Back Pain and Core Stability: What Every Rucker Needs to Know

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If you started rucking to improve your back health

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or you've been wondering whether rucking might

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actually hurt your back, today's conversation

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brings some much -needed clarity. Dr. Ryan Peebles,

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doctor of physical therapy and founder of Core

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Balance Training, breaks down how core connection,

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breathing, and spinal stability determine whether

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rucking becomes a tool for resilience or a source

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of pain. You'll hear how to prepare your body

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before a ruck. what to pay attention to while

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you're under load, and how to protect your spine

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as the miles and weight gradually increase. You're

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listening to the Rucker's Edge podcast, the show

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all about rucking that is designed to help you

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improve your rucking routine, lose weight, and

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ultimately gain your strength and energy back.

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Each episode dives into the science, stories,

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and strategies behind rucking. You'll learn from

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top ruckers, coaches, nutrition experts, and

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performance specialists who break down what it

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takes to train smarter, recover faster, and stay

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ready for the next challenge. So whether you're

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new to rucking or an experienced rucker that's

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already logged hundreds of miles, this is the

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show for you. I'm your host, Spencer. Thanks

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for listening in. This episode is loaded with

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excellent advice, and I'm glad I can finally

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share it with you. Please enjoy my conversation

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with Dr. Ryan Peebles. Dr. Ryan, welcome to the

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Rucker's Edge podcast. It's really great to have

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you here, man. Thank you, Spencer. Excited to

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be here. You know, I'm really pleased that you

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came on because a lot of ruckers sort of start

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rucking because they might have back problems

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or they might experience back problems after

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they get started. So having a subject matter

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expert on the show, I think is going to really

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help out a lot of the listeners. I kind of want

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to start out with maybe some misunderstandings

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about back pain or maybe misconceptions. Is back

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pain usually caused by weak muscles or is typically

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there's something else going on? Yeah, that's

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a really good question. And I was excited when

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you asked me to be on this podcast because it's

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definitely a topic, you know, rucking's a hot

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topic right now. I've been asked, you know, if

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rucking's good or bad for back pain, really.

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That's like kind of a big question because it's

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a rising activity, you know, in popularity. So

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there's tons, to answer your question, there's

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tons of... of misconceptions about back pain

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so we i'm not going to get too deep into the

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weeds one of the major ones would be that you

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know back pain is caused by a weak core. But

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really, there's a lot more factors about the

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core that come into play when it comes to back

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pain. And so if the assumption is that back pain

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is caused by a weak core, then the solution would

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be, well, let's do sit -ups, right? Sit -ups

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strengthen your core. And that's, I think, where...

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a lot of people kind of go wrong is that they're,

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they're connecting just brute strength or the

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ability to sit up, which is just one motion of

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the core with, uh, you know, with the problem

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and the problem with the, with the core is not

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necessarily the strength in the ability to sit

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up, but more so the, it's more like a combination

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of stamina or endurance and the ability to stay

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engaged for a long period of time because the

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spine needs support not just during specific

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like bursts of movement, but it needs support

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all day long. And this relates to rucking really

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well because when you're rucking, you know, you're

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adding extra weight to your spine and you want

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your spine to be supported. You want to have

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like a little bit of decompression factor on

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your spine from your core for the entire time

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that you're rucking. And to be honest, even after

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you're done rucking. And so that's a different

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kind of strength. It's more what I call core

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connection. When you talk about the core, what

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muscle groups are you specifically talking about?

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It's going to be all the muscles that surround

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the spine, like 360 degrees. I'm not big on differentiating

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or singling out specific muscles because the

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reality is that the core and the whole body works

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together synergistically. So just to target one

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muscle is... trying to, you know, look at the

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body or use the body in a way that it wasn't

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really designed to be used. Oh, we're just going

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to just engage your transverse abdominis, just

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isolate it. Well, that's not how the body likes

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to work, right? It's got the internal obliques,

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the external obliques, the rectus abdominis,

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and then around the sides and the back, it has,

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you know, more muscles that are designed to just

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squeeze the spine. If you look at the shape of

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these core muscles a lot of them are broad and

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flat they're like corset shaped and what does

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a corset do it it squeezes so what do we accomplish

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with that is called intra -abdominal pressure

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and if we can create that force that intra -abdominal

