Really Interesting discussion. I use the McGill method with my clients. Having trained with McGill and his senior lecturers I will say that the “big 3” are only part of the system. The individualised assessment screen may contraindicate the bird dog for example. The exercises do require good coaching to get the intended results. The proximal stiffness is also relative to the individual client the concept of “just enough “ for the task is important to note. Absolutely love your content Connor and grateful for all that you share with us.
Hello,i'm Elena from Belarus. I really love your channel. Thank you for highlighting Stuart Mcgill concept of lumbar stabilization today. In his research, Stewart does not hide the fact that the exercises he gives are necessary specifically for those who lift heavy weights.There are thick textbooks written on lumbar pain, and none of Stuart’s exercises are your solution to universal problems with the lower back.
I have been doing the Stu McGill big 3 for about 3 years now and my core has turned into a “fully mobile rock”. The protocol is compound of 3 exercises: bird dog , a variation of curl up and side planks plus daily walks and to learn how to move through hips in everything you do. The daily walks are important to put all these lil things together but the most crucial things are the breathing/ bracing techniques and “avoiding picking up scab” which is carrying on with bad habits that cause you bad posture, like writing this post. Today I literally apply distal mob/ próx stab in evervithing even when I’m walking . It feels like my body is walking on neutral gear and I’m really not doing any movement. Indeed bird dogs alone are quite pointless and the discussion here is valid, but following the entire protocol will really change not only the way you move but the way we think. McGill says something called “finding the sweet spot” or densefying your neuro drive. When that stage is achieved and only then, you will have a feel of what is been say here. Nonetheless everyone is different and environment play a massive role here. Through personal experience I intuitively found out that if you want to test if u are lower back dominant than hip: try to fully float on water. If u can than u are in good form, if u can’t than u have a long way…
I have took a deep dive and researched the example Conor provided of how walking requires rotation of Trunk. What I found is that it is true that there is a subtle rotation of the trunk when walking but an exercise like a Bird Dog will not hinder that movement pattern, it seems to actually aid it Core muscles, including the internal obliques, transverse abdominis, and multifidus, work together to stabilize the spine and pelvis. This stabilization does not mean rigidity but controlled support that allows for smooth and efficient movement. I think the audience can be better served by having this video have a more accurate title than the one it has. I really enjoy the level of detail Conor provides in his videos but it's important to focus on that rather than having sensationalist titles and having to slowly walk some of that back in the video
Thank you so much, Conor! I finally found someone who agrees with & verifies my suspicion that bird-dog wasn't working for me! I went through the whole gamut of exercises for piriformis, psoas, QL, erector spinae, multifidus, sacroiliac joint, TFL for my right lower back pain. Just when I feel that my SI joint is quiet & stabilized, not shaky & doesn't get knocked out of its place when I turn to the side on my bed.. Lo & behold! The week is over & I start this PQRST circuit I came up for my self.. And the movement that seemed to de-stabilize my SI joint was the bird-dog! The range of shift difference between both sides of the pelvis seemed to be too great.. which I deduced probably shifted my SI joint back again into misalignment.. This happened 3x & I stopped bird dog.. I hope to hear your perspective on this.. Thank you once again!
This exercise would often trigger my lower back pain when I was first starting therapy, then I realized after focusing on my relative hip movements from your channel that my hips would be in er and the docs never seemed to notice it. Once I started playing with the movement back to ir it became a totally different exercise for me. Now I will use it to go back and forth from er/ir. This has given me a ton of "feel" for my hips.
I love the way you're talking. It's pleasure to listen to it and your talk is so professional and I can clearly understand what is going under everything you're saying :)
The one thing pri unfortunately doesn’t address is “spine hygiene” lets just say the “pattern” is what led to the breakdown of the spine(i firmly believe in this pattern) Mcgills work is going to be a starting place until you realize the deficits in your core.(ie weak left abs, closed down right side) i dont think there is enough efficacy in pri techniques. You literally have to pull your self back over to the left again and open up some space on the right. Most bulges are right lateral which just compounds the L AIC even further. With all the guarding on the right it adds a greater challenge as the back pain usually will fire up the ql which is now providing stabilty for the right which has joint laxity from pain and inflammation. Vicious cycle
Is this safe with Spondylolisthesis in l5 and herniated discs in l4 l5, l5 s1? Always love your content and so excited to get back to running, jumping, martial arts and letting my son and daughter know that daddy can and WANTS to play with them!
