- Go.
Oh, back pain, Bob.
We're gonna talk back pain.
- It's a pain.
- And there's one muscle in your body
that can really help support your back
and do this immediately.
(Bob laughs) Something like that.
- And anybody can do it. (Brad laughs)
It will decrease, your back pain.
- Yeah, I botched that up, Bob.
So anyways, just hold on.
We're gonna show you what you can do.
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ the two most famous ♪
♪ physical therapists ♪
♪ on the internet. ♪
All right, we're just gonna put it out right away.
It's the transverse abdominis.
- Right, transversus abdominis.
- Correct, so what that is,
there's four muscle groups in your core
and this is one that the fibers wrap around horizontally.
And here we've got a nice model which is Sam,
has gracefully said, he'll help us out.
- Kind of a symbol.
- Yep, so obviously your muscles aren't black
but this shows it nicely, this back belt.
And if you see these horizontal lines
that very clearly represents
the direction of the muscle fibers.
And they connect into this really tough tissue
that's called fascia.
And when the muscles contract on the transverse abdominis,
they actually pull and support that spine
and the whole core area.
- It's like nature's natural back belt.
- I was thinking the same thing.
That's why if you use a back belt
they say sometimes it actually can weaken the core muscles.
Specifically the transverse abdominous.
So we want those muscles as strong as possible
to give you that support
and make you feel strong like a bull.
- There we go.
- (laughs) Well you know, I feel strong today.
(air whooshing)
Okay, so we're gonna show you a couple of tricks
on how to activate those muscles and I've got.
- How to use it.
- How would to get those muscles working.
'Cause sometimes we end up using different muscles
because we actually contract wrong.
So this is a little trick that therapists know very well.
I'll give you an example.
Getting out of bed in the morning.
If you happen to have back pain
and you just get up outta bed like this, haphazardly.
Oftentimes it's associated with, "Ow my back is killing me".
- [Bob] Your back will let you know.
- Yeah, your back will let you know.
So the way to get those transverse abdominal muscles to fire
and really help out that back.
You put your fingertips right here at the side of the muscle
and you push in there a little bit
and then you tighten down
and you think about pushing your stomach in
and get those little muscles
and you'll feel 'em tighten up with your fingertips.
Yep, I can feel it even through this belt.
I can feel those muscles contract
and then once you get 'em to contract,
you hold 'em and then you know tight,
we're actually gonna do-
- [Bob] The entire time.
- Yep, the whole body maintaining
that tightness throughout the core.
And it's one of those things,
you do have to practice a little bit.
- It really works, Brad.
Yeah, I've had patients do it and they are shocked.
- Yeah, it's like,
"I've been getting outta bed every morning
"and it hurts like crazy and I do this
"and it feels better"
and actually allows the back to heal
because you're not irritating it all the time.
- We'll show one more thing.
- That's right.
(air whooshing)
All right, another easy way to do this
is when you're doing something like shoveling.
It's wintertime,
actually today's the shortest day of the year.
- This is a shovel?
- We're having a snow storm tonight.
Yeah, this is a shovel handle.
Bob and you just learned this personally last year, right?
- Right, I tried shoveling without it first
and my back hurt.
The tightness down my stomach.
and the back, the pain went down.
- So, and I've done this myself.
I'm shoveling away and I'm forgetting about,
I'm thinking about getting to work or whatever.
Bending over-
- Scooping. - Scooping,
Twisting, "ow it hurts".
And I thought, I know better.
Just like you were thinking.
- Yep, same thing.
- So we're gonna tighten those core muscles.
- While you scoop and throw.
Relax, tighten, scoop and throw.
- So is that what you're thinking yourself?
- Yep. - Tighten, scoop, throw.
- Tighten, scoop, throw. - Tighten, scoop, throw.
- Tighten, scoop, throw.
- There we go. (laughs)
- Throw the whole shovel.
To hell with it.
Let's hire someone for the job.
(Brad laughs) - Good job.
- When you get done, you can eat the candy cane.
- (laughs), Yeah this our whatever.
Anyways, that gives you the idea
how to get those transverse muscles working
as a back belt.
Just by thinking of your body mechanics.
I think we can fix just about anything, Bob.
Bob you're- - Rocky.
- (laughs) Why Bob, why?
Just forget it.
- Fix just about anything except for a broken heart.
- Broken heart.
Yeah, that's what I was trying to get into.
Alright, have a good day and be careful
and enjoy the day.
- Thanks for joining us.
(soft upbeat music)
(soft upbeat music continues)