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pressure with our own core muscles, we get the

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support that we would get from putting on a corset

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brace. It increases the pressure inside your

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core, which increases stability. And that's what

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the spine really likes. Interesting. Okay. Synergistically,

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it's a great word. I like that. Yeah. And there's

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more muscles too. I mean, there's probably going

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to be some like critics out there. So for those

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people, yeah, the glutes, all of the glutes,

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you know, some of the deep hip muscles, any muscle

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that attaches to your torso. You could even argue

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some of the shoulder muscles, like the pecs would

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be part of your core. It's all part of this monster

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that we want to have balanced and working, like

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I said, synergistically together. If there's

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a major imbalance in that muscle group, then

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that can lead to problems. So you're the second

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guest in a row to... talk about how important

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uh all the muscle groups around the core are

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previous guest maddie hollingdale he's a coach

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in the uk and he references all the muscle groups

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working together as like working out like your

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trunk and it's not necessarily like just the

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front just the abs like some people might think

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the core might be so he refers to it to the trunk

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and it kind of sounds like you're you're talking

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about the same thing like all these muscles working

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together So with that in mind, what are some

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of the recommended workouts that might work out

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the entire group of core muscles in one go? I

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guess like what's the biggest bang for your buck

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workouts that might do that job? Yeah, it's a

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fantastic question. So I think that the big picture,

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like 10 ,000 foot view is, if you look at the

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core as your foundation for stability, then any

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exercise that you do, where you're, say, lifting

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weights, moving, you know, you're moving your

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arms and legs, you can turn that exercise into

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a core exercise by stabilizing your core against

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that movement. So really what the core is doing

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is resisting movement. So say when you do, pick

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a lift, you know, an overhead press or a squat,

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it doesn't really matter. Your legs and arms

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that which are doing the lift can do the movement

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and that movement doesn't transfer into the lumbar

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spine or doesn't. doesn't translate and become

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a compensatory movement in your spine so the

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muscles of your core are resisting movement okay

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so it doesn't i mean the classic movement that

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the classic exercise if you're looking for a

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simple answer is the plank is a good one where

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you're resisting movement of gravity pulling

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you down to the floor right that's the simplest

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example but any exercise can become that. And

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I actually really like the overhead press for

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it because it's really common for people to kind

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of like start to collapse in their lumbar spine,

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like by arching their lower back in the overhead

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press. And if you can keep that, if you can resist

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that and stay tall and not let that increased

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curvature occur in your lumbar spine, you're

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using your core muscles very heavily to do that.

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Gotcha. So that's sort of what people mean when

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they say engage your core, like use that resistance

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to kind of stabilize any movement that shouldn't

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be moving to go through those workouts or those

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exercises. Does that sound right? Yeah. Stabilizing

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or resisting movement. Gotcha. All right, let's

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move into your spine under load. So when we rock,

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we're throwing like, you know, 25, 35, 45 pounds

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on our back. And I realize that might have some

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implications on our spine and muscle groups.

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What exactly does rucking demand from the spine

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mechanically? It's not going to change any of

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the demand because we already have the same force

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working on our spine in just gravity. The weight

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of our upper body is always compressing our spine.

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And so all that rucking is doing is increasing

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the demand of the same activity or the same demand.

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on your core. So we're just increasing the intensity.

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Gotcha. And so I guess what happens to the lower

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back once we start getting tired? What starts

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to break down or is it just independent to the

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rucker and what muscle groups are stronger than

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others? It's there's going to be a little bit

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of both, you know, and this kind of field of

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fitness or health, medical care, the answer is

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usually going to be it depends. So that's the

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case here, too. So for there is a pattern. And

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I'd say roughly about 80 % of people are going

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to have this one thing happen to their spine,

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which is when their core muscles get tired, their

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pelvis is going to start to tip into anterior

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pelvic tilt. Their spine is going to fall into

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a little bit of hyperlordosis. And then the other

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20 % is going to be a variety of different things.

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It could be a large portion of that other 20

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% will be. Posterior tilt and flat back or a

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little bit of those percentage might be, you

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know, a scoliosis type collapse. And so it's

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just going to be a collapse because the muscles

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are getting tired. And in essence, what happens

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to your spine when you increase the intensity

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of any exercise is the weaknesses get exposed.