At the beginning of my career, I gave your exercises to my patients; they are effective, but effective for an extremely short time.The exercise you give mechanically corrects the K-shaped right dysfunction, but you never solve the cause of this dysfunction. If a person who has lower back pain has tension in the anterior scalene muscle, then the right phrenic nerve will be in tension, the right dome of the diaphragm will not work, the right ribs will go down, additional breathing muscles will be strained. When the ribs on the right descend, the cecal valve will close. When the acecal valve closes, the pressure in the intestines will increase and the abdominal pressure will rise inside. This pressure will put pressure on the nerves that lie on the iliopsoas muscles, the nerves will be irritated.Therefore, the abdominal muscles will be tense. The inguinal ligament is an aponeurosis of the oblique abdominal muscle. It will be stretched, pinching the femoral nerve and femoral artery, so the quadriceps femoris muscle will work poorly, and the entire function of flexion and adduction of the hip, because of this are weak, the quadratus lumborum muscle will be overactivated for stabilization. When the quadratus lumborum muscle becomes tense, the blood supply to the entire lumbar region through the four lumbar arteries will be disrupted and pain will begin. Your exercises are aimed at a situational solution to turning on the diaphragm on the right and stretching the abdominal muscles on the right and restoring pressure, but you do not solve the problem.
Happy to hear you've been seeing some success. If things aren't sticking, I have a video on exactly why that is: ruclips.net/video/Hlx507ZaeSw/видео.html. The short answer is that while these exercises can give people relief, there has to be a commitment from their end to create long-term change through consistency in the exercises. They're not going to magically start holding onto adaptations when they've been carrying themselves around in a certain way for years/decades. The first day, it may go away quickly. The second day, a little less. The third day, a little less, etc, built over weeks/months of progression. If that still isn't creating lasting change, then there is something in their lifestyle, sleep, or a place such as commonly their foot/cranium that is limiting their ability to change their body's patterning. That video above should help a lot.
@@littlejOwnsU The anterior scalene muscle tenses reflexively if there is a pathological efferent signal on the facial part of the skull or on the upper limb. inflammation of the periosteum on the upper limb or on the facial part of the skull leads to tension in the anterior scalene muscle. Next, the phrenic nerve becomes stretched and the entire breathing pattern is disrupted. I physically eliminate inflammatory proteins and swelling on the periosteum.
“You can’t give one answer about what to do because everyone has their own limitations and needs”. Right. So basically-- I. Give. Up. No one really knows anything about anything for anyone. I’ve had enough of this.
Go see a professional if you want real answers to your problems. This is youtube, you're not going to find answers if you don't already know what you have.
If there was a simple answer that fit every single person’s needs, the problem would have been solved ages ago. This is 2024, we have complex problems that demand individualized attention, not a quick fix.
I found that bird dogs really didn't help or hurt. Planks are another one of the McGill "Big Three", and they seem to irritate my back. Lately, what seems to help are glute bridges with my shoulders elevated so that my entire upper trunk is horizontal. I concentrate on not hyper-extending my back, and instead try to distribute the load over my entire back. Hold for two minutes, repeat a couple of times per day. If Backzilla stays happy for a while, I'll give the planks another shot...
I think most people are hypomobile, and so they lack movement in the trunk, and so I can understand why this isn’t a fix for those people. For the hypermobile teen population that wants to play sports and has poor proprioceptive awareness it might be a decent starting point. I think people like bird dogs because they are safe and teach proprioceptive balance and work a lot of the extensor chain in a compound manner, it’s kind of a catch all exercise. Definitely has its place from what I can tell, but maybe I’m getting kind of “old school” and don’t realize 😂
Really Interesting discussion.
I use the McGill method with my clients.
Having trained with McGill and his senior lecturers I will say that the “big 3” are only part of the system.
The individualised assessment screen may contraindicate the bird dog for example.
The exercises do require good coaching to get the intended results.
The proximal stiffness is also relative to the individual client the concept of “just enough “ for the task is important to note.
Absolutely love your content Connor and grateful for all that you share with us.
Hello,i'm Elena from Belarus. I really love your channel. Thank you for highlighting Stuart Mcgill concept of lumbar stabilization today. In his research, Stewart does not hide the fact that the exercises he gives are necessary specifically for those who lift heavy weights.There are thick textbooks written on lumbar pain, and none of Stuart’s exercises are your solution to universal problems with the lower back.
