You’ve probably seen the stats, that 80% of adults in the U.S. will experience back pain at some point in their lives, and in many cases recurring pain. The impact on quality of life and productivity are immense, and yet many causes of back pain are related to lifestyle habits and poor posture.

I’ve found that my multi-disciplinary experience as a personal trainer / corrective exercise specialist / yoga instructor has been incredibly helpful to 1) recognize my clients’ limitations caused by back pain in the lumbar region, 2) helping my clients work out safely by providing safe alternatives and precise cueing on muscle engagement and joint alignment, and 3) rebalancing the pain-inducing imbalances by targeting the local stabilizers, in particular the transverse abdominus and the multifidi.

For example, the concepts of “locks” or “bandhas” are typically taught to intermediate and advanced yoga students. Two commonly-used bandhas are the “Uddiyana Bandha” which helps lift the diaphragm and support the lower back by drawing the navel in and up, and “Mula Bandha” which by lifting the pelvic floor helps provide stability in the SI joint and lower back.

A very boiled-down version of the Uddiyana Bandha would be a cue to “engage your core,” which as a personal trainer, I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve said. However, true mastery of Uddiyana Bandha creates what I describe as an internal airbag for your spine, to help create lift and space between the vertebrae, rather than just squeezing your navel toward your spine. The axial extension created by Uddiyana Bandha is a concept that’s missing from many personal training and corrective exercise regimens that focus on mitigating lower back pain through fixing imbalances in the other three main planes (sagittal, frontal, and transverse).

If you experience lower back pain and are cleared by your physician to engage in physical activity, I strongly recommend that you take a multi-disciplinary approach to your workouts as well. There are so many approaches, and each is right in its own way. Whether you gather a cadre of fitness specialists in different fields as your trainers, or if you pick one trainer who has multiple areas of expertise, you will mostly likely be best served by enjoying the benefit of multiple perspectives and approaches being utilized in designing your exercise program.

Bio: Judy Kuan is passionate about creating effective and addictive exercise programs for all levels. She is the creator of Kick-HIIT™, a fusion of HIIT and Martial Arts workouts. Judy is a NASM-certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist, a RYT-200 yoga instructor (RYT-500 almost completed!), and a blackbelt in Taekwondo. She also creates educational fitness content for kids at www.AdventuretoFitness.com. You can reach her at judy@fitphile.com.