Strategies for the Chronic Back Gripper

Do you ever have patients or even yourself, that are chronically gripping their back? Using their back muscles for practically everything? It's fairly common, but can get in the way of a very strong and thoughtful rehab program.

You've seen this before. Everything is braced, stiff and locked down — they are essentially planking through their entire day. In this episode, Erica breaks down this pattern, why it develops, and most importantly — how to change it. From using your environment and simple props to reduce guarding, to a practical exercise progression to retrain movement, this episode gives you a clear roadmap.   

This is a movement pattern we see frequently in clinical practice. But how do you train someone out of this habit? Take  squats, for example. Then squats, holding a pillow in front of you. Same movement, but you're holding onto a pillow to reduce some of your back gripping. Erica talks about how to develop a reference for center and some strategies for weightlifting when you're on a incline bench in the gym.

This is an important episode to listen to because this is such a common pattern and often prolongs rehab when not addressed early on.