A Guru Who's Earned His Stripes

by Andrew Heffernan on May 7, 2009 3:46 PM EDT Comment 4 comments

Finally, after hearing a zillion reviews from fitness-smartypants-types saying "This is the BIBLE of back-health!", I'm getting around to reading Dr. Stuart McGill's book Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance and my oh my, it's quite a read. I interviewed 'Stu' (that's how he signs off on his emails) some time ago, and if ever there was a guy who knew a topic backwards, forwards, up and down, if ever there was a 'specialist' in anything, ever, it's McGIll on spine biomechanics.

(No Star-gazer: Stu McGill, practicing what he preaches)

There's a lot to his book, of course, and I'll get into some of it in future posts, but one major point that comes up a lot in this book--often enough so that you get the sense that it's a bit of a vendetta for McGill--is that bodybuilding-style training is the source of a lot of dysfunction. In one section, fittingly titled "The Pollution of Body Building Approaches in Low Back Training," he writes

Many body building principles such as isolating a muscle during training, the basic design of reps and sets and so forth, have little place when training the back for performance. They were simply intended to hypertrophy muscle...Motor control is what separates the best athletes from the poorer competitors even though the poorer performers may have larger muscles. This book describes techniques to maximize performance--which is almost always at odds with conventional body building approaches (italics mine, all mine).

Wow.

Coming from a guy who has spent decades studying the effects of various training protocols on the spine, this is a pretty damning statement. He's not just saying that traditional bodybuilding training doesn't usually enhance athletic performance, or that it can sometimes cause injury or dysfunction that might limit performance, but that bodybuilding training as traditionally conceived (3 sets of 10 of curls, for example), almost always IMPEDES optimal performance.

McGill is a performance-based scientist: he's primarily concerned with what works to relieve pain and improve performance, either in elite athletes or in Joe Six-Pack with back pain (though he concedes that he rarely sees run-of-the-mill cases of back-pain). In our interview, he said to me,

Many people don't care about function, they care about appearance. I have no interest in that.

I find this almost painfully refreshing. I love working out, but will concede in an instant that if exercise ONLY changed how my body functioned and felt, and did nothing for my appearance, I'd probably do much less of it, if I did any at all. Of all the clients I've ever trained, I'd say 90% of them are primarily concerned with how they look and the other 10% are at most 50/50 appearance/function. Vanity may be a deadly sin, but it's also a damn good motivator.

So you have to admire the purity of McGill's approach, even if it is denser and tougher and more complex and not peppered with exortations to "Score big with the ladies by doing McGill Curl-Ups!" Nope. He just tells us "You want to cure your back? Here's how."

Definitely worth a read.

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I’d say I fall into the 50/50 function/appearance. Ideally I decided to shape up so I could enjoy life and physical activity more. However, I want to look good doing it.

I could squinch my eyes down and suggest I’m 60/40 function/appearance, but then I’d probably just be lying.

by OneMadFFB on May 7, 2009 8:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yep, I’m a 50-50, too.
McGill’s insights are terrific, but my big complaint is that the word has not yet gotten out about this research-based teachings. I don’t just mean among the general public – way too many fitness insiders have apparently not yet discovered him. Or, if they have, they have not absorbed this vital information.

In another vein, I like your “Score with the ladies” approach to promoting McGill’s work. He needs to hire you to be his publicist. ;-)

by BobParr on May 8, 2009 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Where are you in Life?

My expereience is that the motivation changes with age and/or life circumstances.
Younger and single, lookin good was a pretty big deal and was THE motivator to get me restarted on fitness regimens. However, once I had a greater realization of how good exercise made me feel and how productive it made my day, with greater focus, clarity and overall happiness, I had the dual motivation of feeling better.
As I’ve aged and continue to read and digest science, exercise is much more important to me for functional reasons related to aging and health. Science says it’s very effective in preventing or diminishing big time buzz kills like diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Also says it helps in preventing other disease. We all know it helps greatly with obesity, especially if you exercise vigorously. Obesity is almost as deadly as smoking from a health viewpoint. And, the science says that “belly fat” carries insidious, deadly inflammation (stats say for men, belly bigger than 36" increases morbidity, greater than 40" increases it very very big time). Then, I know the science on the effects of exercise (once again, truly vigorous exercise) on cognition. It shows that exercise diminishes the cognitive decline that might otherwise take place with aging. I am in a very demanding profession and kinda need my brain to bring its A game. Next, science says exercise improves the hormones associated with mood—that is, relieves depression in those depressed or improves mood of those more normal. Science shows that those with better moods—that is, happy optimists, not only enjoy life more, but also live longer, are more successful in relationships and professions and are more productive, compassionate and generous (philanthropic). Science says vigorous exercise is as or more effective than anti depressant medication for “mild” depression.
Further, exercise moderates the insulin/glucose/dopamine and other mechanism in ways that diminish addictive behavior or addiction. That is, it helps with self regulation/ ability to avoid impulsive decisons/activities. I am prone to impulse and addiction and this is meaningful to me as well. What this means on a day to day basis is that exercise improves my ability to choose to avoid bread, butter, dessert, chips, fries, etc. Indeed, I’ve not seen science on this, but I believe that one major reason folks lose fat when exercising and ‘dieting’ is the exercise improves their ability to be compliant with their nutrition plan.
This same science suggests, but does not prove, that exercise may assist in delaying the onset or preventing Alzheimers as well.
I’m not yet “elderly” but aging for many is associated with loss of function -strength, endurance, balance and other skills that improve daily life. Exercise essentially takes that issue out of the game —you do not really lose strength, fiunction and balance if you do strength training (yes, I know some is inevitable, but if u double your effort, you can actually get stronger than you were at 40-with caution)

Further, exercise helps me and others sleep better — fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. Science shows that length and depth of sleep is directly correlated with fluid intelligence, cognitive abilities and mood. And, my life proves it —I feel and think better after a good night’s sleep..And, we’ve probably all seen the evidence that obesity is directly correlated with lack of/poor sleep. If I sleep well, I eat well. If I sleep poorly or insufficiently, I pig out on crap.

Next, at 57, I just get a terrific boost of ego/self efficacy when I pull heavy on a Saturday morning in a public gym. Especially if I’m pulling more than the 18-30 set. The science of pyschology calls this self efficacy and shows that one way to build self regulation and good mood is by regularly doing things like exercise —in short, that behaviors act like exercise for the pysche. That means exercise helps me in most other areas of my decision making.
Then, there’s the women wearing minimal clothes and looking good…
At 57 and married, I’m not sure I’d go to “look good” if that was it… I do not want to become the infamous “big old fat white man” but I don’t really care that much about what other people think about me, and most people are thinking about themselves, not me…
But, given the irrefutable science that shows all these benefits and more, how could I NOT exercise if I want to live longer and better. That’s all the rational brain. My lizard brain knows the following after years and years of exercise: if the Alligator wants to feel better all day, the Alligator should go to the gym and K some A…

by siliconwarrior on May 9, 2009 7:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff!

I personally think that performance and appearance are more related than most believe. Increased gym performance = heavier weight = increased stimulus for a “better” adaptation. At some point, the muscle HAS to get bigger.

Michael T. Nelson MS, CSCS, RKC, ZCPT PhD Student, Kinesiology, U of MN

by MikeTNelson on May 10, 2009 5:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs