Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill (2015-09-30)

About 15 years ago, I had surgery and drop foot as the result of an L5/S1 disc herniation due to playing sports. Unrelatedly, I also fell on a tennis court and aggravated L3, L4, L5 on the other side of my spine. All of this caused me to have regular, chronic, low grade pain/sciatica, when it wasn’t outright disabling and hard to even move. Both of these injuries have combined to change my life in dramatic ways. To give an example of how limited my life had become, I had not felt safe to life a gallon of milk for 15 years, much less carrying the recycling bin to the curb. I had tried PT many times, with no success and often getting worse by having setback after setback from poor/ignorant guidance from those inexperienced with working on spine health. I am now in my early 50s, and was preparing for a life of continuous, chronic low back pain and resigned to trying to make the best of a bad situation. That’s when I heard the author Stuart McGill in an interview with Peter Attia (available on YouTube). I bought the book immediately (about 9 months ago), and in a word, this book changed my life. It is so good, I believe it may be able to change yours too, which is why I am writing this extensive review. I am in awe of the amount of gratitude I have for this man, and how his life has helped transformed mine. McGill has studied the spine for some 30 years, having had a research lab at the University of Waterloo. He has worked with back pain sufferers from elite athletes to the non-athletic during this time. The summation, of all that work, all that thought, and all that effort is this book: Back Mechanic. And it's done in super-accessible form. In a word, it is a brilliant, dense, concise summary for those of us who suffer from low back pain, to teach us how the spine works, what the spine needs, and presents a roadmap to getting beyond the pain, and onto a happier, functional life. This book is designed to take us through his entire journey of learning, so that you can begin your own journey to back healing and back health and to live pain free, and maybe even be an athlete again, if that is one of your goals. BACK MECHANIC offers a multi-step program, which starts with learning spine essentials and how to stand, sit, walk, bend, so to not aggravate our back even more. Learning correct movement patterns is absolutely essential to the healing journey. McGill, with descriptions and invaluable illustrations, shows us how. From there, there is a self-assessment that helps one understand better their unique situation, adn then we evenutally get to the justly-famed BIG 3. (NB: It does not suffice to watch YouTube videos of the BIG 3, and assume you are able to replace this book. That’s wrongheaded and misguided. There are a few good ones out there, but they do not rise to the level of comprehensiveness that this book offers. There are no shortcuts.) You want to get his book because it is literally chock-full of pearls of wisdom distilled from his decades of research and applied physiology experience virtually on every single page. (This is one reason that makes the book as valuable as it is dense. There’s a lot here!) All this needs to be integrated in your movement patters and ways of thinking about your spine to have the most likely chance of success. If we are to become our own Back Mechanic, we have to go back to school and get an education. And that education takes time. There’s a TON of information here, to understand and integrate. But you have to put in the work., there’s no way around that fact. For me, it was a leap of faith. I said to myself ‘give it 3 months of my best effort, and let’s see what happens.’ (I didn’t have expectations for an outcome, but I wanted to give it sincere effort.) I spent the first 2 weeks slowly reading the first few chapters, just digesting his approach and understanding how he was approaching the spine, while trying to integrate the best movement patterns into my every day (every hour!) life. (McGill has some unconventional approaches and ideas about the spine that are not universally accepted around yoga, pilates, stretching in general.. to name a few. I didn’t have strong opinions on these things, and put my trust in him as my guide, knowing I had to also take responsibility for what I did with myself, both inside and out of the gym.) After about 6-8 weeks of very diligent and careful integration of these words of wisdom, my chronic, low grade back pain that accompanied me every single AM for years upon years.. and often throughout the day - eventually disappeared. Completely disappeared! From there I learned through experience, that using the BIG 3 correctly, actually helped my back feel better (as predicted in the book) even when I entered the gym feeling some discomfort. This was nothing short of miraculous… but it was actually the outcome of McGill’s commitment to excellent vis-a-vis understanding the spine, and my commitment to deeply understanding the principles and guidance he sets forth.. and making them my own. I also own his 2 other major works: Lower Back Disorders (very specialized and science based.. not necessary unless you want to really get as much information about spine mechanics and health as you can_ and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance (which is a book for athletes who want to understand Back Mechanic more deeply, and to go beyond the BIG 3 and be thinking about core strength playing sports/lifting heavy.). Am I done? Hell no. I still do the BIG 3, 3-4 days a week, and have additional spine health exercises that I do at the gym on other days. Although I’ve been doing the work for nearly 7 months now, I am not actually at the last stages of the BIG 3 yet.. in other words, despite my successes (which are dramatic and life giving), I still have several months to go before I’ve integrated all of the wisdom/exercises outlined in Back Mechanic. That’s when I’ll move on to Ultimate Back Fitness. This is a book to help you in your life.. and it is a book to have for the rest of your life. Thank you Dr. McGill! Those of us whom you have helped over the years, are deeply indebted to your love affair not only with understanding spine mechanics, but to your brave commitment (when taking on conventional wisdom) to share your understandings with the rest of us. It’s an inspiration to us all. Want to change your life by healing your back?… Buy this book, and give yourself a chance to heal.

