Dealing with low back pain

It seems that low back pain is a relatively common complaint for dragon boaters. This isn’t really surprising, given that 80% of people in the US report experiencing low back pain (LBP) at least once in their lives. Low back pain is often also connected to low back instability as well.

For myself, I usually read my own LBP in the boat as a reminder to activate my core muscles. This is a pretty standard approach to LBP: activating and strengthening the core muscles. But, a recent research study on LBP indicates that core strength probably shouldn’t be the only approach to reducing pain and improving low back stability.

Kim and Yim (2020) tried three different treatments for individuals with LBP. The control group did core strengthening exercises. The control group is what the treatment groups get compared to to see if there is an effect. One treatment group did…