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So whatever your weakest link is, is going to

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start to happen. Gotcha. So when I guess the

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villain here, when we start to have back pain

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from rucking, it's sort of maybe the weight impacting

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your posture and causing sort of imbalances that

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might lead to back pain. Is that sort of what

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happens? Yeah, it's just, you know, if you have

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a slight weakness here where it's. not really

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significant enough to affect you in your normal

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daily life, but then you add a bunch of weight

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to your body, it's going to expose that weakness

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a little more and it might become... significant

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or it might become a factor that causes you to

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collapse in one way. And when I say collapse,

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I hope people, you know, visualize what I mean

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to be instead of your muscles holding you up

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through muscle tone or just a slight engagement

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that's, you know, affecting our posture, we end

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up collapsing onto our ligaments and instead

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of our muscles being that supportive structure

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we're kind of hanging on our ligaments which

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are kind of like a backup postural structure

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and there and that's you know um naturally you're

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just going to be not as not as upright not as

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tall so the curvatures of the spine become a

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little accentuated okay now here's kind of like

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an oddball question at least i think it is When

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we're rucking, you know, our breathing patterns

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might change. How does breathing change spinal

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stability or does it? Breathing is massive. I

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think it's actually one of... I want to say the

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biggest factor of all, but there's so many factors.

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There's a few biggest factors and it's one of

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them. Okay. So what breathing does is it's, well,

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first of all, it's something we do all day long

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continuously and it involves our core muscles.

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So there's definitely, you know, a correlation

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at the least. But the way that we breathe can

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have a major influence on the stability of our

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core through, I think what I mentioned earlier,

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intra -abdominal pressure. And so when you breathe,

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when you take an inhale, and if you're breathing

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in a healthy way and your diaphragm's coming

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down into your abdomen, then that... is causing

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pressure in your abdomen. And that increases

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the pressure. It's called intra -abdominal pressure.

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And as that pressure increases, the stability

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increases in and around your core. So it's more

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support, more stability for your spine, which

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the spine likes. If we breathe in, say, an unhealthy

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way, and you're not containing any of that intra

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-abdominal pressure with your core muscles, all

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that... Pressure is getting lost. It's spilling

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out for most people out your belly. And it's

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doing really nothing. It's like a flat tire for

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your spine. And so breathing is very nuanced,

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but very important for spine health. Okay. That's

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really good to know. You mentioned earlier different...

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shapes your body could end up in. In previous

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emails I had mentioned to you, I felt targeted

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to listen to one of your podcast episodes about

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anterior pelvic tilts. Can you describe anterior,

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posterior pelvic tilts? Yeah. So, you know, the

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pelvis sits on two ball and socket joints, which

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are our hip joints. So you just imagine your

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two legs, you could imagine them as just giant

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single. sticks, and then there's a ball on top

00:14:30.409 --> 00:14:33.269
of them, the pelvis is balancing on those two

00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:37.309
balls. And so it can tip in actually any direction.

00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:41.809
And so as humans, there's a lot of us, right?

00:14:41.870 --> 00:14:44.889
There's like 8 billion of us now. We find patterns

00:14:44.889 --> 00:14:47.409
in the way that it tips. And the most common

00:14:47.409 --> 00:14:51.789
direction that it tips is forward. And so if

00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.149
you think of the pelvis as a bowl, say a bowl

00:14:54.149 --> 00:14:57.519
of milk, it's going to be spilling out. out the

00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.019
front, spilling the milk out the front. And so

00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:03.700
that would be anterior pelvic tilt. So the spine

00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:05.919
sits on top of the pelvis. And so whatever the

00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:09.320
pelvis does, it affects the spine. And so when

00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:12.279
the, when the pelvis tips forward or anteriorly,

00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:15.259
the spine is going to move forward too. And it's

00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:18.429
going to increase the I'm going to get technical

00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:20.710
here, but I'll explain it. The lordotic curvature

00:15:20.710 --> 00:15:23.629
of the lumbar spine. So the backward bend, the

00:15:23.629 --> 00:15:26.629
natural backward bending curvature that exists

00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:31.009
in our lower back, it gets increased from anterior

00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:34.669
pelvic tilt and that causes problems of its own.

