Morning Routine: Morning Miracle Savers for Back Health and Daily Routine Examples for Optimal back Health

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Welcome to the Back Pain Solutions Podcast – Morning Routine: Morning Miracle Savers for Back Health and Daily Routine Examples for Optimal back Health

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Introducing Morning Routine: Morning Miracle Savers for Back Health and Daily Routine Examples for Optimal back Health

Many back pain sufferers report waking with pain, or experiencing tightness, in the lower back when they first rise in the morning. But why is that the case, and why should we be mindful of our back health when we wake, after all we’ve been off our feet all night?! Are people taking conscious action to set themselves up for the day ahead when considering their back health? Are you doing anything to manage your back pain first thing in the morning? Have you ever stopped to question this?

In this episode we talk about the risks to back health during the first 30 minutes of the day and discuss why people often suffer from discomfort during this time. We discuss the key considerations to be aware of during the early part of the day so you can limit your risk. Furthermore, we highlight the risks of employing stretching exercises to the low back and help to identify some powerful exercises that can set you up for the day ahead. We also demystify the time input required to take some conscious action during the start of the day and challenge you to implement some of these concepts over the next few days so you can take control of your back pain and get back to the activities you love.

Some of the things you’ll discover…

• Why many people suffer from morning back pain and things you should avoid during the first 30 minutes of the day.
• Why walking could be the tonic you need to start your day off the right way.
• Healthy back workout routines, and exercises, that will set you up for the day ahead.
• Morning stretches for low back pain and why you should avoid them. 
• Understanding the relevance of tightness in the lower back when you wake.
• That you only need a small amount of time to complete some key exercises that will help to build healthy movement, and core strength

Show Highlights

There are some fundamental principles that you can employ during the start of the day that could have a hugely beneficial impact on your spine health. You don’t need to dedicate a large part of the morning in order to do this but investing just 7-10 minutes each morning can set you up for the day ahead, providing a platform for your rehabilitation. The key is to make a conscious, and sustained, commitment to implement some simple strategies so you benefit over the long term, build your resilience and significantly reduce the risk of recurrence.

Interview Transcription

Unknown Speaker 0:00
When we’re young, we move with freedom and confidence with a great resilience to injury. But somewhere along the line we develop poor habits and become more vulnerable to back pain. Back Pain solutions features evidence based and practical advice to help you take back control of your health and get back to the activities you love. This is your guide to better back health through movement. So join us as we demystify some of the commonly held beliefs about back pain and build your confidence to a stronger back the smart way.

Ben James 0:28
Okay, welcome back to the back pain solutions podcast Everybody with me, Ben James and my co host Jacob stain. We’re back. Following a few solo episode one Jacob thing seems to have survived and we’re back together this morning to talk about morning routine and the importance of the morning routine. Why it is relevant. Why back pain risks. First thing in the morning or a problem? what people are doing consistently wrong and what people need to do every morning to start the day with a healthy backup routine and for those listening, you may be aware of the global sensation that was the Miracle Morning popularized by Hal Elrod, and it’s changed a lot of lives for the better. But how can we apply those kind of principles of consciousness and create a Miracle Morning for back pain sufferers across the world because it is important if you to start your day off well when recovering from back injury and back pain. So that’s a focus of the podcast today and why not start Jacob? By talking about your morning routine, my morning routine? What do we do that that kind of sets us up for the day as it were with with regards back health What are your first steps when you get out of bed in the morning?

Jacob Steyn 1:41
So my first steps are the the consciousness that I give to the movement that I makes that I make when I actually step out of bed. And then I you know, I think of the spinal hygiene aspect of not bending down and picking stuff up the floor, because I know that’s gonna increase the pressure in my lower back. And so you know, that’s something I keep in mind. And then I go and have some water, maybe go to the toilet, and after a few minutes, not too long, then I will actually get down and start doing my exercises that forms part of my morning routine.

Ben James 2:26
Okay, and that getting out of bed, I want to focus on that initially. Is it a conscious movement when you get out of bed now? Or is it kind of unconscious because you’re kind of so well trained to keep that back? neutral? That you kind of do it without thinking? Because I think that’s one thing for a lot of people initially, there’s a lot that is got to be applied from a consciousness point of view to really think about that movement. And that’s got to tell people that’s got to be trained. It’s got to become subconscious. It’s not going to become part of your current neurology, so you just do it for want of a better term.

