Spine

Cartilage & fascia

• Intervertebral disc

  The pads of fibrocartilage between the bones of the spine. What a disc is made of, how it carries load and takes in nutrients, how it changes with age, and what studies found about how it heals and adapts.

Muscles

• Erector spinae

  The long muscle group that runs up the back and straightens the spine. How it is built, how it tires and shrinks, how it builds back, and what it works with.

• Multifidus

  The deep back muscle that lies closest to the spine. How it is built, how it shrinks with disuse and in some people with low back pain, how it comes back, and what it works with.

• Quadratus lumborum

  A four-sided muscle of the lower back, between the hip bone, the last rib and the lumbar spine. Where it attaches, what recordings show it doing, how its size differs in athletes, and what it works with.

Bones

• Lumbar vertebrae

  The five bones of the lower back. How each is built, how the body, facet joints and pars share load, how and in whom the pars cracks, and how lumbar bone responds to loading.

Joints

• Sacroiliac joint

  The joint on each side of the pelvis where the sacrum meets the ilium. How it carries the trunk's load, how far it moves, what scans show in people without pain, and how it changes with load and childbirth.

• Spine

  The column of 24 vertebrae, with the discs and small joints between them. How each region moves, the loads it carries, how its joints wear with age, what studies found about adaptation, and what connects to it.

Exercises

• Back extension

  An exercise that lifts the upper body from a face-down position, on a Roman chair, a bench or a table. What studies measured it loading, how set-up shifts the work, and what training changed.

• Bird dog

  A hold on hands and knees with one arm and the opposite leg lifted. What studies measured it loading in the back, buttock and abdominal muscles, and what training trials found.

Stretches

• Child's pose

  A kneeling forward bend from yoga. Trials have tested yoga programmes that had the pose as one item, and the muscle measurements nearest to it come from other positions. What those studies did and found.

• Knee-to-chest stretch

  A stretch that exercise programmes for the lower back list as knee to chest. In the trials cited here that name it, the stretch was not tested alone. What those trials and studies of lumbar flexion measured.

• Upper back stretch

  A stretch that pushes the arms forward and rounds the upper back, with extension and rotation variations. What little is measured for the named stretch, and what trials of upper-back programmes found.

Conditions

• Disc herniation

  Disc material pushed out past the edge of a disc in the spine. How a guideline and reviews define it, who it affects, how it changes on scans, and what trials of surgery and non-surgical care found.

• Low back pain

  How research and guidelines define low back pain, who it affects, how episodes tend to go, and what studies of scans, exercise and the back muscles found.

• Sacroiliac joint pain

  How research defines pain from the sacroiliac joint, how studies confirm the joint as the source, who has been counted with it, and what trials of exercise, injections and fusion surgery found.

• Sciatica

  How guidelines and reviews define sciatica, leg pain that starts at a nerve root in the lower back, how common it is, how it tends to go, and what trials of rest, exercise, medicines, injections and surgery found.

• Spondylolysis

  A fracture of the pars interarticularis, a small part of a lower-back vertebra. How reviews define it, who has it, how often the bone united in series by stage, and what trials and long follow-ups found.

Exercises that load this area

Filed under another area, but connected to an entry here.

• Back squat

  A barbell squat. What the studies measured it loading, how bar position, stance and depth shift the work, and how muscles changed with training.

• Barbell row

  A pulling exercise for the back. What studies measured it working, from the lats and back of the shoulder to the lower back and the side of the trunk, and what is known about how those muscles adapt.

• Dead bug

  An exercise done lying face-up, lowering an opposite arm and leg. What studies measured in the abdominal and back muscles, and what trials of programmes that included it found.

• Deadlift

  A lift driven by the muscles that straighten the hip, knee and back. What the studies measured it loading, from the back and thigh muscles to the lower spine, and what is known about how the body adapts.

• Farmer's carry

  Walking while holding a heavy weight in each hand. What the studies measured it loading, from the back and trunk muscles to the hips and spine, and how carrying in one hand compares.

• Glute bridge hold

  Lying on the back and holding the pelvis up off the floor. What studies measured it working, from the buttock and back of the thigh to the back and abdominal muscles, and how variations shift the work.

• Good morning

  A barbell exercise that bends the body forward at the hips with the bar across the upper back. What small studies measured it loading with straighter and more bent knees, and what models estimate for the lower spine.

• Hip thrust

  A bridging lift with the upper back on a bench and a barbell across the hips. What studies measured it loading, how it compares with the squat and deadlift, and what changed with training.

• Kettlebell swing

  A hip-driven swing of a kettlebell between the legs and up to the chest or overhead. What small studies measured it loading, how style and bell weight change it, and what swing-only training trials found.

• Lunge

  The forward, reverse and walking lunge. What studies measured them loading at the hip and knee, how step length, trunk lean and added weight shift the work, and what training studies found.

• Mountain climber

  A bodyweight exercise used in interval circuits and some fitness tests. The muscle measurements nearest to it come from related knee-drive moves, and the training trials tested circuits that included it. What those studies did and found.

• Overhead press

  A pressing exercise that pushes a weight from the shoulders to overhead. What the studies measured it loading, how seat, bar and bar path shift the work, and what is and isn't known about training it.

• Plank

  A face-down hold that works the muscles of the abdomen, back, hips and shoulders. What studies measured it loading, how its versions shift the work, and what is known about how these muscles adapt.

• Power clean

  A barbell lift pulled fast from low down to the shoulders. What studies measured it loading, which loads gave the most power, how training with it changed people, and what weightlifting injury studies report.

• Pull-up

  Pulling the body up to a bar from a hang. What studies measured it loading, how grip and kipping shift the work, what changed with training, and what injury reports recorded.

• Running

  Steady distance running. Which muscles studies found doing the work, what models estimate it loads from the foot to the knee, and what reviews found on foot strike, shoes, training load, progression and injury.

• Side plank

  A held position that works the side of the trunk and the hip. What studies measured it loading, from the obliques and quadratus lumborum to the gluteal muscles, and what is known about training those muscles.

• Side-lying hip abduction

  An exercise that moves the thigh out to the side while lying on one side. What studies measured it working, from the gluteus medius and minimus to the muscles that share the work, and how the clamshell compares.

• Single-leg Romanian deadlift

  A hip hinge done standing on one leg. What the studies measured it working, from the buttock and hamstring muscles to the small muscles that keep the body balanced.

• Sled push

  Driving a weighted sled forward by its handles. What the few pushing studies measured, how pushing differs from towing a sled, and what sled-training studies found on load, surface and speed.