A pig spine is dissected on video to investigate the potential dangers of squatting on the lumbar spine. Links to parts 1 and 2 are included in this article as well….

Thanks for the comment.

I have to admit that I haven’t done a great deal of reading on inversion therapy. However, IF it were effective for reducing lower back pain I would speculate that this is due to an acute decompression of the disc. I would also suspect that this would likely return when the discs lost their height again due to standing or any kind of compressive exercise.

If inversion therapy is of any use (and I can’t say at this point whether it is or isn’t), I would think that it should be used in conjunction with a reduction in compressive exercises and a comprehensive core strengthening program.

What do you think about inversion therapy? Keeping the spine neutral and hanging upside down?

Great videos. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

Omar

With regards to your clients, I believe that your job is to teach them what they should and should not be doing. After all, if they knew what was good for them, why would they be coming to you? Granted, you’ll always have those clients who are going to do what they’re going to do when they’re on their own, but if you believe in your philosophy you must stand behind it and make it clear that you don’t condone such exercises whether they are with you or not. Frankly, I don’t know what the benefit of doing 2-6 reps of flexion based exercises is going to do for them anyway. Tell them to spend the time on meal prep instead. I guarantee the results will come faster with that.

As for your thoughts on being “too conservative”, I can totally relate. Ultimately it comes down to your ability to assess a client (or yourself) to determine what the goals are and the fastest route there with the least risk. If someone wants to be a powerlifter they have to squat and deadlift. If someone just wants to get shredded do they NEED to squat or deadlift? I’m not saying they shouldn’t, but you need to evaluate why you’re including each and every exercise. If there is a faster and/or safer way…why not take it?

As you noted, I’m not totally anti-squat so the bilateral deficit could possibly decrease with some bilateral training in your programming. However, I’m not sure why it is so important to eliminate this deficit anyway. Does this improve sport performance in some way? Or hypertrophy? I’m not sure I’ve seen evidence of either. Granted, if you are a powerlifter this might apply, but in most other cases I don’t see a reason why this would be a concern.

I can’t speak for all powerlifters, but I know Dave himself has had a lot of injuries over his powerlifting career. Here is a list from “The Dave Tate Project – Part II” by John Berardi.

• Calves: I’ve torn both of them, leaving a huge indentation in each.

• Right Knee: Back in the late 80′s I strained my ACL and that left me on crutches for two weeks. I’ve had three other similar strains since that time.

• Right Hamstring: I tore this hamstring so badly that I nearly needed surgery to fix it.

• Left Knee: I’ve partially torn my patellar tendon. This wasn’t bad, pain-wise, but it did mess up my squatting for four months.

• Quad: I pulled my right quad in the early 90′s. It was so bad that it turned my entire leg black.

• Groin: I’ve injured my groin on both the right and left sides. This was a year of hell where there was nothing I could do to get it fixed. So I just wrapped it up and dealt with it. After a year it got better.

• Lower Abdominal: I tore my lower abdominal muscles seven years ago. I did this while squatting and it was perhaps the most painful injury I’ve ever had.

• Spine: The following discs are herniated: L4, L5, C4, C5. C4 and C5 left my hand numb for a few months. L4 and L5 occurred over 14 years ago and required me to take two months off training

• Intercostals: I’ve strained two on each side over the past ten years.

• Left pec: I tore this muscle at the tendon and needed surgery to repair it.

• Right pec: I tore this muscle in half but decided to not have surgery since the tendon was still attached.

• Both pecs: I’ve torn each at least 20 times and each time caused the entire pec to turn black and blue. All of these happened before the above pec injuries.

• Right shoulder: I’ve had a torn supraspinatus, bone spurs, and now have arthritis. I had this shoulder cleaned up with the AC shaved down to allow more movement, but am now experiencing almost all the same ailments in the same shoulder. Doctors are talking replacement.

• Left shoulder: This one also has arthritis, but isn’t as bad as the other.”

“Outside of one injury, I never took time off for any of them. I’d take painkillers and wrap the injury tight and keep pounding away. Now, I don’t say this to brag. Instead, I’m pointing all this out because I feel most of my injuries could’ve been avoided if I would’ve taken some time off to rehab them. Wrapping them up and pounding away probably lead to what I’m facing today.

So…I definitely wouldn’t say that Dave Tate is deliberately trying to promote exercises to destroy your body (because he would probably crush me), but the main focus of the exercises presented in the article certainly is not spinal health either. And I wouldn’t say that scientists are saying what powerlifters are doing to get strong is flat out wrong. For getting strong it might just be the best recipe you can create. If you want to be a powerlifter you HAVE to squat. But if we’re talking about spinal health, heavy squats and flexion based core training is not the best path (in my opinion).

Note that I’m not totally against spinal compression or squats either. I just think that people who are seeking to improve sport performance or to look better need to evaluate potiental risks and rewards. Then, when adding squats in, programming intelligently.

I hope that makes sense!

Thank you for your educational information! I have just finished watching the Functional Strength Coach 3 DVD set and enjoyed it a great deal. Your comments as well as Boyle’s and McGill’s make a lot of sense. Everyone says well we have been squatting for x years and we have not been hurt, well the information is clear, end plate fractures occur under compressive loads, just because you didn’t get hurt yet doesn’t mean you wont. My personal analogy then is that If we operate under that immediate cause and effect line of thinking then we would also measure fat loss after every workout and muscle gain after every workout and conclude that because we did not gain or lose a significant amount that working out is pointless, however we view it as a cumulative effect, we need to take that mentality to the spine as well.
Thank you for all the good info! All the best. Pete