Jacob Steyn 3:01
Yeah, exactly. I think that the more you do it, the less you have to think about it, right? I tell my patients, you always have to be conscious about it, you’re gonna have to keep it in the back of your head. And you can’t let it go completely unexpected. They happen hundred percent naturally. You You have to be aware that that’s what you want to do. And that’s how you want to treat your back. But I really have to give it minimal thought it’s it is something that just happens in a way without thinking about it.

Ben James 3:37
Yeah, Yeah.

Jacob Steyn 3:38
You know what I mean? I mean, I don’t completely not give it any thought I have to I have to be a little bit aware.

Ben James 3:44
Yeah, there’s a there’s an awareness. Yeah, I was gonna say there’s an awareness. But every now and again, you might, you know, as a patient, you might kind of slip into a bad movement but you catch yourself and you suddenly it’s it’s that consciousness of saying hang on was moving well, and was I moving as I need to move, to keep that back to keep that back safe. So now that’s interesting point because I think from my point of view as well, you know, and particularly now with, with having a young daughter, and in a cast, we mentioned on a previous episode that my daughter’s got hip dysplasia, so she’s currently in a cast. Now, first thing in the morning, one of the first things I do is going to her when she wakes, and so you’ve got to be really super careful at that point lifting a child with or without cast is quite a weight, particularly first thing in the morning when we are vulnerable. And that’s something that I’ve really had to be conscious of in terms of keeping that back in neutral. And one piece of advice that I will give anybody with, with children and Jacob you you no doubt have thought this or maybe not consciously so. But if that cot height if the height of that cot or the edge of the cot is above your hips, very very challenging to keep your back in neutral and get that baby out of the cot. So what you might want to think about is having some form of platform so that you can stand up and get your hip height above the edge of the cot. Because at least that, that way, you can keep that back in neutral and move from the hips, which is so fundamentally important. Without that you’ve got to bend your spine over the edge of the cut to get there, the child out and that is going to be a huge problem, particularly first thing in the morning for back pain sufferers in disc injuries. Huge issue.

Jacob Steyn 4:18
Now that’s a very good one. I haven’t thought about that. And where were our cortisol still quite high, because our little ones, even half months, he cannot stand up yet. I suppose that’s going to happen soon. Yeah, that’s a good one. And yeah, just getting back to the consciousness aspect of of your movement. You The more you do something in a good way in terms of your movement, the more you strengthen the, the communication between the brain and the muscles that you need to make that movement, so the easier it gets. And that’s the goal is to use all the muscles properly that you need in order to stabilize whatever needs to be stabilized during that movement. And, and that’s what you achieve when you keep making the same movement over and over and over and over in the correct way. And that provides you the stability and the protection to either recover from your back injury or to maintain good back health.

Ben James 6:38
Absolutely, yeah. I mean, the movement aspect of the kind of physical side of it is is huge. And the other the other point of it, you know, back to this kind of Miracle Morning, the way I introduced the show there is positivity, you know, if you’re not in that positive mindset when you wake or trying to get into that positive mindset, you know, is going to impact the ability to rehabilitate and get better and get better quickly, you’ve got to believe you can get better. Yes, you’ve got to do the right things in order to do so. But you’ve got to believe that you can get better. So starting off with a positive attitude is actually quite a fundamental piece of advice to try and get into that mindset. And with the right information with support from the website that we’ve gotten the information we share, hopefully, we’re starting to get people to see that with the correct movement with the correct habits with the correct spine hygiene, you will and can get better. So believe that you can be positive but absolutely be conscious and thoughtful of those movements, particularly first thing in the morning. And we’ve said this time and time again in the first half hour of the day, that despite reduces significantly, you know, gets very hydrated overnight. And then that hydration over time the the pressure of gravity by standing pushes that fluid out the disks and at that point, you’re losing despite so it is vulnerable first thing in the morning so there’s conscious movements are hugely, hugely important at that time in the day. So, Jacob, you mentioned exercises, what are some of the exercises you do? Do you do them within the first half hour of the day? And if so, why are they safe? Do you walk before you do those exercises? What are some of the things that you’re doing exercise wise?

