These Simple Exercises Will Keep Your Back Healthy With Jackson Bellis, DPT
As a CrossFit level 1 trainer with a 13-year physical therapy career and an interest in golf, running, skiing, and hiking, it’s fair to say that Dr. Jackson Bellis practices what he preaches when it comes to maintaining a healthy back.
Dr. Bellis is always challenging his own body and encouraging his patients to safely challenge their bodies to see what they can do.
“I really think we can make a big change in back health. And I think looking at the way we move, and the things that work and don't work, is a big piece of it,” he says.
Back health has everything to do with the way we move. Some of the most frequent patients who come into our offices are runners, golfers, and truck drivers.
And while their pain might have different causes, it all really comes down to movement, and a few go-to exercises can help almost any type of pain, Dr. Bellis tells us. It’s all about the hips, the abs, and the glutes.
Dr. Bellis shares actionable advice for how stretching and strength-training can serve as strategies to maintain and improve mobility.
Tune in to episode #40 of Back Talk Doc with Dr. Bellis to learn more about the tactics we should all be doing to help treat — and prevent — pain.
💡 Featured Expert 💡
Name: Jackson Bellis, DPT COMT
What he does: Dr. Bellis has been a physical therapist for 13 years, spending 10 of those years of service at Carolina Neurosurgery. He is also a certified orthopedic manual therapist (COMT) with experience in dry needling, selective functional movement assessment (SFMA), and titleist assessment. He enjoys CrossFit, running, golf, skiing, and hiking.
Company: Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates
Words of wisdom: “One thing my patients always say is, I did not realize how tight I was. I did not realize how weak I was. If we never really get to the point where we're trying to see what our body can and can't do, we may not be enjoying it to the fullest.”
⚓ Anchor Points ⚓
Top takeaways from this Back Talk Doc episode
★ Think backwards. When trying to figure out the source of pain and how to treat it, it can help to think backwards and treat with opposite movements. For example, if someone has pain from bending forward, laying down in an extended position can help take pressure off the nerve. Treatment can be active, “like on the ground in a cobra position” or passive. “It’s a way to test out and find out Hey, this was a disc."
★ It’s all in the hips. “Everything in life is through the hips,” Dr. Bellis tells us. Understanding how the hips work can also help us understand what causes pain, and figure out the right treatments. Learning how to properly bend at the hips and use the hips during exercise can keep your back healthy and prevent injury. How to use your hips to bend (VIDEO)
★ The bridge and plank are key to a healthy back. Whether it’s lower back pain, seated pain, walking pain, or pain from bending over, Dr. Bellis swears by these two exercises that activate the glutes and the abdominals. Doing it correctly can help control the neutral position of the spine. “I have never had a person come in here with back pain who could activate their abdominals and activate their glutes,” he...
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