Spine Sparing Tips: By Lee Brandon, C.S.C.S. Lee Brandon is a Strength and Conditioning specialist who is an expert in evaluating and accessing postural biomechanics and is the Two Time World Long Drive champion in Golf. She currently holds multiple patents to one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood for training the core called the AB-Inforcer® (www.ABInforcer.com) and is the inventor of the AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® Training systems. Lee is the former Assistant Strength Coach for the New York Jets football team. Also she is an internationally known coach, teacher, and motivational speaker. She is the owner/president of AB-NST, LLC., and works as a fitness consultant to many celebrities, Universities and professional athletes and teams. Seen on ESPN, The Golf Channel, and highlighted in Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest. For more visit www.LeeBrandonInc.com AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® 90-90 Brace

Annually, thousands take up golf as a way to get out and enjoy the fresh air and burn a few additional calories. While the increased activity is good for most, there are also some hidden concerns that all golfers need to be aware of. The low back could potentially be compromised if one’s posture, spine positioning, and strength endurance of the core musculature is not addressed because of the excessive loading and forces put on the spine. Strengthening the torso muscles to brace in neutral before swinging at full, is critical in avoiding injury and repetitive overuse to the spine. The compression on the back while rotating in the golf swing and the forward lean of the torso needs to be addressed by the average golfer that wants to hit it “long and straight”. Even spending 30-60 minutes leaning forward and rotating while swinging, can create tension and overuse in the neck, shoulders, upper back, and can strain the lower back. Remember that “Posture= Power” because duplicating the neutral zones of tall postural alignment of the spine is the place where the body absorbs forces the best.

Neutral alignment of the posture is the place where the spine can swing the fastest and generate the most speed without increased potential for injury.

The AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® 90/90

Brace is one exercise in a series that creates awareness of key muscles that can be used to help protect the beginner to advanced golfer while swinging and strengthen the core, both on and off the course.

Have your local Strength and Conditioning Specialist (www.nsca-lift.org) and/or credentialed Golf Professional evaluate your spine angle and postural alignment at address for personalized adjustments.

AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® 90/90 brace drill will teach your torso musculature we call your inner belt of power (transversus abdominis, external and internal obliques) and lower back muscles (multifidi, erector spinae) to work together to stabilize your spine in the golf swing.

Did you know? There are four layers of abdominals. It should be noted that the segmental nerve supply to the abdominal muscles below the bellybutton receive a difference segmental supply from those above. This is one means of separating the upper portion muscles from lower portion of the abdominals (Clarkson, H.M., 2000).

Whether it is on a 2 hour practice at the driving range or 3 hour walk of 18 holes, your lower back will benefit from learning how to co-contract and brace these abdominal muscles in the right order, at the right time. The core abdominal and spinal stabilizer muscles act like a “Belt-of-Power” because they wrap around you and connect your club to the ground. If these muscles are trained properly they can take the place of an external support such as a lifting belt. Artificial supports can actually do more harm than good since they may become a substitute for good posture and muscle strength.

Research shows that when the core abdominal muscles are activated or ‘fired’ simultaneously with the lower back muscles, the dynamic stability of the lumbar spine is enhanced (Aspden, 1992). This simultaneous ‘firing’ of the appropriate musculature is

Three imbalanced postures (left to right): Flat back/ flexion biased, lordotic or sway back/extension biased, kyphotic/ Lumbar region in extension and upper back and head in flexion). Many lower-back problems, particularly those which cannot be traced back to any specific traumatic incident, may be caused from overuse and improper alignment of the spine (Head/Neck, upper-back, lower-back as it is positioned on our pelvis). Analyze the position of your body at address. What shape does your spine take-on naturally while relaxing, driving a car, and typing? Is it hunched or rounded over? Are your traps (the muscles in your upper back that hold the head on the shoulders) screaming at you? Is it difficult to pull your head and shoulders back, and keep your abdomen firm? Consider the AB-Inforcer® as part of your solution!

known as a ‘co-contraction.’ It is precisely this starting coordinated action that the AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® 90/90 brace teaches. See clinical study on line that shows the statistical significance in the muscular activity comparing doing the same exercises on the ground versus doing them with the biofeedback of the AB-Inforcer®. www.Abinforcer.com

The AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® 90/90 brace is a great addition to any exercise regimen. Not only will the drill work trunk musculature that connects your upper and lower body together, but it will ideally also prevent strain to the neck and lower back. It does this by increasing your postural awareness, muscular control and lumbar stabilization, which is especially important in the repetition of the golf swing. In addition, by mastering this exercise, you’ll increase your strength endurance and know exactly what to do to duplicate a spine sparing angle and maintain your spine in a neutral, pain-free place throughout

the entire swing.

