The Invisible Fix — How a Subtle Form Mistake Was Hurting My Back for Years

Bad form is obvious and slight, there’s not that much in between, and once it’s no longer obvious, it becomes very difficult to identify what’s just slightly off. It’s also relatively easy to clean up bad form, but it’s very hard to consistently nail it. It requires an extreme level of focus, and constant drilling. That’s what I’ve been noticing lately after learning that I had a tendency to jut my head forward causing misalignment in my spine.

I noticed it doing a dead hang one night after getting stoned. I was hanging from my pull up bar, when I suddenly felt the need to pull my head back, like someone behind me tied a string at the center of my skull and was pulling it directly back. And when I did that I felt my back adjust itself in three or four different spots. Crack, crack, pop. I was astonished. I was like ‘holy shit, I’ve probably been doing that for years without ever knowing,’ thinking my form was pristine when in reality it was slightly off. But this slight adjustment, that would be so hard to tell for anyone watching, I realized was a pivotal piece to solving the mystery of healing my back. 

Since identifying this tendency, I’ve noticed it in everything I do. With everything I pick up. With every turn and step. I notice that my heads jutting forward and I can’t understand why. For years when I was cued to pull my chin in, I pulled my chin in, but I didn’t pull my head back, and I think there’s a big difference between the two. You can tuck your chin without having your head in line with your spine, and I think it’s that misalignment that has been part of my issue.

I need to pull it back, and so that’s what I’ve been drilling non-stop. I’m now constantly stopping throughout the day to redo a movement because I noticed my head was forward. I’m constantly pausing before lifting something heavy or doing something that requires me to be off balance and outstretched to make sure that my head, neck, and back are aligned. And the more I do, coincidence or not, placebo or not, my back feels better, my body feels better, and I feel like it’s making me stronger having adjusted another weak link in the chain. It’s pretty amazing.

I’ve often said that the biggest changes you can make in your life are the ones that no one else would notice, and I think this is a perfect example of just that.