Get the latest scientific evidence on back exercise - what helps and what hurts, and why, from a world renowned authority. Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance provides professionals with the evidence base to design and prescribe the best exercise programs for the back. A complete description of a 5-stage program is provided. Many examples illustrate each stage within a bad back rehabilitation program together with a performance enhancement program for athletes. Beginning with recognizing and re-patterning perturbed motor programs and progressing to the enhancement of stability, then endurance, the final stages continue with strength, power and agility training. Each step is well illustrated and instructive. Added to this are general approaches to assess the demand of individual activities and sports and how to identify the critical components that need specific focus in an individual's back. Dr. McGill's style makes for an easy read of this thorough and rich resource.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Professor McGill's unique approach is based upon years of scientific research into back function of injured people through elite athletes. His expertise is sought by governments, corporations, professional sports teams and athletes.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST HAVE FOR ANY PHYSICAL FITNESS FANATIC, AND A GREAT COMPANION BOOK TO "LOW BACK DISORDERS".,
Prof. Stuart McGill is a professor in the Dep't of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He is the director of its Spine Biomechanics Laboratory.
His famous textbook, "Low Back Disorders", examines back injuries in the light of biomechanics' scientific knowledge, and prescribes exercises and tests for the rehabilitation of injured backs and the prevention of future injuries. Only in the very last chapter 13 does he consider "Advanced Exercises", those for high-load workers and top performers in sports and athletic competitions, who already have established a solid base of fitness and overall strength. This new book, "Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance", picks up from there, amplifying the last chapter of the textbook, and is a training manual dedicated to preserving back fitness in high-level physical performance. In our modern Western lifestyle afflicted with a total lack of demanding physical activity, constant sitting and overeating, strength seems to have become somewhat less useful than in the pre-industrial age. In the new context of our national obsession with heart disease, running and aerobic activity have become the dominant trend in popular fitness, and they are unarguably vital for cardiovascular health. But they should not obliterate a concern for musculoskeletal fitness, which is essential in all tasks of everyday's life and sports involving lifting, pulling, pushing, throwing and even hitting. Musculoskeletal fitness calls for a more technical and demanding kind of training, where a thorough knowledge of the biomechanics of the back is necessary. It is amazing how quickly "Ultimate" has become a voguish term in recent fitness literature and on the Internet. You'll find it used and overused all over the place. "Ultimate Back" constantly cautions us that, when aiming at the "ultimate" performance of top athletes, progression of training is a fundamental principle, too often disregarded, with injuries as the unavoidable penalty. In this light, "Ultimate Back" is an essential manual for all members of the 3F club (Physical Fitness Fanatics) who want to do their best to avoid back injuries. Preserving one's back from injury is vital, the more so that most physical fitness fanatics are urban professionals who tend to spend an inordinate portion of their lives sitting -- not a natural posture for the architecture of the back, and, in the long run, a very damaging one to disc integrity. And, as we grow older, our back becomes more fragile and vulnerable. I have both books by Stuart McGill, and, clearly, "Ultimate Back" is the one we will spend more time with. In addition, McGill's DVD, "The Ultimate Back: Enhancing Performance," offers good demonstrations of his techniques. The meat of "Ultimate Back", for readers who want the lowdown on specific training exercises, is in the last chapters, ch. 10 to ch. 16. Stuart McGill presents "Ultimate Back" as a self-contained training manual, a standalone that doesn't require the full scientific analysis buttressing the "Low Back Disorders" biomechanics textbook. So, he starts afresh from the same basics, while dispensing with many measurement tables and other biomechanics data. Hence, a certain overlap of material in the two books -- same facts, same conclusions, same illustrations. Which feels a bit repetitious if you happen to use both books simultaneously. Revisiting the basics is unavoidable in fitness books, as a necessary reminder to readers who are not specialists. Regretfully, there's no useful cross-referencing between this "Ultimate Back" and "Low Back Disorders" In spite of some readers' objections, Stuart McGill is justified in presenting again in the fitness manual the biomechanics of how the back works -- basic facts about which most people have not the faintest idea. And it remains imperative to study the whole of "Ultimate Back" and not just the exercise section. And even, whenever possible, to check repeatedly in "Low Back Disorders" for more details in the anatomy, neurophysiology, and biomechanics of the back. Stuart McGill does a first-class job at giving us the fundamentals. For instance, he introduces us to the structure and functioning of the vertebrae and the discs. A disc between two vertebrae is a complex biomechanical link that will inexorably fatigue and deteriorate all the way to failure with enough repeated flexions of the spine. As measured on special machines, herniation is eventually experienced after about 20,000 cycles of flexion at low levels of spine compression, such as encountered in ordinary life, most often in sitting. But at higher levels of compressive loads, herniation will occur after only 5,000 cycles of repeated flexions. Workers handling high loads and athletes creating high compressive loads during repeated flexions of their spines are particularly at risk of damage and herniation. Most of them live in the danger zone of biomechanical overload very close to ligaments and disc failure. Guided by the good professor, we get a better look at our key muscles. For Stuart McGill it is a must to first identify, in a structural approach, which muscle does what -- in any movement of flexion and extension, adduction and abduction, internal and external rotation -- in order to design, in a functional approach, training exercises and programs that will maximize stability and power. As we get familiarized with all the members of this complex new family -- back muscles; abdominals; 17 basic "hip muscles"; plus the quadriceps and hamstrings, primarily "knee muscles", but also involved in hip flexion and extension -- we are in good shape to absorb Prof. Stuart McGill's instruction. We regain acquaintance with the powerful "Latissimus Dorsi," but also rediscover our three back supports in extension, "Longissimus," "Iliocostalis," (the "Erector Spinae" in the old nomenclature) and "Multifidus". These extensors are often divided in two functional groups exhibiting different properties: "pars lumborum" (attached to lumbar vertebrae) and "pars thoracis" (attached to thoracic vertebrae). We encounter our old familiar, reliable "Rectus Abdominis", which happens to be single and not, as we wrongly thought, a family of six. We get a full picture of the "Abdominal Wall," with the silent "Fascia" and the more famous "External and Internal Obliques" and we learn we cannot isolate "Transverse Abdominis." All together they form our natural back belt. We get to meet our new friend, "Quadratus Lumborum", a vastly important muscle involved in stabilizing the pelvis and the spine in nearly all loading modes and all athletic activities. We acknowledge the vital importance of "Psoas" and "Iliacus" in hip flexion and stabilization, assisted by "Tensor Fascia Lata", with a participation of "Rectus Femoris" (the largest quadriceps muscle) and "Sartorius" (the longest muscle in the body, running diagonally across the quads, from the ASIS, the iliac crest of the pelvis, down to the top of the tibia). The five muscles of the "Adductor Group" ("Adductor Brevis", "Adductor Longus", "Adductor Magnus", "Pectineus" and "Gracilis") also contribute to hip flexion. We cannot value highly enough the powerful contribution of the "glutes": "Gluteus Maximus" (hip extension and external rotation), "Gluteus Medius" and "Gluteus Minimus" (abduction, important in single-leg stance or directional change, and external rotation of the femur, a vital function in squatting). The other gluteal muscles, the "Deep Six", assist in internal ("medial") and external ("lateral") rotation. The three muscles in the Hamstrings ("Biceps Femoris", with a "Long Head" and a "Short Head", "Semitendinosus" and "Semimembranosus") perform extension of the hip and flexion of the knee. The Quadriceps, largest muscle group in the body, number four ("Rectus Femoris", and the three "Vastus" -- "Lateralis", "Medialis" and "Intermedius") and primarily perform extension of the knee, with "Rectus Femoris" alone involved in hip flexion. This kind of knowledge should be taught in high school to all children. Knowledge of the musculoskeletal system is fundamental for all sports and the conduct of our daily lives. Sadly, most people know nothing about the biomechanics of the back beyond the simplistic and conventional dogmas spread by school coaches and commercial fitness trainers whose primary interest is making money by popularizing fads and vogues, and not providing basic scientific information on the musculoskeletal function, of which they are lamentably ignorant. In that sense, "Low Back Disorders" is an indispensable companion to "Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance." Both books are complementary, and should be used together. Central to Stuart McGill's concepts are four important tenets. McGill's fundamental fact: limbs provide mobility, shoulders and hips deliver power, mostly by means of "Pulses" and "Shockwaves". Muscles in the abdominal wall, torso and back provide stability and act as a stiff spring to relay power. First tenet: The importance of maintaining the "Neutral Posture" of the spine, respecting the natural lower-back curvature of the lumbar spine ("lordosis"), and not imposing extra flexion to the spine. McGill wages a relentless campaign of warnings against any motion that tends to bend the lower spine or round the back. Flattening the lower back does flex the lumbar spine and endangers the posterior annulus portions of the disks. We are taught by him to become aware of spine posture at all times, to learn how to restore the "Neutral Spine" and recognize the lumbar extensors by palpating them. We can then... Read more ›
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DO GET THE 4TH ED. INSTEAD - A MUST HAVE FITNESS MANUAL & A GREAT COMPANION BOOK TO "LOW BACK DISORDERS",
This review is from: Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance (Paperback)
