Hey friend!

How often do you hear things like "I have back pain now-I guess that's what being over 30 is like"? (SO OFTEN!)

I gotta tell you, back pain doesn't have to be normal. At any age there are things we can do to help reduce it or even get rid of it altogether.

(this isn't a 'one-size-fits-all' thing. There are many reasons for back pain, and I cannot definitively say it can be ridden by these things. If your pain is severe I recommend seeing a doctor. Pain is a signal from your body to take seriously. However in a lot of cases they can reduce back pain.)

One potential root of back pain is this:
Our body does this really cool thing called borrowing. To sit down at your desk your hips might borrow some movement from your back. (low spine rounds instead of hips hinging) This happens for a variety of reasons, your hips might not have the range of motion to hinge, it might be a habit, it might be energy efficiency, etc.

The reason I'm mentioning this is that sometimes a lot of this built up over a long time can cause back pain. One or two times won't harm you, but if you never hinge your hips and always round your back your back muscles get tired, which might show up as back pain.

This doesn't mean you can never sit on the bus with your knees up, nor does it mean you need to constantly move around like a robot, or Michael Keaton's batman trying to move his head. It's all about balance.

But how do we reduce back pain?

The answer is not do 5 million crunches, it's actually hip mobility!

Our bodies are really smart and cool, and often pain will show up one place that is connected to another place entirely. Focusing on mobility of your major joints is like adding oil to the tin man's joints: he can move a little easier with less discomfort. Thus, less pain!

Where do you start?

This morning I recorded a video with 3 hip mobility moves that you can check out for free on my Instagram or Tiktok (@movewithbillie on both) Follow me there for more videos in the next few weeks.

If you want to get into this even more you should join the Rebel Movement Club! Mobility is a staple in our workout classes, and hip mobility is a class fave. (seriously, highly requested) Several of the members have told me their own back pain has nearly disappeared since joining the club!

Make sure you reach out with any questions, and let me know how those moves go!

Billie