I think many of us who are a little more seasoned and have a lot of years under the bar suffer from back pain. This has been an ongoing issue in my life for 25 years.

At 28, my first back issue, an MRI showed one ruptured lumbar disc and one herniated lumbar disc. My last MRI two years ago showed two herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and thoracic arthritis.

With those diagnoses, I have always been focused on treating my back. The same goes for every practitioner I have seen.

Through texting with Wendler who also has a lot of back problems, we determined there are hip issues as well. These are most likely a result of imbalances in dealing with back pain.

Since spending more time rehabbing and keeping my hips happy, my back has not been an issue. I know I touched on this previously, but I no longer static stretch.

I find stretching leans into pain. That's something I have become far too proficient at. I always feel like I can push through. It has always come at my own detriment.

There are probably hundreds of hip movements you can try. If you see a stretch, that's fine. My advice is just to move in and out of it. Don't push anything in a static fashion to the end range.

I won't post what I am using because we are all different. Be aware of where your pain is. Have a test for it.

My test is crouching down. By the way, I rock in the position. I don't want to be down holding in a static position of pain just like stretching. You never want to make it worse if you can help it. When down there it bites right in the back of my glute. That is my test movement.

After any hip rehab movement I try (or any other body part for that matter) I retest. If I can get down in that crouch position with less pain, that's a good movement to use.

Keep in mind the same movements do not always work forever. You also may unlock other issues up or down the line in your body. It's ok, the goal is to continually move forward to get out of pain.

The older I get the more I realize sometimes my body just needs rest. After a few days, gentle movements. I can always find conditioning and training that works around an issue. The days of trying to push through are over.

It has taken me years to figure this stuff out. Hope this can help.