MAKE NO MISTAKE - DO GET THE 4TH ED. INSTEAD
The posting for the 4th edition can be found under the title "Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance", typing "&" and not "and". Bizarrely, is is not listed in the "Books" Department, but in "All Departments". Tempted buyers should make sure to get the 4th edition, and not fall victims of the scalpers who use the Amazon market place to extort exorbitant prices for the now obsolete third edition. Prof. Stuart McGill is a professor in the Dep't of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He is the director of its Spine Biomechanics Laboratory. His famous textbook, "Low Back Disorders", examines back injuries in the light of biomechanics' scientific knowledge, and prescribes exercises and tests for the rehabilitation of injured backs and the prevention of future injuries. Only in the very last chapter 13 does he consider "Advanced Exercises", those for high-performance workers and athletes, putting the accent on back exercises to be practiced only by athletes who already have established a solid base of fitness and overall strength. This new book, "Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance", picks up from there, amplifying the content of the last chapter of the previous textbook, and gearing the book primarily to top performers in sports and athletic competitions. Aerobic activity has become the dominant trend in popular fitness, and it is unarguably of paramount value for cardiovascular health. But it should not obliterate a concern for musculoskeletal fitness, which is essential in all tasks of everyday's life and sports involving lifting, pulling, pushing, throwing and even hitting. Musculoskeletal fitness calls for a more technical and demanding kind of training, where a thorough knowledge of the biomechanics of the back is necessary. It is amazing how quickly "Ultimate" has become a voguish term in recent fitness literature and on the Internet. You'll find it used and overused all over the place. "Ultimate Back" constantly cautions us that, when aiming at the "ultimate" performance of top athletes, progression of training is a fundamental principle, too often disregarded, with injuries as the unavoidable penalty. In this light, "Ultimate Back" is an essential manual for all members of the 3F club (Physical Fitness Fanatics) concerned about the impact on the back of fitness training and athletic practices, and who want to do their best to avoid back injuries. Preserving one's back from injury is vital, the more so that most physical fitness fanatics are urban professionals who tend to spend an inordinate portion of their lives sitting -- not a natural posture for the architecture of the back, and, in the long run, a very damaging one. And, as they grow older, the back becomes more fragile and vulnerable. I have both books by Stuart McGill, and I agree with those physical fitness fanatics who are concerned about their backs, that "Ultimate Back" is the one book we will end up spending more time with. Using his two DVDs, especially the second one, "The Ultimate Back: Enhancing Performance," is also helpful, with good demonstrations of the techniques discussed in the two books. The meat of "Ultimate Back", for readers who want the lowdown on specific training exercises, is in the last chapters, ch. 10 to ch. 15. Stuart McGill rightly assumes that most users of "Ultimate Back" may not bother with the full scientific analysis presented in the "Low Back Disorders" textbook, and will use "Ultimate Back" as a standalone -- that is, a self-contained training manual, without the support of the textbook. So, he starts afresh from the same basics already covered in the textbook, while dispensing with many measurement tables and other biomechanics data. As a result, there's a sizeable overlap of material in the two books -- same facts, same conclusions, same illustrations. This kind of bringing back the basics is unavoidable in fitness books, as a necessary reminder to readers who are not specialists. And it is most justified if you intend to use only "Ultimate Back". But it feels a tad repetitious when you want to use both books simultaneously, which we find is a more efficient approach. In this case, we can only regret that there's no useful cross-referencing between the textbook and this "Ultimate Back" fitness manual. Central to Prof. Stuart McGill's tenets are four important concepts. First: The importance of maintaining the "Neutral Posture" of the spine, respecting the natural lower-back curvature of the lumbar spine ("lordosis"), and not imposing extra flexion to the spine. He wages a relentless campaign of warnings against any motion that tends to bend the spine or round the back. We are taught by him to become aware of spine posture at all times, to learn how to restore the "Neutral Spine" and recognize the lumbar extensors by palpating them. We can then correct untrained ordinary stances by learning how to stand properly (no poking chin, shoulders back), how to sit (an eventually damaging activity for the lower back, and for which, unfortunately, there is no really perfect posture, the best being varying the position), how to walk (fast, with swinging arms) Second: "Abdominal Bracing" is also key, an active (and voluntary) isometric tensing of all the abdominal muscles, thus forming a natural stiffening girdle, while learning to maintain full efficient breathing (not immediately easy). This becomes another fundamental factor for providing stability and protection to the back. This allows us to start using a stable torso solidly "Locked" to the pelvis, thus creating