Reducing low back pain while double Poling

CCBC double pole cues to reduce low back pain and optimize technique.

Ross McKinnon, Physiotherapist. Kelowna Manual Therapy Centre

Chris Manhard, BC Head Coach

In the spring of 2024 BC athletes on the BC ski team and development team were surveyed on injuries as part of a yearly ongoing project. 15 out of 67 athletes surveyed reported low back pain while double poling that interfered with their ability to ski their best

Low back pain is the number one overuse complaint of older athletes in the ski injury literature so reducing the stress on the low back in younger athletes should be a priority.

To reduce low back stress while double poling.

Stop the ‘crunch’ cueing with poling. Athletes should aim to keep their spine within a range of a normal lordosis (i.e. the ‘neutral’ spine position) to a slightly flexed position. Excessive spinal flexion (forward bending) must be avoided. Instead of the crunch cue, athletes can cue core activation by ‘stiffening’ or ‘engaging’ the core without excessive spinal flexion. Athletes should make sure they are using their core muscles correctly while double poling utilizing drills like the “T-Rex”. In the T-Rex drill athletes propel themselves while poling by keeping the elbows and shoulder angles locked in the

same position throughout the poling cycle. This teaches athletes to engage the core muscles and propel themselves forward with hip, knee and ankle bend. This can then be progressed to a more dynamic motion with the arms.

Strengthen the core in the neutral spine position. Many core exercises are performed laying on the back in a position that posteriorly tilts the spine. This posterior tilt presses the lower back against the ground. This curved back position can potentially encourage more spinal bend than is optimal with double poling, as well as strengthen the core muscles in a flexed position. Athletes should instead focus on trying to maintain the neutral spine position while core exercises are performed. In other words; athletes should be training the core in the position of the spine they will use during ski technique. (For further core strengthening program review the Telemark Core Program designed by Ross McKinnon. https://race.teamtelemark.ca/ athlete-resources/core-strength-training).

Ensure the pole plant occurs with proper body positioning. Athletes should ensure that their shoulders and elbows are flexed away from the body at the pole plant position. As the shoulder is flexed away from the body position the latissimus and thoracolumbar fascia are under tension providing stability to the spine and pelvis while increasing poling power.

Bend all the lower extremity joints, not just the hips. Encourage ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion and hip flexion, instead of keeping the knees extended while flexing the hips / trunk. Using the modern hip, knee and ankle bend double poling technique there is less stress on the low back as athletes need to simply straighten their legs while flexing forward at the ankles to get to into the upright and forward position. Excessive hip and trunk flexion while double poling requires the erector spinae muscles to repeatedly contract from the flexed position to attain the upright position. This puts extra stress on the low bacK

Keep weight forward. Athletes should make sure they don't shift their body weight onto their heels as the poling finishes when increasing speed or under increased poling power such as poling up inclines. The athlete's weight should stay balanced over the entire foot. Shifting the weight back onto the heels will increase the

back muscle activation required to attain the upright forward body position that is optimal when accelerating or traveling at a slow ground speed.

Use the glut muscles. Ensure that athletes are engaging their gluteal muscles to assist with hip and trunk extension as the athlete straightens their spine, rather than the back muscles doing all the work. Deadlifts done correctly will ensure that athletes are properly engaging their glut muscles.

Avoid too much spinal extension. Ensure younger athletes or less strong athletes do not hyper-extend their spine as they double pole, diagonal stride or

kick double pole. Make sure that athletes maintain a neutral postion of their trunk as they are in the recovery phase. Also watch for any side to side bending or rotation of the spine with poling. This may indicate that one arm is working more than the other side that can be confirmed with single pole technique drills.

Experiment with poling tempo. A more frequent poling cycles instead of longer ‘power’ poling. An increase in poling. frequency should reduce the load on the spine.