A Postural Alignment Specialist Is Begging You To Do *This* Before Core Exercises if You Have Back Pain

Im an Exercise PhysiologistHeres Why You Shouldnt Worry About Cortisol Spikes When You Do HIIT Workouts.

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My lumbar spine has always been a bit swayed.

(Which would be your butt, BTW.)

My husband knows that if theres anywhere Im going to ask for a massage, its my low back.

woman sweating in the gym

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All that arching leaves it constantly aching.

It makes a lot of sense becauseopposite your spine is your abs, she says.

Its not an entirely uninformed thought; its just an incomplete thought.

Woman walking on a treadmill at the gym.

Heres What Experts Say

Full body female athlete in sportswear using rowing machine during fitness workout in gym.

Thats because, she says, core work itself wont fix imbalances or asymmetries in your torso.

Weakness in the core is because of a misalignment, and you wanna address the misalignment first.

Emily DePauw

If you think a misalignment may be behind your own back pain, youre likely right.

Happy woman dancing and listening to music near a green empty wall outdoor in the city.

Its not that we need to beperfectlysymmetrical.

You just need to be functional, DePauw says.

That means balancing out any misalignments before working on things like core strength.

Healthy female training in the gym, performing a hip thrust.

After just a few days of regular practice, I noticed my lower back lying flatter against the ground.

I definitely am not villainizing abdominal work because its super helpful, super important.

You just wanna position yourself for success first.

A young black woman doing post-run stretches in the park on the road amidst green grass and trees.

Do this first, and then youre gonna get so much more juice from the squeeze.

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