I am writing a review of this book, even though I only received the book yesterday, and just did about three or four of the exercises last night.
In the reviews of the book, someone said that the exercises (or, as they refer to them, the "E-cises," with the "E" standing for Egoscue) are not like any other exercises they had ever done for lower back pain before.
And I think that's the whole point.
This man obviously knows what the other people writing books about back exercises do not know - and that is how to fix the problem.
After reading Jack Nicklaus' review of the book - and I am a golfer - I could only respect and believe what he had to say, since Jack Nicklaus is known to "tell it like it is," and his description of his experience sounded so authentic that I had no reason to disbelieve it.
I will hasten to say that I, like probably every other person with sometimes terrible lower back pain, tend to take with numerous grains of salt anything we read about "curing" lower back pain, because most of the things we have done, in following the instructions in various exercise books about lower back pain, have not actually produced anything remotely resembling a cure.
At best, they may have alleviated, for a short time, some of the more serious pain, or discomfort.
And, in the back of my mind, I thought that as soon as I go to sleep, in the same bed, and on the same mattress which may have very likely been a contributing factor to my back problems, it would instantly undo any gains I might have made.
What I was so encouraged about was the statement in the book that "there are five E-cises for mitigating musculoskeletal pain in the low back", and they take about twenty minutes, and he recommends doing them first thing in the morning.
Then he goes on to say to do the e-cises daily until pain abates for 48 hours, and then continue for ten days, before switching to the overall conditioning e-cises in the last chapter.
In other words, he is not saying "if," or "maybe," but "when."
And so, I not only wanted to believe, but I took on faith, not only on Jack Nicklaus' review, but the hundreds of other reviews, virtually all of which were extremely enthusiastic and positive, that everything he was saying was true.
I only actually did three of the five e-cises, because two of them required the use of two blocks - which I didn't have, and didn't want to even try to improvise, inasmuch as I ordered a couple of yoga blocks, which I see are profusely advertised, and are evidently used quite regularly in yoga, and expect to receive in short order, courtesy of the very quick delivery through Amazon.
Anyway - my point is, which I realize is taking me a long time to get to - this morning I got up with maybe half of the morning discomfort that I have been feeling for longer than I even like to think about.
I'll call it "discomfort," rather than pain, because even if it never got any better than it was this morning, that is a head and shoulders improvement over what it has been.
But my point is that this is the "real deal." This man knows what he is talking about, and we are the beneficiaries of his knowledge and expertise.
Hooray for that.
I guess what I'm really saying is that I already feel - at least in my mind - the feeling of relief that I have finally gotten out from under the terrible yoke of low back pain, even though I certainly have not arrived there yet, by any means.
But just what little I've done, and the relief I do feel, is more than encouraging: It tells me that this is absolutely the right direction, and that it's just a matter of time (and not even a lot of time, either) until I can truthfully say that my terrible lower back pain is a thing of the past.
One other thing I wanted to add: My thinking about my own lower back pain has been that since my mother passed away, and since I had taken care of her due to her having had a stroke, for six years before her death, I had been severely restricted as to the amount of physical exertion I had done for quite some time. And which has been almost nil since, as I went on to retirement after her death.
And then, when I did resume playing golf, I just naturally assumed that my returning to physical activity after such a long layoff had been a major contributing factor to my back pain problems.
The whole premise of Pete Egoscue's position is that inactivity is the cause of our pain; that with the modern conveniences of the automobile, elevator, etc, etc, that modern man simply does not move enough to utilize all the muscles he is blessed with, and consequently, they wither away and we lose the ability to use them. He advocates movement, above all else, to keep the pain away.
However, when you think about Jack Nicklaus, who has been continually active for his entire life, and much more so than the average person, being a professional golfer, and realize the shape he was in concerning his back, to where he had been told that he would almost surely have to undergo back surgery, it makes you wonder.
What is very sobering to realize is that even an extremely physical person, such as a professional golfer, and especially a very well-known golfer as Jack Nicklaus is, could be as active as he has been for his whole life, and still develop back pain, to the extent that it had a negative impact on his even being able to play golf.