Jacob Steyn 8:20
I because my back is doing quite well these days. I because I think most of you will know from the previous podcasts that I had a very bad back injury and it took me a while to recover from that and that’s how I learned so much about my own back health. But these days, it’s going really well with my back so I don’t have to take too much care with getting up and moving for the first half an hour, 45 minutes before I do my exercises. I don’t have to decompress too much. I if I start early in the morning and I have to be at work at half past seven then I’ll do my exercises quite soon after getting up. Maybe 15 minutes after getting up. And that goes and works really well for myself. So I thought I’d just go ahead and tell you what I do then.

Ben James 9:12
Yeah, go for it. I’m interested to know what what, what exercises you do. Do you do them every morning? And do you do them even if you’re going to be doing another workout later on in the day, maybe at the gym?

Jacob Steyn 9:24
Yeah. So I have a fixed morning routine that I do, I do four exercises, three of them. Three of these exercises are specific for my back. And I do those regardless whether I’m going to train late in the day. And this I do to prepare my body for my work. Because as a chiropractor, we we bend over a lot. We have to lunge we shift from one leg to the other, twisting through the hip. So there’s a lot of movement going through the body throughout the day. And so I don’t want to throw myself into that position of having to treat patients and exert force through my core and through my hips if I haven’t actually turned on the muscles and and woken up the communication between my brain and these muscles to protect my spine especially. So I start in the morning with first of all, I start with the bird dog. So I’ll get on my hands and knees or get going with a bird dog. I’ll do five to 10 second holds three to five times each side. And then I go into the side plank, I do the sideline, hip thrusts, which is you know, on the bottom leg, I pull my knee up and then the top leg I push my knee forward, almost like I’m running on my side. I’m running on my elbow and on my knee. This is probably my back my favorite exercise because it it wakes up the quadratus lumborum, the QL on the side of my low backthe big Muscle next to my spine, my low back spine and it also wakes up my glute Med, so the, you know the one of my bump my my buttock muscles that really protects my hip or get me to use my hips more. So taking away work from my lower back and I always feel great after doing this exercise, I feel immediate stabilization in my lower back and then the third exercise I do is the McGill crunch. And so the mcgill crunch is a very safe small situp where I keep my upper back on the floor. I don’t actually come with my upper back off the floor and I maintain a neutral low back spine so I don’t push my low back into the floor. I I perform this with my hands underneath my low back, elbows off the floor for my lungs. And then I really push with my diaphragm everything downtowards my pelvis so I create this really good bracing effect which I hold for five seconds. And then I breathe, breathe out for another five seconds through pursed lips. And I do five of those. And then I repeat that whole those three exercises I repeat twice. I make two rounds of it. And I do another simple push up plus on my hands and feet, just to warm up my shoulders, because we work a lot with our shoulders. And, you know, we twist our arms in the past I’ve had impingement. And I just warm up my shoulder. So I stay away from any of those injuries.

Ben James 12:38
Yeah, and I think the key point here is, though, that despite the fact that you’re you’re rehabilitated now and that that low back injury that you suffered some time ago, is is healed and under control. You still religiously do these exercises every single morning. So it’s become a lifestyle choice. And I think that’s the key. It’s got to be, it’s got to be a preventative not just a, let’s get out of pain. This has got to be a preventative approach. And I think this is one of the big problems that we we have in society today is that we’re very reactive. We’re not proactive. We need to start looking at preventative medicine. And and this is a good example of that, whereby, yes, you’ve had a problem that you’ve reacted to. But now, you’re doing what you need to do to prevent that problem coming back again. And I think this is what people where people miss the rehabilitation and the long term mindset. It’s, it’s going through the daily chores or challenges, which let’s face it shouldn’t take too long. And what’s it take you 15-20 minutes maybe?

Jacob Steyn 13:41
It takes me seven minutes.

Ben James 13:44
Seven minutes. So seven minutes of work first thing to get your body ready for the day. But the impact that’s having in terms of preventing any issue coming back again, and the pain and the frustration of that is huge. And so there’s a lesson for everybody that don’t just focus on getting out of pain now and then you can go back to everything that you did before and you don’t have to think about it again. Let’s prevent the problem coming back, build that strength, build that endurance, build that healthy routine. To make yourself strong in the long term, there’s got to be a better approach for sure.

