McGill's Big 3
Discussion
Posting this in case it helps anyone with back or unilateral leg issues....
I had a sciatica flare up 3 months ago, just woke up like it and after a few weeks I went to a specialist and had an MRI, which showed a herniated disc at L5-S1. The sciatica in my right leg was annoying rather than debilitating, but it was preventing me from doing some exercises in the gym and stupid things like putting shoes on irritated it.
I had a steroid injection which helped for a bit but I was told the disc herniation would go by itself in time and the injection would just help with any inflammation. The symptoms largely returned to normal, but part of the rehab included some physio....now the physio knows my history, which is basically a myriad of right side issues including calf spasms, achilles tendinopathy, hamstring strain, gluteal weakness, tight hip flexors and right-side lower back pain when standing for too long. He said to me these things must be linked, and likely the herniated disc is a symptom of the previous issues and an underlying muscular weakness must be to blame somewhere.
So he put me on McGill's Big 3, which are allegedly the holy grail for lower back and abdominal strength and conditioning. The rationale being if it wasn't my glutes causing the issues (which we'd been working under the assumption of for years, and my right gluts are absolutely solid now), it must be deeper core stabilisers that have eventually allowed the spine to curve and the disc to herniate.
McGill's Big 3 comprises of:
- Side planks held for as long as possible (I started at a 45 secs but can now do 1min 30s each side)
- Bird Dogs, hold for 10s then touch knee to hand and repeat x5, then change sides. Keep hips level.
- Isolated crunch thing, with one knee up so you only work one side of the abs at a time. Lift shoulders not the head
Combine with a normal plank and some rotation work to keep everything moving. Repeat 3-4 times a week.
After 5 weeks, the change has been dramatic. I'm a runner, but the achilles tendinopathy stopped me doing more than 1 run a week because it hurt for 3-4 days afterwards. It's completely gone now, I feel like I could run every day. My hip flexor tightness is gone. My flexibility is increased, and I can see my obliques. One big change, it was very subtle but when walking I used to on occasion have to take a small side step right, like I couldn't walk in a straight line. Gone.
Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I've spent years chasing injuries around my right leg. I had minor back pain when standing and just felt a little off balance.
I should add, the sciatica is still there but improving week by week. There is no quick fix for it but typically where there is no trauma then sciatica is a symptom of some form of musculo-skeletal issue. If anyone is having issues like I did, recommend the Big 3 to see if it helps. If nothing else, it's a great gym finishing routine.
I had a sciatica flare up 3 months ago, just woke up like it and after a few weeks I went to a specialist and had an MRI, which showed a herniated disc at L5-S1. The sciatica in my right leg was annoying rather than debilitating, but it was preventing me from doing some exercises in the gym and stupid things like putting shoes on irritated it.
I had a steroid injection which helped for a bit but I was told the disc herniation would go by itself in time and the injection would just help with any inflammation. The symptoms largely returned to normal, but part of the rehab included some physio....now the physio knows my history, which is basically a myriad of right side issues including calf spasms, achilles tendinopathy, hamstring strain, gluteal weakness, tight hip flexors and right-side lower back pain when standing for too long. He said to me these things must be linked, and likely the herniated disc is a symptom of the previous issues and an underlying muscular weakness must be to blame somewhere.
So he put me on McGill's Big 3, which are allegedly the holy grail for lower back and abdominal strength and conditioning. The rationale being if it wasn't my glutes causing the issues (which we'd been working under the assumption of for years, and my right gluts are absolutely solid now), it must be deeper core stabilisers that have eventually allowed the spine to curve and the disc to herniate.
McGill's Big 3 comprises of:
- Side planks held for as long as possible (I started at a 45 secs but can now do 1min 30s each side)
- Bird Dogs, hold for 10s then touch knee to hand and repeat x5, then change sides. Keep hips level.
- Isolated crunch thing, with one knee up so you only work one side of the abs at a time. Lift shoulders not the head
Combine with a normal plank and some rotation work to keep everything moving. Repeat 3-4 times a week.
After 5 weeks, the change has been dramatic. I'm a runner, but the achilles tendinopathy stopped me doing more than 1 run a week because it hurt for 3-4 days afterwards. It's completely gone now, I feel like I could run every day. My hip flexor tightness is gone. My flexibility is increased, and I can see my obliques. One big change, it was very subtle but when walking I used to on occasion have to take a small side step right, like I couldn't walk in a straight line. Gone.
Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I've spent years chasing injuries around my right leg. I had minor back pain when standing and just felt a little off balance.
I should add, the sciatica is still there but improving week by week. There is no quick fix for it but typically where there is no trauma then sciatica is a symptom of some form of musculo-skeletal issue. If anyone is having issues like I did, recommend the Big 3 to see if it helps. If nothing else, it's a great gym finishing routine.
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