Skip to the end to read my personal results. If God wrote an owners manual for your back, this would be the book. This book is essentially an owners manual for the human spine. It is an invaluable source of information that will teach you how to strengthen the core muscles of your body and move properly so that you can live a pain free life without back surgery. The reason this book is so highly rated is not just because it gives people hope for a pain free life, it actually works and the concepts are easy to apply. Stuart McGill brilliantly explains his method of healing and preventing back pain, which essentially revolves around the idea of strengthening your core muscles instead of making your spine work harder than it needs to. This book will guide you through the process of assessing your back pain and determining the best way to eliminate it. It provides detailed information on how the spine works, why you are having pain, and the big three exercises to strengthen your core and resolve it. Personally, I purchased this book after suffering a slipped disc in my lower back. I’ve been following the instructions for about six weeks now (8 weeks or so since the actual injury) and I am 80%+ back to normal — depending on the day — but still avoiding prolonged sitting. I go back every few days to read parts of this book again. It’s really worth paying attention and trying to follow it, what a low price to pay for fixing your back the best you possibly can on your own. I highly recommend this book if you find yourself suffering from a back injury and want to avoid the hassle of physical therapy appointments and/or dealing with doctors!

50 years ago, a football back injury ( spondylosis L5/S1) gave me much to overcome in maintaining the fitness required to compete at the national and world level in my age group in sprint cycling. Weightlifting has carried me very far in this regard, but attempting to “have it all “ has led to injury and overuse , forcing me to live with symptoms related to bulging discs, two annular tears, moderate stenosis, and spondylosis leading to spondylolisthesis, extension intolerance and radiculopathies. I reject the option to correct these conditions with surgery. I recently searched out the most elite sport coaches and asked if there was an expert they recommended that would support a non-surgical, self motivated solution to my ills. Stuart McGill was universally mentioned as the highest regarded spinal rehab authority. From world class cyclists with herniated discs to a world’s strongest man competitor with crushed vertebrae, Stuart McGill has proven his rehab methods can often repair career ending spinal problems and return athletes to winning form without surgery or pain. “The Back Mechanic” is Stuart McGill’s primer for the back-injured masses. The book explains in detail what it takes to return your back to health by your own means. Included is proof for his theories, back myths dispelled, specific methods to strengthen the back, the best way to treat the injuries, and how to avoid movement patterns that got you into this mess to begin with. The book is easy to read. Every word has weight. Every section of his book is equally important. Bits and pieces of what McGill has devised have begun to sneak into rehab culture, but never before so logically laid out with the correct importance and scientific studies to back them up as in this book. Never before has so much of what you thought was true proven to be so wrong. I dug into “The Back Mechanic” and adopted its methodology. After about 3 months, the awareness that my back health was compromised was gone. It now has been 6 months of adhering to “The Back Mechanic” and I can report that my back feels “bulletproof” to everything that upset it before. I am again in the top 1% of strength among serious weightlifters that are my age and weight. I am able to continue my fitness sports without pain. I consider testimonials pretty useless from a scientific point of view. But virtually every athlete who has gone the McGill way has improved enough to continue their sport. What is the alternative? Surgery, drugs, more surgery, giving up what we love? I am convinced that whatever your back problems are, if you are patient and apply yourself, that “The Back Mechanic” is the only book that provides all of the tools to continue doing what you love, athlete or not, young, or old, and with much less chance of needing surgery.

