Pre-workout stretch designed for my bulging disk at L5S1 (maybe it could help you!?)

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year and a half since I wrote my blog post “Looking to Stu McGill’s Big 3 for bulging disk pain.” It’s equally hard to believe that I haven’t had significant back pain since the start of the pandemic — or that I haven’t even looked at McGill’s classic, “Back Mechanic,” since then.

Not that it’s not valuable. McGill is considered a god in the world of back pain.

However, my chiropractor gave me a set of exercises to do before every workout, and I wanted to make sure I told you about them. They’re called nerve flosses, and I do ten with each leg.

Currently I’m working out at least three mornings every week, a treadmill routine I do with the help of Apple’s Fitness+ tool. I’ll write about that another time. Worth every penny (until I find something better, I suppose).

But before I get to runnin’, I lie down and bring my right knee to my chest and then extend my leg at the highest angle I can achieve with my toes pointed inward. Bring the knee back toward the chest and re-extend the leg with toes pointed inward.

Do this ten times on each side.

There are a handful of strategies I’ve used to keep L5S1 bulging disk back pain away without the need for more steroids or surgery. This along with the regular exercise that follows it is vital. It was the perfect exercise for my situation, and I’m grateful that my chiropractor saw that.

As for my other strategies, I’ll be writing about those in upcoming posts. One is all about my post-workout stretching routine, and the other is about a purchase I made for the office that is an absolute game-changer.

If this is a topic you’re interested in, I’d definitely appreciate a follow here on WordPress.