Jacob Steyn 14:23
I want to say on Add to that the mental aspect that you mentioned before, I found since I’ve been doing this, the preparation I do or I get from it mentally is huge. You know, I, I feel so good after my exercises, I after that I do a cold shower and I’m awake, I’m ready to go and now in the summer I sit outside for 10 minutes or so I have my breakfast there on the side of the of my apartment where the sun comes up. And. But after my exercises, my body feels good. You know I can I can pick up the little one and I can I’m prepared, I’m ready when I get in the car. And this is usually after I’ve had a very busy previous day at work. So that yesterday, you know, I got back from holiday, I had a massive Monday. I worked the whole day. And, you know, then usually your body’s pretty broken the next day. And I did my exercises and I, you know, I felt ready. So, later on today, I’ll get back to patients and and I don’t have to think about my body twice in terms of will it, will it support me throughout the day? I just have confidence.

Ben James 15:36
Yeah, and I think I echo what you say about that that kind of positivity, you know, from from a personal point of view, I do very similar exercises, I add in the baby getup for the for my right shoulder where I had a bit of impingement previously and just want to keep on top of that. I find that a really useful exercise for the shoulder stability that we we talked about before and also some stability work on my..on my feet because as we know, how as you know, the my feet intrinsically a pretty weak and that’s something that really has had to be a, again a lifestyle choice to try and build up that strength and build up that stability because again, they’re such an important foundation for for healthy movement. So, but I feel so good after you feel just much more prepared ready alert for the day and similar here I’ve I do the cold shower routine. And again, find some of the information read about Wim Hof and other popular programs but a lot of people a lot of friends kind of react is how do you do the cold shower. But again, it’s just so invigorating to get you prepared not just physically but mentally for the day and you just feel so much better having that morning routine that you know is healthy, you know is preparing yourself physically and mentally for the day ahead. You find your far more focused and far more effective as a result, I find and I think that is the mistake a lot of people make because they’re setting an alarm. And particularly in winter when it’s when it’s dark, or those colder mornings, those wet mornings, you set an alarm you roll out of bed, or a lot of times, as we’ve talked about before you throw yourself at a bed which is not healthy for the back. It’ll be straight into the shower or potentially straight down, sit in for breakfast, jump in the shower, jump in the car off to work, not just physically detrimental, but mentally, you know, stressful. So, if you have to set your alarm a little bit earlier, then set your alarm a little bit earlier. But take the challenge over the next five days to try and follow a similar process. As we’ve just said, think about the way you get out of bed. Think about the movements for the first half hour and don’t necessarily do do the exercises which you will find on www.smartstrong.co.uk you’ll find information there and on our YouTube channel, you’ll find some of these exercises which you can use as a guide, as well as looking at our ebook which you can get free on the website. But if it’s not doing exercises initially, then go for a walk, you know, I find that taking a walk as well as is really, really beneficial mentally and physically just to get that back move in. And again, if you are suffering from pain, walking is probably a better thing to do initially before looking to introduce some of those exercises, because you really want to decompress that spine first thing in the morning. But take the challenge over the next three to five days. Just say it so I’m going to set my alarm 20 minutes earlier, I’m going to think consciously about getting out of bed and keeping that spine in neutral. And I’m going to go for a walk before then taking a shower and easing myself into my day. I’m not going to get in my car for the first 30 minutes. As we’ve said before, don’t sit down in a car in a stooped, slouched position first thing. Give yourself time to ease into the day. And you’ll feel not just physically but mentally better. And that will really help set you up for the day. And that’s one of the things I think Jacob, you know, consistently find that patients do wrong, that there’s no real thought process into that morning routine, there’s no real thought process into what they’re doing first thing in the morning, that is impacting their back health.

Jacob Steyn 19:20
Yeah. I can’t agree more. That’s, that, that’s totally my point of view as well. And I, I with a lot of my patients, I encourage them and I helped them through a morning routine, especially when we reach a point where it’s going much better with him. And quite often I have patients, you know, they’ve they’ve fallen back two or three times after being recovered. They, you know, they, they get back into their busy lifestyle work and kids and you know, they they want to do everything they can, but if you give them the understanding of you do these exercises in the morning you’re going to feel much better and you’re going to most likely prevent anything bad from happening unless you go do something silly. And they get it and especially once they’ve have after they’ve fallen back a couple of times, they they don’t want that anymore. And they attach so much value to being able to pick up the kids or you know, or or drive somewhere without having a back hurting and so then they they get into the morning routine and I think it’s, I think for people listening to this when you have had similar experiences to to some of my patients or myself, you are able to attach value to what we’re telling you today so much easier. And for those people who haven’t gone through with and really see the need for this. I would just but you have a little bit of backache and maybe you have you know you will you’re prioritizing your body in other ways. I would suggest you go and try what we suggest create a morning routine. Like I said, you know, seven minutes, no more than 10 minutes and just see what it does for you. Just try it out.

Ben James 21:13
Yeah, exactly, exactly. I think it really it is about taking, taking ownership, as we said before, and trying to take in a bit of a challenge. See it as a challenge. If you listen to this episode, say well, over the next three to five days, I’m going to, I’m going to do it, I’m going to see how it makes me feel I’m going to see how it makes my backfield. And, you know, it’s it’s a progressive thing. This is why it’s it’s always recommended from our point of view that, you know, even patients when they when they’re getting better when they’re feeling that that pain is is decreasing, and we want to see them to make sure there’s accountability. We can help to progress those exercises, change those exercises, keep them doing that, that morning routine. These things are so fundamentally important for long term back health. It can’t be a short sighted. I want to get out of pain and once I’m out of pain, I’m okay again because the reason you’re in pain in the first place for the majority, for the vast percentage of people, is it’s a progressive identity or repetitive action that has caused that problem. And for most people, they’re not going to change their jobs. And so they’re going to be vulnerable to that back pain again, at some point, if something doesn’t change. Now, you may have got that advice, you may got a passive treatment, maybe doing a few exercises, but don’t stop them. And the morning routine is a great opportunity to really set yourself up. And if you and look we say it doesn’t need to take long, but it can have a fundamental impact on your back health. So the recommendations really, if you’re suffering from pain now, it’s think about how you get out of bed, as we’ve said before, because the first 30 minutes of the day, you’re really vulnerable. And don’t just throw yourself out of bed. Think consciously about how you keep that back neutral, how you brace those abdominal muscles, as we talked about previously. And again, over on the website is information on that term. Keep that spine in neutral as you get in that bed. And then don’t sit for the first 30 minutes a day, maybe go for a walk. Think about first 30 minutes before you get in the car. And then gradually as that pain starts to settle as you’re thinking about it throughout the day and you think about your spine, hygiene and health throughout the day, then the morning routine can start introduce some exercises, exercises that have been demonstrated research and evidence are safe for the back. But help build core strength help to build up endurance which over the long term is going to help stabilize the low back and the spine. So you don’t need to do exercises now. But in the next three to five days, really think about that morning routine and getting out at a minimum and having maybe a 10-15 minute walk, intentional walk, so that you really get in that co-activation of the muscles which will help stabilize, stabilize the back and you will feel so so so much better for it and the cold shower is another, another episode I think, Jacob and that, you know, the benefits of that. And maybe that’s something that we’ll, we’ll touch on and do an episode at some point because again, it seems a bit of a shock and surprise to a lot of people a thought of doing that first thing in the morning again, particularly when it’s dark or wet but if you employ a certain method and you and you ease yourself into it, then you really will awaken to to its benefits. But hey, that’s another episode. I think, some good points there, just in the short episode is that our first episode back together just to give you some insights into our morning routine, what we do to look after our low backs on what you should be doing, because again, it is down to you to help yourself, get out of this back problem. And if that means the pain of getting up a little bit earlier, then that’s what you need to do, but it will have a huge impact on your back health. So really take that challenge over the next three to five days and give it a go, Jacob Anything to add on this episode? Or is it clear?

Jacob Steyn 25:03
I think we’ve set it. Let’s, let’s end it there.

Ben James 25:06
Okay, guys, well listen, as always head on over to the www.smartstrong.co.uk website, you can always leave us a message there on the Contact Us page. If you want to ask any specific questions, download our ebook, it’s free, there’s an opportunity there to really understand a lot of the problems people face, a lot of the exercises are going to be of benefit to you. So take advantage of that. Give us some feedback. We’re getting some good feedback on that ebook, which is great. It’s really helping a lot of people out and as always, head on over to iTunes, give the show a rating. Get in touch. It really helps spread the message, spread the word and we really appreciate that the messages and the feedback we’re getting so far. Jacob thank you again And guys, we’ll see you on the next show.

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