Neutral is defined as the postural alignment for a given individual where the head, neck, upper back, and lower back are neither rounded forward (flexion) nor extended backward. This position called neutral is a “NEU- Zone®” where your “vertebrae stay suspended apart” in

your spine every time you swing. It is the place where your spine is muscularly held in its optimum postural position and can best tolerate mechanical forces. Being a two time world Long Drive Champion in golf, I know deeply the skills necessary to manage a one-sided dominant sport such as golf. We must all work very hard to undo the imbalances of our sport! I am here to share with you, years of experience and research we call the AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® truth.

Our posture retains the shape of what you do for long periods of time. For example: If you stand hunched over a golf ball 50 hours a week, consider it “rounded posture training.” Golfing for hours at a time with a repeated poor posture could be considered training. You’re training your body to look a certain way by default! What are you going to do to off-set the hours of incorrect posture training?

Fortunately, clinical proof exists which demonstrates that you can re-educate your body to hold itself in a new position all day long. It takes postural awareness to start the process.

Engram Motor Programming (E.M.P.) is the brain’s way of following an established neural pathway, or in a sense, the path of least resistance. Once a movement pattern is programmed into the brain (muscle memory), the body will subconsciously repeat that movement, or hold itself in the manner which it has been trained to do so. New information or motor programming can be entered into the brain with an initial conscious effort. With deliberate reinforcement, a new coordinated movement pattern can emerge which will then become second nature. Research states that it takes approximately 300 repetitions to create a new pattern, and about 3000 repetitions to undo a poor one. The bottom line is that if you train in perfect posture, your posture is more likely to look perfect. Become aware of how you are loading your spine while golfing, while at work all day long and try to consciously become aware of it and correct it.

Unfortunately, most of us learned to do crunches or traditional sit-ups thinking that this was correct. Regretfully, the result of more traditional abdominal routines and feet anchored sit ups is a larger waist, collapsed posture, and possible injury from repetitive micro trauma and strain to the neck and spine. The AB-Vanced NEU-Spine® 90/90 brace is 500% more efficient with less neck strain and is a superior choice for core training for golf. www.ABINFORCER.COM/ CLINICAL STUDIES.

TO START:

AB-Vanced NEU-Spine® 90/90 Brace: Lie on your back with your knees bent at a comfortable angle. Your heels should be flat on the floor. Position a towel roll comfortably under your neck. Fold another towel in half, and position the folded towel under the low back, centered under the belly button, to eliminate any space between the back and the floor. If your back posture is such that no space exists, do not use the towel. You should now be in a neutral spine position. Keep your head pushing backward ‘into’ the floor and squeeze the shoulders together. (Squeeze a pencil between your shoulder blades together and depress them down to your waist).

Relax the muscles in the front of your neck. Breathe normally, from your abdomen, not from your shoulders. Tighten your core and bring both knees up to 90 degrees at the hip and 90 degrees at the knee.

Compress backward through the towel (or turn your lights on)underneath your low back (Above- the athlete is using the AB-Inforcer® that provides light, sound and vibration to re-enforcer good form, showing that when his core is tight the lights on the device light up!).

Tighten your abdominals create tension in you core muscles as if you are getting punched in the abdomen. Do not pelvic tilt or lift your tailbone off the floor. Maintain “lumbar extension with tension”. Maintain breathing from your diaphragm. NOTE: Your low back should not lose the compression through the towel (AB-

Inforcer® lights shut-off if you are doing it incorrectly) under the belly button at any point in time.

Hold the bracing tension (Do not hollow in with the abs or

distend out. It is an isometric tensioning that trains the abdominals strength endurance. Hold the movement for ten seconds and feel a contraction in lower portion of your abdominals without the assistance of any of the upper body muscles (neck, shoulders, or arms).

THE GOAL: Relax your Head and neck and find the weak link in your torso power. ‘Squeeze the Pencil’ and breathe. Repeat ten times and rest ten seconds then repeat for four minutes daily. REMEMBER: Always consult a physician before beginning any fitness program or exercise. This drill should not create any pain at all. See your local health care provider for guidelines for your body. Do this drill after golfing, and you will noticeably reduce the stress in your head and neck and lower back by firing the large shock-absorbing muscles that keep you in a strong AB-Vanced Neu-Spine® posture. Until next time, remember – “Keep your Head Quiet and Turn your lights on”. Lee Brandon, C.S.C.S. Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Two Time World Long Drive Champion