a central relay of forces which are generated mostly by the hips and shoulders, and not by the back. This important "Locking" of the rib cage to the pelvis can be learned by various exercises ("wall roll," "floor roll," "back bridges on Swiss ball," and the tremendous "Turkish Getup"). Systematically activating the "Abdominal Brace" and "Locking the Torso" becomes an essential part of the new routine. Third: Developing the "Hip Hinge" is essential for leaning forward and lifting. The motion to learn and train is "hip flexion", leaning proceeding from the hips, to replace the spontaneous "lumbar flexion" and bending the spine. A keen perception of this new motion can be developed with half-squats (bending the knees) and various exercises such as the "short-stop ready position". Knowing how to lean in everyday's life, which seems such a banal motion, is in fact a vital skill, that most people have never learnt nor mastered. This new motion of the "Hip Hinge" has to be constantly practiced in ordinary life until it's grooved and becomes automatic. This leads Prof. Stuart McGill to a vigorous debunking of many traditional exercises, such as classic sit-ups and all varieties of crunches, as they are dangerous exercises that create extreme lumbar flexion, high levels of compression in the spine, and undermine back stability. Fourth: Squatting with good form-- with legs apart ("Spreading the Floor") -- should replace bending the back or stooping that tends to spontaneously occur in most lifting, pulling and pushing activities. In "Squatting," it is vital to maximize using the hips (the "Hip Hinge" as opposed to lumbar flexion), and to activate the powerful gluteal muscles in initiating the movement, even in the simple ordinary act of standing up from a chair. The fundamental muscles are "Gluteus Medius" (developed with exercises such as the "clam," "lateral leg raises" and "one-leg squats"), and "Gluteus Maximus" (developed with "back bridges"). Prof. Stuart McGill is famous for his preferred "Big 3" exercises for the back: the "Curl-up," "the Side Bridge," and the "Birddog,' all of them with stages of increasing challenge and complexity. There are quite a few more, nearly as basic as the "Big Three", like "Stirring the Pot", all detailed throughout the book, with an abundance of good pictures. Among them: "squats," "lunges," "overhead cable pulls," all essential to build back stability. For warm-up of the spine, nothing better than the "cat/camel" exercice to reduce the natural viscosity of tissues and discs. Stuart McGill recommends waiting about one hour after getting out of bed before doing any back exercises because of the nightly hydration of discs (the process by which discs get nourishment and water from the vertebral bones through osmosis) which tends to tighten the ligaments in the spine. Squatting can be trained and developed in many stages: from "potty squat" (or "toilet squat" for us non-prudish Americans) to "goblet squat"; from basic "two-legged squats" to "one-legged squats". Practice on wood blocks and wobble boards, and progress to "bowler's squat", "step-up", "one-legged squat while pulling up a dumbbell", and "lunge squat while pushing a dumbbell overhead". The "ultimate" level of proficiency would be the famous and challenging one-leg squat called the "pistol". In general, Prof. Stuart McGill recommends the use of free weights, one-handed dumbbells (preferable to two-handed barbells), cables, stretch bands, resistance tubes, and even chains! He favors activating only one side of the spine musculature at a time so as to minimize the load on the spine: asymmetrical exercises, such as "one-armed" and "one-legged" motions are more beneficial and challenging to each side of the body than symmetrical exercises. Switching sides is of course a must to re-establish the balance between both sides, and requires that more time be devoted to the exercise, but with far better results. At a higher level of fitness,... Read more ›
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
back injury avoidance and performance training,
By
This review is from: Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance (Paperback)
Over the years several exercises for back strength and flexibility have been promoted to rehabilitate injured backs or to improve athletic performance. McGill's work has shown that many of these exercises will actually injure backs or decrease performance. As examples he shows that the leg press machine found in most gyms puts the back at risk. The seated trunk twisting machine found in many gyms is a potential disc wrecker as well as training athletically counterproductive movement patterns. Olympic weigthlifting movements currently promoted as part of functional training are discouraged at least without the qualifying the athlete under a certified Olympic lifting coach. A hallmark of McGill's work is his emphasis on endurance of back muscles and on trunk stability.
Several exercises are illustrated and described although I think the presentation could have been better. Given the large number of weight training books that have really bad advice this might be a worthwhile purchase to possibly prevent injury and maybe encourage some the use of some exercises to enhance back health and athletic performance. The price is not cheap -- about $[..]. To order see McGill's website www.backfitpro.com Payment is by PayPal or calling the publisher. Given the price I do not see many casual athletes buying it. For personal trainers. coaches, and authors of fitness books, etc. I think it should be required reading.
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