Why Rounding The Back is Actually Safe

Here is an issue from our bi weekly newsletter specifically for health and fitness professionals. Our owner, Jesse Lewis, shares his experience and ideas as well as stories to help the health and fitness community connect and learn from each other.

From the Clinic

There was a stretch of my career where I was the lumbar flexion police: rounding your back in front of me was basically illegal.

• Deadlifting? Don’t round

• Picking up your kid? Rotate your whole body and squat to the floor

• Sitting in a chair? Sit up as tall as possible or else

  
  

I thought flexion was a mistake. Something we had to coach out of people.

Over time, after a lot of research coming out, and after seeing enough real-world cases,

I started to question that. 

And what I’ve learned is this: Avoiding spinal flexion isn’t the solution, the fear of it is

the real problem.

What We’re Seeing

Spinal flexion, especially in the low back, gets treated like it’s inherently dangerous.

Rounding under heavy load - if they aren't ready for it - can be trouble. 

But, turns out flexion isn't actually bad, even under load!

And, avoiding flexion entirely? That’s worse.

When clients fear spinal flexion, they:

• Get stiff and overly braced

• Avoid normal ranges of motion

• Feel pain even during basic tasks like sitting, bending, or reaching

• Stay locked in “rehab purgatory” - strong, but scared

If You're Skeptical

I used to be right there with you. I taught neutral spine like it was the most important thing ever.

But here are two things that changed my mind:

1) There’s no consistent research showing that spinal flexion is dangerous or makes us

more likely to be injured.

Injury risk is more about preparation, not position.

2) More importantly, avoiding flexion doesn’t match real life!

We can cue perfect hinging all day, but at some point your client’s going to pick up a kid,

twist to grab a suitcase, or reach awkwardly for a dropped phone.

If they’ve never trained those positions? That’s when problems happen.

Then, we blame the injury on the position, when it was really that they just weren't ready for it. 

Our patient or client them trains themselves not to flex or twist, until inevitably they have to

do it again and the cycle starts all over again.

Honestly, I was just setting people up for failure by telling them never to round their back.

It's not realistic and then they'd feel like a failure because they didn't do what I told them

and I got to say "I told you so".

Real-World Win: From Fear to Strength

One of my clients had been dealing with back pain for over 20 years.

He had a herniated disc years ago, and maybe still did. 

His goal when we first met? - “I just want to protect my back and not have 10/10 pain again.”

Totally fair. But I wanted him to stop thinking about his back and just live and enjoy life on his farm in Italy.

He’d been through multiple rounds of PT. He’d learned:

• Core bracing

• Neutral spine

• Lift with your legs, not your back

  
  

And those weren’t bad lessons, but they locked him into fear.

When I asked him to try a toe touch, he said, totally serious, “My disc will burst out of my back.”

To pick up a shoe, he would drop to both knees just to avoid rounding.

It took weeks. Weeks of breathing, awareness work, regressions, reassessments, and just a little more encouragement than he probably wanted.

We didn’t force flexion. We built trust with:

• Supported breathing drills

• Exercises that actually encouraged spinal flexion (even if he didn't realize it)

• And eventually Jefferson curls - which might be my favorite low back exercise ever

  
  

Now? He’s shoveling. He feels strong. And the best part?

Last time I talked to him he said “I actually forgot I even had a back problem.”

We got him to stop avoiding a position and now his back is feeling better than it has before and he's doing more than he thought possible.