00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:37.529
In your opinion, is it more typical for ruckers

00:15:37.529 --> 00:15:39.730
to experience anterior pelvic tilt once they

00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:42.860
start getting fatigued? I would guess that because

00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.480
that's just the most common pattern in people.

00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:48.720
You know, it doesn't take a rucksack to cause

00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.440
people to fall into anterior pelvic tilt. It's

00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.799
happening to people all the time. So in the general

00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.759
population, yeah, it's the most common. And so

00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.139
if we add that extra intensity to our spine,

00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.690
it's going to... likely cause it more okay all

00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:05.669
right very good to know now let's move into how

00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:08.129
ruckers can know that they're headed towards

00:16:08.129 --> 00:16:11.490
trouble so what warning signs should they look

00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:14.429
out for and not ignore once they start rucking

00:16:14.429 --> 00:16:17.029
and starting to get fatigued yeah i really like

00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:19.929
this question because i i try to teach this i

00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:22.889
call it listening to your body and uh it's the

00:16:22.889 --> 00:16:26.019
most valuable skill for getting out of back pain.

00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.379
So I deal with people that are already in back

00:16:29.379 --> 00:16:32.840
pain and have been probably for long, long periods

00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:36.399
of time. So if you can master this skill before

00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.259
getting into back pain or like look before it

00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.299
becomes chronic, Oh, just going to make your

00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:44.299
life so much better. So the body's giving cues

00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:48.799
all the time, whether you're in pain or not,

00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:50.779
you're getting cues or you do something that

00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:53.120
It's good for your body. It's going to give you

00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.360
good feelings. So listen to that and do more

00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.980
of it, right? If you do something really bad

00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:03.259
for your body, it'll give you pain. But there's

00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:06.940
a lot of in between, right? Most of the things

00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:09.420
that we do are in between those two extremes.

00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:14.380
And on the way to pain, there's a lot of different

00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:17.900
cues that we can feel that are like, this doesn't

00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:21.009
feel so right or this isn't like. It doesn't

00:17:21.009 --> 00:17:25.289
seem great to me, you know, this feeling of tension

00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:28.730
or muscle tightness or stiffness or it just feels

00:17:28.730 --> 00:17:30.910
like something's starting to lock up. Listen

00:17:30.910 --> 00:17:34.730
to those feelings. Those are real communications

00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:38.930
that are, they're not just like random or spontaneous.

00:17:39.109 --> 00:17:41.869
They're for a reason and your body's telling

00:17:41.869 --> 00:17:45.250
them to you and you can listen to them. What

00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:50.279
a lot of people do is they notice them. And I

00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:54.220
think wait to take action until it gets more

00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:57.000
severe. So it turns into pain and it's like,

00:17:57.059 --> 00:18:00.500
oh, I guess this means I should stop. But what

00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:04.319
you could do is start taking a little action,

00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.210
like a modification. type action earlier be like

00:18:08.210 --> 00:18:10.269
all right my body is telling me this it intuitively

00:18:10.269 --> 00:18:13.329
just doesn't feel like a good thing i kind of

00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:15.789
feel like almost something's starting to go wrong

00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:18.690
let me modify this let me you know i don't know

00:18:18.690 --> 00:18:20.970
take a little break do a little stretch do just

00:18:20.970 --> 00:18:24.789
change something and see if it affects this symptom

00:18:24.789 --> 00:18:29.150
that i'm feeling okay Yeah, very good. As you

00:18:29.150 --> 00:18:31.410
were talking, I was listening to my lower back

00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:34.609
and I just adjusted my posture. There you go.

00:18:35.170 --> 00:18:38.809
Yeah, a lot of it for me is I'm sitting for a

00:18:38.809 --> 00:18:43.049
period of time. It's like I can predict the feelings

00:18:43.049 --> 00:18:44.990
I'm starting to get and then it'll turn into

00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.009
pain eventually. And I'm like, well, maybe I

00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:50.089
should get up sooner and just take a little walkabout.

00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:53.000
And yeah, it's that kind of thing. Oh, you know

00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:54.279
what? Taking a break, that's a really good idea.

00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:58.779
So I try to follow the... I work at a computer.

00:18:58.819 --> 00:18:59.980
I'm looking at the computer screen pretty much

00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:02.240
all day. So I try to remember the rule of 20.

