In my career as a strength coach I’ve worked with many people dealing with back pain, from athletes to non-athletes. My usual starting moves are the McGill curl-up, birddogs, deadbugs, and various planks. But after a while, some folks would rather skip than do another rep.
Curl-ups, birddogs, and planks do work. Coaching people through those three movements consistently can correct a lot of faulty movement and reduce pain in a symptomatic back. Still, they can get boring. As much as I’m a fan, part of my job is to help people not feel like patients and to find other ways to train that still move the needle.
Ever have this moment?
Athlete: “Ready to train, coach. What are we doing today?”
Coach: “You’re in for a treat. We’re working with birddogs today.”
The point isn’t to bash birddogs—they’re a solid move—but we can add other exercises that help with low back pain and are more engaging for people who want to train hard.
HBT Front Squat March
Who did I steal it from? A mix of Dr. Joel Seedman and strength coach Ryan Wood.
What does it do? Hanging Band Training, or HBT, has been discussed before. In short, you use bands to create oscillations that challenge stability, raise core demand, and increase time under tension, which can support muscle gain. The oscillation from this approach also helps the core work to stabilize the spine, building a tougher, more resilient back.
The oscillation effect of kettlebells (or plates if you don’t have KBs) also helps challenge the core to stay tall and steady as you move.
Two ways you can do the exercise:
1) If you have space, unload a barbell from a rack and walk a set distance with it.
2) In a smaller studio, you can stand in place and march the bar out for distance.
Key coaching cues: This is a fairly intuitive move. The kettlebells or plates hanging from the bands will jostle you if you’re not pulling the barbell under control. The goal is to resist that movement and keep the weights quiet. Watch for too much leaning back or excessive side bending. Stay tall as you switch weight from one foot to the other.
You can aim for about 30–40 seconds or a certain number of steps. Give it a try and see what you think.
