This podcast is dedicated to providing you with the help you need to fix your lower back pain and sciatica. From specific diagnoses, myths and injuries to the low back, to strategies to recover, we're here to help get your Back In Shape. This podcast is an extension of the Back In Shape Program, an online back rehabilitation program that helps members from all over the world. Created by the founders of The Mayfair Clinic, a specialist back and neck pain clinic in central London and winner of the…
If you want to rebuild your back after a herniated disc — even after a microdiscectomy — the single best exercise is one you already do dozens of times a day: the squat. If you've got a herniated disc, a disc bulge or degenerative disc at L4/L5 or L5/S1, or you've had back surgery and you're wondering what to actually do, this session makes the case for the squat (paired with the hip hinge) as the…
If you've got a herniated disc and you're not sure what you should actually be doing, this is the three-step recovery plan — starting from day one. If you've been diagnosed with a herniated disc, a disc bulge, a protrusion or a sequestration at L4/L5 or L5/S1 — or you've had sciatica down the leg and don't know where to start — this session lays out the plan. It doesn't matter much how bad the…
The best stretch for a herniated disc isn't a stretch at all — it's gentle decompression, and the popular ones like knee hugs often make things worse. If you've got a herniated disc, a disc bulge, a slipped or degenerative disc at L4/L5 or L5/S1 and you just want to stretch the tension out of your lower back, this session is for you. When your back feels tight, the instinct is to hug your knees,…
Is your back pain a disc or a facet joint? It's the question everyone chases — but the honest answer is that it rarely changes what you should actually do. If you've been told it's a herniated disc by one clinician and a facet joint problem by another — or you're trying to work out which one you've got at L5/S1 or L4/L5 — this session is for you. The tests people use to tell them apart cross over…
Before you book another appointment for your herniated disc or sciatica, there's a simple test worth running at home — and it might change what you do next. If you've already got a diagnosis — an L5/S1 or L4/L5 herniated disc, a slipped disc, a disc bulge, sciatica — and you've already seen a string of clinicians, this session is for you. It isn't about the person who's just woken up with a bad…
A chronically stiff lower back won't loosen no matter how much you stretch it — because the stiffness isn't the problem, it's a symptom of an injured spine. If your lower back is constantly stiff — worst first thing in the morning, easing a little once you get moving — and months of stretching, knee hugs, cobras and knee rocks haven't shifted it, this session explains why. Back stiffness is almost…
"Never squat or deadlift again with a herniated disc" sounds sensible — right up until you realise you'll break that advice before you've left the building. If you've got a herniated disc (a slipped disc, disc bulge or prolapsed disc) at L4/L5 or L5/S1 and you've been told to stop lifting for good, this session is for you. The advice lands because it sounds plausible: nearly everyone injured their…
If you've been doing core strengthening for a herniated disc and it hasn't worked, the problem usually isn't effort — it's what you're strengthening. You've had a herniated disc — a slipped disc or disc bulge at L4/L5 or L5/S1 — maybe even surgery, and you've been diligently doing your core exercises. But the flare-ups keep coming. This session explains why. Most core rehab is done lying on the…
Lumbar spinal stenosis only means one of the holes in your spine is smaller than it should be — which is a symptom, not the whole story of why your back hurts. If you've been diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis at L4/L5 or L5/S1 and told that's the explanation, this session unpacks what the diagnosis actually says — and what it leaves out. Stenosis simply means a narrowing: either the central…
The best stretch for a herniated disc isn't the cobra or hanging from a bar — it's a rolled-up towel, and here's why it works. If you've got a herniated disc (a slipped disc, disc bulge or prolapsed disc) at L4/L5 or L5/S1 and you've been handed the usual stretches — the cobra, knee hugs, hanging — this session explains the one that actually addresses the root cause. A herniated disc happens…