This is the follow-up to the last post and determining your "Biering-Sorensen" number. What was it? Biering-Sorensen (1984), and numerous others since then, have found that the 'magic' or optimal number is 4 minutes. When the subject was able to sustain the isometric hold out flat for 4 minutes or greater, their risk of developing back pain for up to a year following was significantly reduced.
This is a tremendous finding!
With only practicing a simple exercise and only being able to do that simple exercise for 4 minutes, one can significantly reduce their risk of getting back pain.
Think about that... If you were to ask anyone with acute back pain, which so many of us have had, if they would trade their pain for only 4 minutes of their time, they would undoubtedly do it!
So, here is your further HomeWork:
Practice the Biering-Sorensen Test and get to the point where you are able to sustain the test for 4 minutes or greater. Here's a solid plan to do that.
Every other day,
hold out flat for as long as you can,
rest for 60 seconds,
then hold out flat again for as long as you can.
As i have stated, this is what the years of research has found is the first and most important step in preventing the occurrence of low back pain!
For those of you who would like to know "why" this works, keep reading. For everyone else, enjoy your 'practicing' of this endeavor. I warn you, it is NOT easy, and it may take a couple months to achieve the 4 minute goal.
Here is the "why" of the Biering-Sorensen test:
First of all, in the true scientific method, we will never know absolutely "why". We simply apply a stimulus, measure and record the response, and then repeat until we have reduced error to about 2%. The scientific method does not attempt to explain why a certain response occurred when a certain stimulus was applied. That is left up to the philosophers or theoretical scientists. The beauty of this is that it eliminates opinion or conjecture from a scientific endeavor. The stimulus and response are simply measured and recorded. The results indicate pure empirical science.
Beyond that, with human biomechanics we can attempt to explain the 'why' of certain behaviors in the system because the kinesiologists, biomechanists, and physiologists have studied human function and can rationally theorize what is occurring.
In the Biering-Sorensen test, the endurance (or durability) of the functional human fulcrum is being tested. Here is an excerpt of a lecture I gave on how this works.
Notice in the excerpt from the lecture I am not referring to the 'core', but rather the 'fulcrum' (group) of the human body. On one hand, this is a matter of semantics, but on the other, it is an important distiction that needs to be made.
For years the Dogma of treatment for back pain has addressed the 'core'. And when examining the majority of 'core' exercises, they are primarily abdominal based exercises. That is all well and good, but there is no consistent research/data that shows that 'core'/abdominal exercises can prevent, treat, or predict the likelihood of, low back pain.
I have provided a complete list of references regarding the Biering-Sorensen test as well as fulcrum training previously, but if you would like that again, feel free to email me at ross@drtri.com.
Have a great week and good training on your Biering-Sorensen number!