I have been doing the Stu McGill big 3 for about 3 years now and my core has turned into a “fully mobile rock”. The protocol is compound of 3 exercises: bird dog , a variation of curl up and side planks plus daily walks and to learn how to move through hips in everything you do. The daily walks are important to put all these lil things together but the most crucial things are the breathing/ bracing techniques and “avoiding picking up scab” which is carrying on with bad habits that cause you bad posture, like writing this post. Today I literally apply distal mob/ próx stab in evervithing even when I’m walking . It feels like my body is walking on neutral gear and I’m really not doing any movement. Indeed bird dogs alone are quite pointless and the discussion here is valid, but following the entire protocol will really change not only the way you move but the way we think. McGill says something called “finding the sweet spot” or densefying your neuro drive. When that stage is achieved and only then, you will have a feel of what is been say here. Nonetheless everyone is different and environment play a massive role here.
Through personal experience I intuitively found out that if you want to test if u are lower back dominant than hip: try to fully float on water. If u can than u are in good form, if u can’t than u have a long way…
I have took a deep dive and researched the example Conor provided of how walking requires rotation of Trunk.
What I found is that it is true that there is a subtle rotation of the trunk when walking but an exercise like a Bird Dog will not hinder that movement pattern, it seems to actually aid it
Core muscles, including the internal obliques, transverse abdominis, and multifidus, work together to stabilize the spine and pelvis. This stabilization does not mean rigidity but controlled support that allows for smooth and efficient movement.
I think the audience can be better served by having this video have a more accurate title than the one it has. I really enjoy the level of detail Conor provides in his videos but it's important to focus on that rather than having sensationalist titles and having to slowly walk some of that back in the video
Thank you so much, Conor! I finally found someone who agrees with & verifies my suspicion that bird-dog wasn't working for me! I went through the whole gamut of exercises for piriformis, psoas, QL, erector spinae, multifidus, sacroiliac joint, TFL for my right lower back pain. Just when I feel that my SI joint is quiet & stabilized, not shaky & doesn't get knocked out of its place when I turn to the side on my bed.. Lo & behold! The week is over & I start this PQRST circuit I came up for my self.. And the movement that seemed to de-stabilize my SI joint was the bird-dog! The range of shift difference between both sides of the pelvis seemed to be too great.. which I deduced probably shifted my SI joint back again into misalignment.. This happened 3x & I stopped bird dog.. I hope to hear your perspective on this.. Thank you once again!
This exercise would often trigger my lower back pain when I was first starting therapy, then I realized after focusing on my relative hip movements from your channel that my hips would be in er and the docs never seemed to notice it. Once I started playing with the movement back to ir it became a totally different exercise for me. Now I will use it to go back and forth from er/ir. This has given me a ton of "feel" for my hips.
I love the way you're talking. It's pleasure to listen to it and your talk is so professional and I can clearly understand what is going under everything you're saying :)
Just got out of my kine office and he just told me to do this exercise at home 😅 and now i open youtube and I see this 😂😂😂😂
Probably you should have your "STOP Doing Bird Dogs For Back Pain" head text change into "if bird dog does not work do the following"
The one thing pri unfortunately doesn’t address is “spine hygiene” lets just say the “pattern” is what led to the breakdown of the spine(i firmly believe in this pattern) Mcgills work is going to be a starting place until you realize the deficits in your core.(ie weak left abs, closed down right side) i dont think there is enough efficacy in pri techniques. You literally have to pull your self back over to the left again and open up some space on the right. Most bulges are right lateral which just compounds the L AIC even further. With all the guarding on the right it adds a greater challenge as the back pain usually will fire up the ql which is now providing stabilty for the right which has joint laxity from pain and inflammation. Vicious cycle
Agree
Hi Connor, can your beginner body restoration be helpful for chronic si joint pain?
Is this safe with Spondylolisthesis in l5 and herniated discs in l4 l5, l5 s1? Always love your content and so excited to get back to running, jumping, martial arts and letting my son and daughter know that daddy can and WANTS to play with them!
