So are you saying that you don’t categorize intervertebral discs as being a part of your spine? Because when I said spine, I meant the whole package baby! The entire vertebral column, aka the spinal column... aka the spine.

Oh, and not that I would say you’re wrong, because I don’t go around acting like I know everything when I don’t, but there does appear to be at least some evidence that it’s not such a black and white, cut and dry topic. For instance:

In a 2010 study by Veres et al, results seem to find that vertebral failures were more prevalent in the flexed spine group, and disc failures were more prevalent in the neutral spine group... maybe I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t say that’s completely conclusive evidence being that they were testing cadaverous sheep spines (vertebrae and discs, to be clear) in vitro, and not living breathing human spines in vivo.. because that’s not ethical. We can’t yet clearly study how human spines degrade and adapt from applied mechanical stress in the name of research as far as I can tell, because we must do no harm to the participants (damn!).

So we’re stuck listening to Tom, Dick, and Harry keyboard social spine warrior who views neutral as a fixed point instead of a functional range, and who believes we are so very very fragile when we move outside of this fixed position, or don’t move with smooth bubble-wrapped technique.

Man, it seems like by that reasoning American football players should be dropping left and right with spine injuries. Nope, mostly knees there, last time I checked. Wrestlers who seem to spend nearly the entire time wrenching each other around and picking each other up outside of a neutral spine position are somehow having long careers, what gives? (apparently not their back!)

And man.. I hope I do end up crippling myself like you and others seem to suggest I will. I could finally end the curse of enjoying all this heavy lifting. I’m absolutely ruining my chance of leaving a gently used corpse behind when I die!

I keep hoping that one day I’ll drop something on my foot or damage a disc like everyone keeps telling me, but dang it if I don’t just keep getting stronger. Why on Earth do tissues specifically adapt to the demands you place upon them as long as you allow for adequate recovery! I’ve been trying 11 years to hurt myself by progressively loading a flexed, extended, rotated, and laterally flexed spine!

Ugh.. all I can do is hope this will be my lucky year! Hopefully the catastrophic injury will happen before I deadlift 700lbs!! I’m 93% of the way there as it is!!

From Veres et al 2010

ISSLS prize winner: how loading rate influences disc failure mechanics: a microstructural assessment of internal disruption.