00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:05.539
So every 20 minutes, you stop looking at the

00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:08.619
screen. You look at an object 20 feet away for

00:19:08.619 --> 00:19:10.400
20 seconds. I might have to start doing something

00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.559
like that from my back. Yeah, yeah. That's so

00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:14.799
you don't go cross -eyed. So you could actually

00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:18.900
just incorporate getting up into that 20 -20

00:19:18.900 --> 00:19:22.920
-20 rule. And then you would be killing two birds

00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.200
with one stone. I do have a sit -stand desk,

00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:27.119
and I definitely need to use that more often.

00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.140
For the listener, Dr. Ryan's standing up, so

00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:31.019
I feel like that's like a hint to everybody.

00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:33.119
Maybe we should be standing more. I'm usually

00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.480
walking. This is a treadmill desk, but I dubbed

00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.700
my toe really hard last night on my two -year

00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:43.819
-old son's little play gym. And I don't want

00:19:43.819 --> 00:19:45.640
to walk on it right now. That sounds about right.

00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:48.579
Yeah, stubbed toes and children, that goes hand

00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:52.779
in hand. Let's talk about warming up. So what

00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:55.380
sort of warm -ups should ruckers do? I mean,

00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:58.380
specifically targeting the back prior to going

00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:00.670
out on a long ruck. I'd say the most important

00:20:00.670 --> 00:20:04.150
thing to do to warm up is to do something that

00:20:04.150 --> 00:20:08.289
activates your core and not just assume that

00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:11.390
your core is already like fully activated or

00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:15.349
turned on because, you know, you got to start

00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:18.650
thinking about. your core as it's a muscle group

00:20:18.650 --> 00:20:21.789
that does tend to get inhibited because as we've

00:20:21.789 --> 00:20:24.529
already talked about, we sit a lot as a society.

00:20:24.710 --> 00:20:27.329
And when you're sitting, especially with a backrest,

00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:30.470
it, it just allows the core to turn off and it

00:20:30.470 --> 00:20:32.569
becomes this kind of, if you don't use it, you

00:20:32.569 --> 00:20:36.609
lose it type situation. And the core is just

00:20:36.609 --> 00:20:41.269
living in this semi inhibited state. So to, to

00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:43.430
realize that and to go, all right, I'm going

00:20:43.430 --> 00:20:46.039
to. activate my core with something that's just

00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.759
going to wake it up. The core and all the muscles

00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:50.859
in the body are, it's not just, they're not just

00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:54.680
muscles. It's a neuromuscular system. Neuro means

00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:57.859
there's electricity flowing to them and you can

00:20:57.859 --> 00:21:00.299
actually increase that electricity, increase

00:21:00.299 --> 00:21:02.920
the neurological activity that's flowing to these

00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:04.740
muscles and they, they like wake up, they get

00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:08.180
more tone and they, they work better. So, um,

00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:10.759
anything that's going to activate your core.

00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:14.309
And for me, you know, I, I'm a big fan of getting

00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:17.069
down on the floor and doing, we have this, these

00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:19.769
kinds of weird exercises that we do for, for

00:21:19.769 --> 00:21:24.430
my program and stuff. Um, so that that's what

00:21:24.430 --> 00:21:27.869
I would be doing, but for like common exercises

00:21:27.869 --> 00:21:31.589
that, that everybody knows, I would say the bridge,

00:21:31.670 --> 00:21:35.930
um, the plank, the side plank is a really great

00:21:35.930 --> 00:21:40.740
one. mainly because it's hard to, uh, do it wrong

00:21:40.740 --> 00:21:43.319
and compensate where you're doing like a normal

00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:45.920
plank. Actually, there's a lot of, a lot of people

00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:48.440
need a little coaching on like how to hold their

00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:50.240
spine and pelvis a little better, but the side

00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:53.660
plank, uh, you can kind of activate everything

00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:57.759
on one side and, um, people it's, it's, it's

00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759
kind of hard to do that one wrong and then, and

00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.519
then do the other side. And then you got your

00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.859
whole core. going there. So side plank on each

00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:06.559
side would be a great warmup and a bridge if

00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.420
you do it the right way. That's another one that's

00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:12.839
very commonly done wrong. So it depends on your

00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:17.720
skill level, but stuff like that. More with Dr.