And then for him to find out from Pete Egoscue that back surgery was not necessary, and that his problems could be solved by undertaking certain exercises, which Pete prescribes, is staggering in its implication.
Mind-boggling from a number of angles: First, that several medical doctors had told him that back surgery was necessary, and secondly, that simply doing the right exercises would alleviate the back pain, and eliminate any need for surgery, tells you a number of things: That the medical doctors either don't know what they're talking about, or that they are more interested in furthering their own agenda. Or both, which is undoubtedly the case.
And so although there is no doubt that Jack Nicklaus has certainly been extremely physically active, he still had not incorporated into his daily routine the particular moves that would have insured that he would not incur lower back pain.
And of course, the reason he had not done so is very simple: He didn't know about them.
That is the brilliance of the program instigated by Pete Egoscue; that one can simply include certain moves into their daily life, and mitigate the problem of lower back pain, just as a regular routine.
Instead of thinking that playing golf is the cause of the lower back pain - which is quite naturally the first thought that comes to mind - it would appear that it's not the swinging of the golf club, but the absence of many other movements, that even a professional golfer does not necessarily do in his daily life. Nor do most people, it appears - because the moves he shows us how to do are simply things that nobody does, in their normal everyday life.
Which may be the very reason that almost everybody has lower back pain!
In short, it's not the things you do that cause lower back pain, but the things you don't do. If we never move the muscles that will ensure that we don't develop lower back pain, that means that we fall into the "use it or lose it" syndrome: If we don't move the muscles, they get weak and become painful, because we are failing to exercise them, and thereby strengthen them.
My point is that even Jack Nicklaus, or any other person, active or not - and in his case, with all the walking that all professional golfers do, it's not just the physical activity that is required to sustain optimal health, but the specific types of exercise that we all are missing out on, if we don't know and perform the precise types of movements that Pete Egoscue advocates, and which are so effective for the problems that they fix.
We could be as active as a professional golfer, but if we're not doing the right kinds of movement, we will undoubtedly get lower back pain, whether we ever swing a golf club or not.
In other words, we may be extremely active, but if none of the movements we make are even close to the moves that Pete has incorporated in his lower back workout, those muscles are never going to get utilized, no matter how active we are, and therefore, lower back pain is inevitably sure to follow.
So, it would appear, and he even states, that once we get our problems fixed - whether it's lower back, or whatever, we need to continue to do the exercise regimen that he prescribes, to ensure that we continue to provide the necessary support for our muscles that will keep us in good health, and avoid the pain that is so awful.
In other words, just being active, even as active as a professional golfer, is no guarantee that we will provide enough of the right type of exercise to keep us pain-free.
As Pete tells us, we have 187 joints, and over 600 muscles in our bodies, and it's a pretty safe bet that we use only a small fraction of them in our everyday life.
Probably only a circus acrobat would even come close to using every muscle in the body, but even then, they would have no reason to use anything more than the particular muscles they need in their act.
The muscles that we utilize in his specialized e-cises, designed specifically to work muscles that have long been ignored - which is what has finally, after years of disuse, led to the condition we find ourselves in, enables us to get back some of the movement we have lost through lack of use, and remove the pain.
Pete advocates constant movement, to strengthen our muscles, and thereby eliminate pain. This assumes that we will strengthen the correct muscles, which will assure us that we bypass lower back pain.
But unless we target the muscles that would otherwise get ignored, and make it a point to include them in our daily workout, they will not get the attention they need, just as they are not getting the attention now, no matter how active we may have otherwise been.
Only deliberately adopting a particular regimen, such as Pete Egoscue lays out, will do the trick.
But the very best part is that none of them are difficult; in fact, they're all very easy to do, and not even tiring.
We don't even raise a sweat!
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From the Publisher
About the author
Pain Free is possible!
Pete Egoscue’s books led me to the Egoscue Method. I was in pain and it set me free! Pain Free! This is why I became a Posture Alignment Specialist and now get to help people all over Maryland. Thank you Pete Egoscue!
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Top reviews from other countries
- Jacqueline LendonReviewed in Australia on March 22, 2022
It's a must read for everyone
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- Michal P.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2025
Exercise are extremely original
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