Remember When It Didn't Hurt). The book looks at posture and its link to lower back pain in modern society and offers simple, effective advice for improving the way you lie, sit, walk, lift, and feel. The only ding I have would be the 500 annoying testimonials sprinkled throughout the book - beyond that, I found it to be an easy read with lessons, drills, and exercises that can be applied immediately. The 8 lessons are (in this order): stretchsitting, stretchlying on your back, stacksitting, stretchlying on your side, using your inner corset, tallstanding, hip-hinging, and glidewalking.

I would say that nothing was particularly surprising to me, but sometimes, even when you "know", it requires being relayed in a certain way to really, really sink in. Take hip hinging, for example - I've known about hip hinging for a long time and it's something we all do when we do proper squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, kettlebell swings, etc. But, reading Esther Gokhale's explanations and seeing the pictures and visuals presented brought me a few ah-has. Should we/I hip hinge when we/I pick things off the floor? Is it "natural" to do so even when the weight is ridiculously light? How might I lifestyle coach someone who spends an hour or two a week with me in the weight room, and the other 166 hours a week sitting, standing and carrying on about their business looking like they are hunchbacks in pain? Your answers to these questions may change after reading this book.

I'd say this book is a "should have" if you or someone you work with suffers from back issues, and a "must-have" if you are someone who suffers from back issues AND poor posture.

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