back pain

Are Sit-Ups Bad? YES! Hear Me Out

Sit ups…..I remember doing so many during grade school and beyond. They were a staple in PE, sports practice, and also in my first home exercise routines. I did a LOT of sit-ups before the age of 18 and I am well experienced with this exercise.

Then there was a workout that changed my life forever. When I was 16 years old I was doing a workout that included box jumps. During my last jump down from a big wooden box something strange and unexpected occurred. A lightening bolt of pain struck my low back. OUCH! I was down on the ground confused and full of fear. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just created a disc bulge. My disc was out of place and it was touching a nerve. This created a lot of pain and made walking near impossible for a time.

Why me? Why did jumping down from a box create a disc bulge?…. It all comes down to anatomy, physics, and time.

The human spine has the potential to have a great range of motion despite the fact that no one segment has a large range of motion. When all the segments move together, this creates the ability for sit-ups, back arching, and other motions (including the ones found in circus acts…). Sit-ups are a flexion based exercise that takes the spine through a large range of motion. What is missed by many that love sit-ups is that not all segments of the spine are equal.

The middle back (known as the thoracic spine) has ribs attached to each vertebrae. This makes the middle back more stable than the lower back (the lumbar spine) which do not have ribs attached. Instead the low back vertebra are stabilized by muscles (the ab muscles…the six pack). So, at a baseline the lumbar vertebrae and discs are more unstable than the rest of the spine because it carries much more load than the neck and it does not have ribs attached like the middle back. Therefore, the low back does not have the capacity to withstand a lot of load over time when motion is added compared to the middle back.

If you want to injure the human lumbar spine, sit-ups are a great way to do it. This was demonstrated in labs that took cadaver spines (from pigs) through the sit-up motion. Disc damage was created. The research did not stop there. The same thing was shown in living humans!

(Yates, Justin P. MSc; McGill, Stuart M. PhD. The Effect of Vibration and Posture on the Progression of Intervertebral Disc Herniation. Spine: March 1, 2011 - Volume 36 - Issue 5 - p 386-392)

Sit-ups are indeed a very good exercise to work the abdominal muscles. However, sit-ups are one of the highest “tax” body weight exercises there is. Yes, sit-ups will give you stronger muscles, but they will weaken your spine and will likely cause back pain. This is what happened to me. All the sit-ups I performed as a youth slowly weakened the collagen around my disc and made it more vulnerable to injury.

When I jumped off that big wooden box when I was 15 years old, my collagen was already cracked and weak. The force of jumping down caused the “dam” to rupture sending me on a near 15 year journey into chronic low back pain. In short, I would not recommend classic sit-ups as an acceptable exercise for most people. There are many other exercises that work the core FAR BETTER than a sit-up that have little to no spine tax.

More on this subject coming soon in part 2….


Ready to build your body while sparing your spine?  Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program. The content of this blog is for educational purposes only. You are responsible for the outcomes for the use, misuse, or lack of use of the information presented in this blog.

Powerful Posture

Pic from cindy.ocliw.com

Pic from cindy.ocliw.com

Have you noticed that almost ALL modern humans have a bent over fin?

It is called bad posture. This includes rounded shoulders, a forward head, and a compressed spine.

If you have not noticed how most people have this abnormal posture, don’t feel bad. It is so prevalent that it is easy to miss because it is so common. Orcas in captivity probably don’t notice how they all have bent over fins because they almost always have bent over fins.

We look the same, so this must be how we are, right? What is abnormal becomes common. Soon we all forget what normal is supposed to be.

The biggest culprit to why humans have forward head posture and rounded shoulders is because we spend so many hours using technology and reading books in the same position…..and this position is usually a bad one.

Here is a video Avie (my daughter) and I created to inspire people to use different postures when they use their technology and read books. I hope you find it helpful and put it to use.

Are you ready to get your neck and shoulders in balance?  Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program. The content of this blog is for educational purposes only. You are responsible for the outcomes for the use, misuse, or lack of use of the information presented in this blog.


Low Back Care Basics

70-80% of Adults in modern countries experience low back pain at some point in their lives.

70-80% of Adults in modern countries experience low back pain at some point in their lives.

Here is a short video explaining how most sore backs do NOT want to be stretched out. Yes I know it feels good in the moment.

Check it out:

Are you ready to get your back in shape?  Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program. The content of this blog is for educational purposes only. You are responsible for the outcomes for the use, misuse, or lack of use of the information presented in this blog.

Post Surgical Back Pain to Mission Trip

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I first met this amazing lady named Sylvia 3+ years ago. When we first started working together, she was quickly losing her ability to walk because of back pain (post surgical back pain). She could barely walk to her mailbox and was getting used to the idea of using a walker and wheelchair.

A few months after she started training with me her pain greatly decreased and she got her ability to walk back. Sylvia was so happy to stand on her own two feet again! She turned into a long term client and continues to progress in her fitness despite some setbacks and challenges.

She is now fit enough to pursue one of her dreams. Sylvia went on an international mission trip.

I received this email when she was out of the country:

“We are back from building our first house! I want you to know I kept up with everyone! I’ll have pictures when everyone shares their photos. We carried all the tools hat we needed to build the house: two ladders, three drills, chain saw, skill saw, hammers, shovel, three post hole diggers, hammers, nails, etc. The tin and wood were already on site. The hill was a “road” with LOTS of deep ruts, very slippery, it had poured the night before, 200-300 yards long, VERY steep. The guys said it was probably longer that two football fields. I carried a hoe/pick about 6 foot long, which helped me from slipping. It must have weight 10-20 pounds. This was going down. I didn’t carry anything but my back pack climbing back up, It was harder to breathe coming back up, then I learned we were 7,000 ft about sea level! But I kept up with everyone pretty good. I recovered quickly anyway!
I would never had made it without your exercises! Thank you for that!
The first day it poured going to the mission house about 1:30 drive. And like normal, in a third world country, when it really storms the power goes out, so we could not shower, flush toilets, no WiFi, etc. But it came on about 2:30 in the morning. WiFi came on a little later. Supper is ready for us now, we have WiFi here at the mission house.

Hi to everyone!”

Fitness is freedom. It is hard to live one’s life purpose without strength, health, and energy!

Are you ready to pursue your goals? Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.

Karen's Back Mechanics Lesson

Back pain…it is an energy vampire. Having health and fitness requires a back that is conditioned to accept movement, load, and life. The large majority of adults will experience back pain sometime in their life. For some people their pain becomes chronic. It starts to greatly effect what they can do both inside and outside the gym.

Luckily, a great deal of time and research has been done on the biomechanics of back pain. I find that when clients learn the reason why their back hurts and what causes their pain everything changes. The thought of their pain mysteriously “coming and going” is replaced with an understanding of pain triggers and how to avoid them. In this video a client talks about modifications we made outside of the gym so she could get out of her back pain woes and start working out again. Building strength and fitness on top of a happy back has changed her life!

If you need help with your back and how to navigate fitness with back issues, contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.