Why Back Pain Is an Epidemic and How Low Back Ability Is Changing the Way the World Heals
Back pain is no longer just a personal struggle. It is a global epidemic.
Chronic back pain recovery has become one of the greatest challenges of modern health. Back pain is no longer just a personal struggle. It is a global epidemic. According to global health data, low back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide. Over 80 percent of people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. Millions develop chronic pain that lasts years, sometimes decades. This is not a coincidence. It is a reflection of how disconnected we have become from movement, from understanding our bodies, and from rebuilding what pain has slowly taken away.
Most people with back pain are told the same story:
“Protect your spine.”
“Don’t bend.”
“Don’t load it.”
“Rest until it goes away.”
“Your MRI is your future.”
And yet the pain keeps growing.
LBA believe back pain persists not because the spine is fragile, but because it has been misunderstood. The future of chronic back pain recovery is education, progressive movement, and rebuilding tissue tolerance.
Pain is not only a structural problem. It is a neurological, psychological, and biological adaptation. The nervous system learns to fear movement. Muscles lose coordination. Blood flow reduces. Tissues stop receiving healthy stimulus. Over time, protection becomes dysfunction.
This is where movement becomes medicine again.
Why Chronic Back Pain Recovery Fails in Traditional Rehab
Modern rehabilitation often revolves around avoidance:
Avoid flexion
Avoid extension
Avoid load
Avoid movement
But the spine is not designed to be avoided. It is designed to adapt.
Without stimulus:
Muscles weaken
Circulation decreases
Joint nutrition declines
Neurological control deteriorates
This is why so many people feel “stuck” even after years of therapy.
At LBA, we do not treat the spine like glass. We treat it like living tissue that needs progressive exposure, just like every other part of the body.
The LBA Philosophy: Strength Rebuilds Safety
Low Back Ability is built on three core principles:
- The spine must be trained, not protected.
- Healing happens through circulation and control.
- Pain changes the nervous system, and movement rewires it.
When someone begins LBA, they start small. Very small.
Often with just isometric back extension holds.
Why?
Because isometrics:
– Restore blood flow
– Reintroduce safe contraction
– Calm overactive protective responses
– Teach muscles to fire without spasm
This process retunes what are called gamma motor neurons, which regulate muscle tension and readiness. After injury, these systems misfire. Muscles either shut down or stay locked in chronic guarding. LBA slowly brings balance back.
This is not about pushing through pain.
This is about creating evidence for safety again.
Why LBA Includes Education
Back pain is not just physical. It is deeply neurological.
Fear amplifies pain.
Uncertainty amplifies pain.
Misinformation amplifies pain.
That is why LBA includes education modules. When people understand what is happening inside their body, the nervous system begins to relax. Healing accelerates.
Knowledge reduces threat.
Threat reduction reduces pain.
Pain reduction restores confidence.
The way the world sees joint rehabilitation is changing. Rebuilding tissue tolerance through progressive loading is safer and more effective than avoiding stress entirely. LBA applies that same philosophy to the spine.
Brendan Backstrom expanded that vision to the most misunderstood joint in the body: the back.
Where most people see danger, LBA sees opportunity.
Where most people see fragility, LBA sees adaptability.
You can see Brendan’s deeper educational writings here:
https://lowbackability.medium.com/ or on https://lowbackability.com/faq/
And explore movement education here:
https://www.youtube.com/@lowbackability or here https://lowbackability.com/lba-back-education/
Why Chronic Back Pain Recovery Must Address Mental Health
Back pain is not just physical suffering.
It is loss of identity.
Loss of confidence.
Loss of purpose.
We have seen thousands of people lose careers, relationships, and hope.
Luigi Mangione is one of many voices who has publicly spoken about the psychological devastation of chronic pain. His story highlights something society avoids discussing: untreated physical pain can become a mental health crisis.
People do not break because they are weak.
They break because they feel trapped in a body that no longer feels safe.
LBA exists to give people a way forward again.
Not just physically.
But mentally.
Emotionally.
Spiritually.
How Low Back Ability Supports Chronic Back Pain Recovery
LBA does not promise quick fixes.
It promises reconstruction.
It rebuilds:
– Muscle strength
– Tissue tolerance
– Circulation
– Neurological control
– Movement confidence
And most importantly:
Self-trust.
The program follows progressive levels:
– Isometric holds
– Single-leg holds
– Controlled hinge reps
– Full-range reps
– Loaded reps
Each level only advances when next-day symptoms stay stable.
No rush, ego, and no guessing. Low Back Ability was created to give people a structured path toward chronic back pain recovery without fear, avoidance, or dependency.
This is why it works.
Back Pain Is Not a Life Sentence
The epidemic is not caused by weak backs.
It is caused by weak understanding.
Low Back Ability exists to restore what pain stole:
Movement, Strength, Hope, & Identity
True chronic back pain recovery does not come from rest alone. It comes from rebuilding strength, circulation, and neurological trust in the spine.
Back pain recovery is also not about being perfect.
It is about being patient.
It is about rebuilding trust one contraction at a time.
The spine does not need protection.
It needs education and stimulus.
That is the heart of LBA.