00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.099
Ryan in just a moment, including what we can

00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:22.640
do pre and post -ruck to help improve our core

00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.740
and prevent back stiffness. But I want to take

00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:27.619
a quick break to say thanks for listening to

00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:30.240
the podcast. Please text this episode with a

00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.960
fellow rucker that might find it interesting

00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:34.200
or a friend that could benefit from rucking.

00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.559
Sharing this episode would help the show grow

00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.720
and help more people improve their health and

00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:42.539
lives. Okay, back to it. Now let's transition

00:22:42.539 --> 00:22:46.339
to post -ruck and maybe doing some prevention

00:22:46.339 --> 00:22:50.119
work. So what should ruckers do when they finish

00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:52.420
rucking to kind of make sure that they don't

00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:54.940
create any pain or situations that might impact

00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.829
the back? Yeah. So a good cool down, you know,

00:22:58.849 --> 00:23:01.029
this is getting more general fitness tips, but

00:23:01.029 --> 00:23:04.250
a good cool down is really important. And so

00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:07.269
if you had your heart rate up, like kind of high

00:23:07.269 --> 00:23:10.789
from, from the rock to just like, you know, keep

00:23:10.789 --> 00:23:14.369
moving, actually, ironically, just keep moving,

00:23:14.430 --> 00:23:17.849
but in a much lighter cool down type way, don't

00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:21.589
just go sit and just completely stop moving.

00:23:21.690 --> 00:23:23.029
That'd be the worst thing that you can do. Cause

00:23:23.029 --> 00:23:27.150
all those kind of, I don't know, juices that

00:23:27.150 --> 00:23:30.230
were flowing through your body that that also

00:23:30.230 --> 00:23:34.809
contain some soreness type chemicals like acid

00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:37.250
like lactic acid and stuff they would just become

00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:39.930
stagnant when you stop moving and you want to

00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:43.289
kind of keep moving lightly to let the body kind

00:23:43.289 --> 00:23:46.750
of flush that out after you've done exerting

00:23:46.750 --> 00:23:50.369
yourself and and let the blood kind of push those

00:23:50.369 --> 00:23:54.039
those uh things out, that'd be probably the most

00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.220
important thing to do. And if you're not feeling

00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.799
any kind of like, you know, problem in terms

00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:01.640
of pain, I don't think that there's too much

00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:05.019
more you need to do. Now, along those lines,

00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:07.099
you know, it's really important to cool down

00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:09.680
so you don't have any stiffness. It's excellent

00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.759
to stretch post -ruck for your recovery purposes.

00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.359
Another good thing for recovery is sleeping.

00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:19.299
How can we adjust our sleep habits so that it's

00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:23.359
beneficial for are back. Yeah, well, you're talking

00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.640
to somebody who's super focused on improving

00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:28.420
their sleep right now. So yeah, it's a relevant

00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:33.240
topic for me. I actually think that a really

00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:37.440
important thing for everyone to do is like, take

00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:41.500
a look at your mattress. I've found a huge theme

00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:45.079
since working in this population for the last

00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:49.140
eight years. to be people waking up with back

00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:53.579
pain because there's saggy spots or soft spots

00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:56.460
in their mattress. And it's just time to get

00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:59.400
a new one. I mean, if it's been like seven to

00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:04.400
10 years, uh, you know, every night that those

00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.940
things wear down. And, and so that's actually

00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:10.759
number one sleeping position is another one that's

00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:16.339
actually quite nuanced as well. So, um, I will

00:25:16.339 --> 00:25:19.579
say that from a back pain perspective, there's

00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:24.859
no best sleeping position, except if you know

00:25:24.859 --> 00:25:27.920
you have something like stenosis, sleeping on

00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:31.180
your back is going to be a little stressful on

00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:34.430
that. So paying attention to like... What's going

00:25:34.430 --> 00:25:38.250
on in your body and matching your sleeping position

00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:41.069
with that is important. And I could go down a

00:25:41.069 --> 00:25:44.789
rabbit hole with all that, but yeah, I'm avoiding

00:25:44.789 --> 00:25:48.069
it. No, not needed. I think that's perfect. Okay,

00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:51.109
so let's talk about core balance training, the