I'll preface by saying I'm not a physical therapist, I have not been diagnosed with disc problems, and I don't have significantly impairing back pain presently. I bought this book first for a friend who had a herniated disc. We're both in our 30's, he told me about his problem and how impaired he'd become. I couldn't get him to a physical therapist but I could send him a copy of this book. He still has some back pain, but he worked to reduce it to a level he could tolerate using the material herein. Now when we talk he doesn't mention his back much, if at all. He installs windows, so his job is very physically demanding. I also purchased a copy to give to a guy I worked for very briefly. He had numerous significant medical issues, not the least of which were spinal problems that limited his time standing and moving about to less than two hours. His heart also wasn't well, and that limits capacity for training one's self. He seemingly felt himself beyond my advice and that of this book, and didn't want to read it. I do not know if he was correct in his determination. I've also read a good bit of this book in attempt to address my postural pains that come and go. I wanted to power through and finish it, but.. my apologies, I really dislike the writing style and organization. Admittedly, I'm not literate enough to expand accurately on that. I'm a 10 year automotive mechanic and the son of a 40+ year HVAC contractor. My passion for automotive is centered on troubleshooting. I think about things in the format of mechanical operation, and I find it necessary to understand function of individual components of a system before tackling systems as wholes. Dr.McGill seems to have the same bend. He admittedly struggled getting his knowledge translated into writing, but found the information so valuable that it had to be done anyways. I have to agree with him. Much of the message herein is identifying problems, isolating them, and developing means to work around them. The ideology is spine preservation through minimizing non-essential movement and capitalizing on the benefits of rigidity/stiffness. He wants to turn crippled people into strong pillars. It is a unique and effective strategy if you can accept the premise: You will not move like you used to. You will have limitations and your minimal pain/pain-free status will be dependent on diligent maintenance. If you can accept that, you're likely to find a way to reduce your pain in this book. TL/DR: This book helps you identify your problem, and teaches you how to get out of or prevent pain by becoming stiff, and how to move about as a stiff person. It is a necessary alternative for those who find themselves unable to address their back problems by other means, and it is in some cases an alternative to surgery (fusing discs), which simply forces stiffness. But supplementing surgery requires discipline, accuracy of diagnosis, and an understanding of the fault. What's missing is an explanation of why flexibility works for some, and why an uninjured person should pursue stiffness v. flexibility. What's wrong is the use of the phrase "...get your swagger back."

Easy to read and follow for anyone who wants effective ways to learn about and improve back health.

This is a great user guide to understand the mechanics and function of your back to help recover from injury and prevent it from happening in the first place. Like most people who find this book, I have been suffering from a back and leg issue for several months that has proven resistant to strategies that have worked for me in the past. I am still on a journey of recovery but have a far deeper understanding of the mechanics of what is going on inside my body, the stresses that I have put on it, and a powerful tool to complement my work with orthopedist and physical therapist. Pain has kept me from sleeping for many weeks which is a lonely and depressing place to be--Dr. McGill's positive and optimistic tone combined with his realistic prescriptions have really lifted my spirits and helped me to keep moving forward and to believe that I can get through this. One of the most important pieces of guidance is that issues present differently for everyone so that blanket guidance like you find on the web is often not helpful with your own experience. If you are the kind of person who needs to understand the details and wants to get deeply involved in fixing your injury and building a long term program for health, this book is required reading. If I were creating a curriculum of "This is your body and how to operate it" this book would be required reading. I have found myself reviewing and re-reviewing portions to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanics. Drawings are good, advice is science based and comes out of Dr. McGill's clinical work, organization is helpful , and tone is very readable. Dr. McGill has written a lot of scientific papers on the subject and this serves as a the distillation of those learnings for a lay audience. I'm very pleased with the $30 I invested in understanding my body more deeply. Good luck to you if you are suffering your own pain.

Dr McGill is one of the most renown Doctors for back injuries in the world. I only wish I had read his book before I had sciatica back surgery. This book gives you detailed information as to self diagnosis your back problems, and gives exercise advice on treating yourself. He has treated Olympians, kings, and so many people with great success. If you have back problems, I would recommend this book before you ever consider surgery.

This book is excellent. Great illustrations. Definitely read it before trusting the exercises prescribed by your physical therapist. They can't possibly give you the most comprehensive recommendations in a 20 minute medical appointment, because the topics covered in the book are complex. Also, just watching the McGill big 3 exercises on Youtube are not enough. Probably, there won't be a Dr McGill in your country, but the book takes you a long way there to help yourself.

ALL GOOD...

Très bon livre. Arrivé très vite et correspond à la description. Après avoir vu une podcast de Stuart Mcgill avec Huberman, j'ai accroché tout de suite. En re-education après une opération, je voulais suivre la méthode Mcgill plutôt que de faire les mêmes erreurs que l'on me fais faire depuis des années.

It took suffering for too long, doing the wrong things, and being discouraged to the point of feeling quite hopeless, to truly appreciate the tremendous value of this book, and the McGill Method. Science, research, and solid advice that can be put into practice immediately. I have read and re-read, I have the paper version and digital to have it at hand, wherever, and purchased the videos to enhance my understanding. I have more work to do, but I feel hopeful again, with pain significantly reduced already. It is so empowering to have the tools to have results myself! This is also written in a way that is engaging, compassionate, and understandable. Thank you Dr. Stuart McGill!

If you are experiencing back pain or it continues to reoccur this book is essential reading. I came across Dr McGill on a podcast and it was (no exaggeration) life changing. Back Mechanic does what it says - it gives you the tools to help yourself and I can now see that certain “good” habits and exercises were actually making me worse. I suspected this, but it is comforting to have a specialist set out why certain exercices are better than others for those with back problems. The book is succinct but comprehensive with clear diagrams and explanations. It also gives more than practical advice, it is filled with positivity and gives hope to those of us who think we will never be better than just ok. I would highly recommend - it is an incredible resource for the money.

Buena utilidad