At the beginning of my career, I gave your exercises to my patients; they are effective, but effective for an extremely short time.The exercise you give mechanically corrects the K-shaped right dysfunction, but you never solve the cause of this dysfunction. If a person who has lower back pain has tension in the anterior scalene muscle, then the right phrenic nerve will be in tension, the right dome of the diaphragm will not work, the right ribs will go down, additional breathing muscles will be strained. When the ribs on the right descend, the cecal valve will close. When the acecal valve closes, the pressure in the intestines will increase and the abdominal pressure will rise inside. This pressure will put pressure on the nerves that lie on the iliopsoas muscles, the nerves will be irritated.Therefore, the abdominal muscles will be tense. The inguinal ligament is an aponeurosis of the oblique abdominal muscle. It will be stretched, pinching the femoral nerve and femoral artery, so the quadriceps femoris muscle will work poorly, and the entire function of flexion and adduction of the hip, because of this are weak, the quadratus lumborum muscle will be overactivated for stabilization. When the quadratus lumborum muscle becomes tense, the blood supply to the entire lumbar region through the four lumbar arteries will be disrupted and pain will begin. Your exercises are aimed at a situational solution to turning on the diaphragm on the right and stretching the abdominal muscles on the right and restoring pressure, but you do not solve the problem.
Do you recommend he does nothing?😂 Thinking like this will drive you to inaction and insanity.
@@The_Biosage Doing nothing is about as effective as anything else.
What is your proposition to address the root cause?
Happy to hear you've been seeing some success. If things aren't sticking, I have a video on exactly why that is: ruclips.net/video/Hlx507ZaeSw/видео.html. The short answer is that while these exercises can give people relief, there has to be a commitment from their end to create long-term change through consistency in the exercises. They're not going to magically start holding onto adaptations when they've been carrying themselves around in a certain way for years/decades. The first day, it may go away quickly. The second day, a little less. The third day, a little less, etc, built over weeks/months of progression. If that still isn't creating lasting change, then there is something in their lifestyle, sleep, or a place such as commonly their foot/cranium that is limiting their ability to change their body's patterning. That video above should help a lot.
@@littlejOwnsU The anterior scalene muscle tenses reflexively if there is a pathological efferent signal on the facial part of the skull or on the upper limb. inflammation of the periosteum on the upper limb or on the facial part of the skull leads to tension in the anterior scalene muscle. Next, the phrenic nerve becomes stretched and the entire breathing pattern is disrupted. I physically eliminate inflammatory proteins and swelling on the periosteum.
What's that shirt you're wearing with the hood?
“You can’t give one answer about what to do because everyone has their own limitations and needs”. Right. So basically-- I. Give. Up. No one really knows anything about anything for anyone. I’ve had enough of this.
Go see a professional if you want real answers to your problems. This is youtube, you're not going to find answers if you don't already know what you have.
@@user26344 I’ve already done that, of course. And they have no answers either. So like I said- I’ve had enough.
If there was a simple answer that fit every single person’s needs, the problem would have been solved ages ago. This is 2024, we have complex problems that demand individualized attention, not a quick fix.
@@JFox4587 Except the individualized attention doesn’t fix it either.
@@hammill444 go see an orthopedic surgeon and get an MRI. Conservative care doesn’t always fix back problems
Do you believe in the McGill Big 3, Conor? And McGill's philosophy for back pain?
What happens is you can't sit; compressed nerve near coccyx?
I found that bird dogs really didn't help or hurt. Planks are another one of the McGill "Big Three", and they seem to irritate my back. Lately, what seems to help are glute bridges with my shoulders elevated so that my entire upper trunk is horizontal. I concentrate on not hyper-extending my back, and instead try to distribute the load over my entire back. Hold for two minutes, repeat a couple of times per day. If Backzilla stays happy for a while, I'll give the planks another shot...
That bird dog photo at the beginning isn't proper positioning, back arched too much and foot way too far off floor
I think you need a proper assessment of your Situation, and not just doing "smth" the internet throws at you.. you can make things worse
Why are you teaching PRI exercises if you are not a PRI practitioner?
Just stop it. Ill take Stu ALL DAY
😂😂😂 please dont post such bullshit to get more likes...
I think most people are hypomobile, and so they lack movement in the trunk, and so I can understand why this isn’t a fix for those people.
For the hypermobile teen population that wants to play sports and has poor proprioceptive awareness it might be a decent starting point. I think people like bird dogs because they are safe and teach proprioceptive balance and work a lot of the extensor chain in a compound manner, it’s kind of a catch all exercise. Definitely has its place from what I can tell, but maybe I’m getting kind of “old school” and don’t realize 😂
Bunch BS