00:25:51.109 --> 00:25:53.750
program that you run. So for the listener, can

00:25:53.750 --> 00:25:55.849
you describe what core balance training is and

00:25:55.849 --> 00:26:00.329
who it's for? Yeah, so core balance training

00:26:00.329 --> 00:26:04.400
is a... It's an online program that guides people

00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:09.700
to basically improve their core connection and

00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:13.019
the balance and the muscles of their core. It's

00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:18.619
designed for people that have back pain and it

00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:21.039
gets them out of back pain. And so it's really

00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:24.779
that simple. There's a pretty big problem in

00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:29.680
our population of chronic back pain. extremely

00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:33.819
common and i think there's a big gap in the medical

00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:40.700
system of you know being able to get people back

00:26:40.700 --> 00:26:43.920
from from chronic back pain to a place where

00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:48.259
they can then like do their own fitness and you

00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:50.200
know improve their fitness without hurting their

00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.960
back so we're filling that gap getting them to

00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:55.640
that place that's excellent so correct me if

00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:59.140
i'm wrong i think it's is it all online Yeah,

00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:01.940
yeah. It's a thing of like an online course,

00:27:02.140 --> 00:27:05.019
but a lot more comprehensive. So, you know, there's

00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:08.539
coaching. I'm in there coaching. We have an entire

00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:13.140
team of actual people helping coach. There's

00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:16.539
weekly live streams. There's our private community.

00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:21.480
And it's very kind of intensive course in the

00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:23.880
sense that it's every day and there's a new lesson

00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:28.910
every day. But it's 15 minutes. per day. So it's

00:27:28.910 --> 00:27:31.609
not like intensive in terms of time every day.

00:27:31.650 --> 00:27:33.990
Okay. Yeah. So it's, it's daily. So you're, uh,

00:27:34.130 --> 00:27:35.869
the people in your program are doing something

00:27:35.869 --> 00:27:38.230
actively every single day. It's not like a three

00:27:38.230 --> 00:27:41.529
times a week situation. Right. Yeah. And that's

00:27:41.529 --> 00:27:44.609
part of the solution is just that daily commitment.

00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:47.750
Well, Dr. Ryan, this has been really great before

00:27:47.750 --> 00:27:49.950
we conclude, uh, you know, if listeners want

00:27:49.950 --> 00:27:52.509
to reach out to you to maybe, uh, ask some questions

00:27:52.509 --> 00:27:54.329
or maybe sign up for the, uh, the core balance

00:27:54.329 --> 00:27:57.640
training program, where should they go? I'd say

00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:02.319
for a good introduction to me is YouTube. So

00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:04.339
they can just, you know, search core balance

00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:07.160
training on YouTube. Or if you want to check

00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:09.619
out the course, you can do a free trial and you

00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:12.240
can just go to corebalancetraining .com. Awesome.

00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:15.119
Well, Dr. Ryan, I sincerely appreciate your time

00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.039
this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.

00:28:17.940 --> 00:28:20.200
Yeah, Spencer. Thanks so much. It was great.

00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:23.099
I appreciate being here. All right, that wraps

00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:25.619
up my conversation with Dr. Ryan. You can connect

00:28:25.619 --> 00:28:28.180
with him on his website at corebalancetraining

00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:30.200
.com. You can check out his YouTube channel,

00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:31.920
which has the same name, Core Balance Training,

00:28:32.059 --> 00:28:34.440
or check out his newer podcast called The Back

00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.519
Pain Podcast. I'll drop a link to all those in

00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:39.559
the show notes. If you want to reach out to me,

00:28:39.619 --> 00:28:41.619
head on over to the website, theruckersedge .com,

00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:43.960
or check me out on Instagram at theruckersedgepod.

00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:46.500
If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to

00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:48.660
follow or subscribe to the show in your favorite

00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:50.960
podcast app so you're notified of new episodes.

00:28:51.549 --> 00:28:53.809
In next week's episode, we talk about what I

00:28:53.809 --> 00:28:56.970
have planned for the show in 2026. So come back

00:28:56.970 --> 00:28:59.390
and give it a listen. Okay, that's it for today.

00:28:59.549 --> 00:29:01.569
Thanks again for listening to this episode of

00:29:01.569 --> 00:29:02.230
the Rucker's Edge.