To Move Or Not To Move? That is the question!

Many individuals have debated the purpose of the spine for decades, and through my experience, albeit limited, two schools of thought have come to my attention. I suppose one could also view these schools of thought as ends of a spectrum or continuum. 

The first see the spine as an incredibly delicate piece of human engineering, believing that due to its 13+ million neurons and injury prone intervertebral discs residing in it, we should limit as much movement as possible to provide a stable structure for our extremities to move from. The other school of thought is rather the opposite. They view the spine as the cornerstone and foundation of human movement, and a spine unable to move in all three planes (sagittal, frontal, and transverse) is actually limiting movement potential of the whole system. 

Through numerous lumbar stress fractures, my fascination into understanding the spine has only grown. After my initial stress fracture, my 2016/17 rehab led me to the work of Stuart McGill, as the majority of my programme contained his well-known “McGill Big 3," which contains curl-ups, side planks, and bird-dogs. Now I think it is important to note that although McGill is most known for his “Big 3” exercises, I very much see interventions and exercises attempting to limit spinal motion to be grouped into this same school of thought. 

However, despite “improving my spinal stability” (whatever that means!) for years, I saw little to no improvement in my fluidity of movement and symptoms in my spine, before many unsuccessful returns to sport. Also, I want to quickly clear up that I am by no means demonising McGill’s (2010) infamous “Big 3” exercise regime, as for certain individuals they CAN be very beneficial. However, I feel I am enough living proof to simply question this approach for solving all complex back issues. After all, could it not be argued that teaching the body and the brain to avoid using parts and joints that perhaps should move (especially post-injury) is not a recipe for success and could have significant consequences on the rest of the body? Now I am sure at this point one can gauge what school of thought McGill and others who swear by his work fall into. 

Jumping over to the other side of the coin, Gary Ward (Anatomy in Motion) continuously states, “joints act, muscles react." Therefore, re-educating your body that it is safe to move into specific ranges and tissues ensures movement potential is not being limited. This idea led me to Serge Gracovetsky’s (1988) work and his concept of the “spinal engine” and how he believed the spine is the driving force of locomotion (gait). This has later been progressed more recently by the likes of David Weck (Weck Method) with his “coiling core” idea. Understanding that the spine must move in the frontal plane first (side bend) in order to maintain equilibrium as we walk and run.

Delving deeper into the nitty-gritty biomechanics of the spine, rotation and side bending are coupled movements with thoracic extension, enabling greater rotational potential due to the anatomical orientation of facet joints and muscles in this particular portion of the spine (Edmondston et al., 2007; Izzo et al., 2013). Furthermore, Fyrette’s 3rd ‘Law of Spinal Motion’ describes that when movement is present in one plane, movement in the other two planes is restricted (Fryette, 1954). For example, if the thoracic spine is flexed (sagittal), the ability to side bend (frontal) and rotate (transverse) will diminish. This law very much highlights the interdependency of spinal motion and the importance of moving the spine in multiple planes simultaneously to facilitate fluid, efficient movement required for the appropriate generation and dissipation of force in our extremities. 

At this point you may be asking, but how does any of this relate to potential sports performance gains? Looking at a baseball pitching study carried out by Luera et al. (2020), a correlation was established between faster pitching velocities and individuals who were able to access greater amounts of spinal rotation. Furthermore, another study by Feijen et al. (2018) on competitive youth swimmers highlighted the importance of thoracic spine mobility to help prevent shoulder pain and potential shoulder injury, as inadequate thoracic spine motion could lead to sub-optimal compensatory movement strategies. Even through these two studies and understanding the latter school of thought, one can quickly appreciate the importance spinal mechanics can have on the functionality of our extremities. 

Finally, one can see in the images below the sort of shapes a spine can find itself in during various sporting activities, but ultimately, joints are made to move. The key may lie in gaining a clear understanding of the exact movement patterns and qualities required to perform any sport skill optimally and in the most efficient manner. Essentially, this will dictate interventions and exercise prescription in terms of how much an individual needs from one school of thought to achieve greater movement potential and ability to perform specific sport skills.

References / Sources:

David Weck - Weck Method

Edmondston, S. J., Aggerholm, M., Elfving, S., Flores, N., Ng, C., Smith, R., & Netto, K. (2007). Influence of posture on the range of axial rotation and coupled lateral flexion of the thoracic spine. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, 30(3), 193-199.

Feijen, S., Kuppens, K., Tate, A., Baert, I., Struyf, T., & Struyf, F. (2018). Intra-and interrater reliability of the ‘lumbar-locked thoracic rotation test in competitive swimmers ages 10 through 18 years.  Physical Therapy in Sport, 32, 140-144.

Gary Ward - Anatomy in Motion 

Harrison H. Fryette (1954). Principles of Osteopathic Technic. 

Izzo, R., Guarnieri, G., Guglielmi, G. and Muto, M. (2013). Biomechanics of the spine. Part I: Spinal stability. European Journal of Radiology, 82(1), pp.118–126. 

Luera, M. J., Dowling, B., Muddle, T. W., & Jenkins, N. D. (2020). Differences in rotational kinetics and kinematics for professional baseball pitchers with higher versus lower pitch velocities. Journal of applied biomechanics, 36(2), 68-75. 

McGill, S. (2010). Core training: Evidence translating to better performance and injury prevention. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 32(3), 33-46.

Serge Gracovetsky (1988). The Spinal Engine. Aardvark Global Publishing.