Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance by Dr. Stuart McGill (6th Edition)

My tennis trainer/coach introduced me to the work of Dr. Stuart McGill through what I came to know as “The Big Three” (well represented on the internet). This is a set of core exercises that includes the “curl up.” The curl up is a substitute for the sit-ups and crunches we’ve been brought up on – but which Dr. McGill has found can injure the spine. One thing led to another and I wound up buying and studying his most recent book, published in 2017. To cut to the chase, my back remains in excellent condition and my tennis game has improved. I link these directly to a greater understanding of how to protect my lumbar spine and how to strengthen my core without hurting myself. Dr. McGill extensively discusses “stiffness” as a way of protecting the spine and also for allowing the most effective flow of energy and power through the kinetic chain. Particularly fascinating and useful is his presentation (on p. 187) of how you can generate tremendously increased grip strength by calling stiffness into play, evoking “neuronal overflow.” In trying this out, be careful you don’t crush someone’s hand or allow yours to be crushed. I have found, and continue to find, this book to be tremendously interesting, well documented, and useful. I suspect that physicians, trainers, and athletes will, too.

I can't say enough great things about this book and the author. This is a must ready if you have back problems. This is the go to author. His book has helped me immensely in healing my back and learning to live with a herniated disc. Stuart McGill is the expert in back mechanics. I found out about it him after endless amounts of research to help me heal a herniated disc without surgery.

I am enjoying this book, but every time the author has intended to write ‘movement’ he has written ‘moment’.

Disclaimer - I am writing about the 5th edition, not 6th edition; however, same review applies. I have just finished my 3rd reading of this book over the last few years and, as some have stated, I pick up new and valuable information each time. UBFP, along with Back Mechanic, Gift of Injury, and 10 20 Life, along with coaching by a great McGill practioner have finally allowed me to break through the chronicity of my lower back injury that started in 2019. I simply was not honoring many of the biological principles and failed to build up enough core conditioning, capacity, and worked on my weaknesses to break through and give myself momentum in training. There is so much wisdom along these pages, specifically in regards to programming and wise exercise selection and training the core in the proper way, load management, etc. All of these things combined (it has not just been one thing) have allowed me to get back to conservative lifting pain free as I continue to build capacity. If anything, by focusing on prior weaknesses (core, glute integration, foot athleticism, grip strength, "steering strength", upper back, and hyper diligence to form on ANY load) I feel myself becoming a more well-rounded lifter and it is painfully obvious how my programming, disregard for load and "boring" core work in the past caused me to get my back into that mess in the first place. This book is incredibly valuable for all athletes looking to get more longevity in their careers and training in not only a more sustainable way, but one that can lead to ultimate performance.

Purchased for a trainer/body builder who said it is excellent book filled with valuable info.

Provided information to correct my back issues and changed my entire approach to core strengthening.

I bought Back Mechanic and Gift of Injury both by McGill and loved them both. I decided to give this one a try and while it has a lot of information in it, it's not really meant for people suffering from back pain. You'd be much better off reading Back Mechanic. This book is more beneficial to people like physical therapists because he goes into great detail on how to examine patients and how the body works. I don't regret buying it but if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it

Particularly in the area of health care, the publishing market is flooded with unreliable information. This book is careful. It is based not only on extensive academic studies, but on academic studies carefully correlated to clinical treatment. It recognizes the difference between muscles whose function is to stabilize the body during movement and muscles intended to create movement. Recognizing physical reality and correlating it with years of successful rehabilitation of many back difficulties, I see this as very reliable information. A person who simply wished to avoid injury could use this book to help structure a good exercise program. A person who was injured but could not afford the increasingly inaccessible medical system, might buy this book for less than a treatment session and accomplish a good portion of self-rehab. It is, of course, never optimal to avoid medical treatment. Not everyone can afford it these days.

I was recommended this book as a person with a serious lower back herniation. I will be working through this book after I master Stuart's book "Back Mechanic"

My tennis trainer/coach introduced me to the work of Dr. Stuart McGill through what I came to know as “The Big Three” (well represented on the internet). This is a set of core exercises that includes the “curl up.” The curl up is a substitute for the sit-ups and crunches we’ve been brought up on – but which Dr. McGill has found can injure the spine. One thing led to another and I wound up buying and studying his most recent book, published in 2017. To cut to the chase, my back remains in excellent condition and my tennis game has improved. I link these directly to a greater understanding of how to protect my lumbar spine and how to strengthen my core without hurting myself. Dr. McGill extensively discusses “stiffness” as a way of protecting the spine and also for allowing the most effective flow of energy and power through the kinetic chain. Particularly fascinating and useful is his presentation (on p. 187) of how you can generate tremendously increased grip strength by calling stiffness into play, evoking “neuronal overflow.” In trying this out, be careful you don’t crush someone’s hand or allow yours to be crushed. I have found, and continue to find, this book to be tremendously interesting, well documented, and useful. I suspect that physicians, trainers, and athletes will, too.

I can't say enough great things about this book and the author. This is a must ready if you have back problems. This is the go to author. His book has helped me immensely in healing my back and learning to live with a herniated disc. Stuart McGill is the expert in back mechanics. I found out about it him after endless amounts of research to help me heal a herniated disc without surgery.

I am enjoying this book, but every time the author has intended to write ‘movement’ he has written ‘moment’.

Disclaimer - I am writing about the 5th edition, not 6th edition; however, same review applies. I have just finished my 3rd reading of this book over the last few years and, as some have stated, I pick up new and valuable information each time. UBFP, along with Back Mechanic, Gift of Injury, and 10 20 Life, along with coaching by a great McGill practioner have finally allowed me to break through the chronicity of my lower back injury that started in 2019. I simply was not honoring many of the biological principles and failed to build up enough core conditioning, capacity, and worked on my weaknesses to break through and give myself momentum in training. There is so much wisdom along these pages, specifically in regards to programming and wise exercise selection and training the core in the proper way, load management, etc. All of these things combined (it has not just been one thing) have allowed me to get back to conservative lifting pain free as I continue to build capacity. If anything, by focusing on prior weaknesses (core, glute integration, foot athleticism, grip strength, "steering strength", upper back, and hyper diligence to form on ANY load) I feel myself becoming a more well-rounded lifter and it is painfully obvious how my programming, disregard for load and "boring" core work in the past caused me to get my back into that mess in the first place. This book is incredibly valuable for all athletes looking to get more longevity in their careers and training in not only a more sustainable way, but one that can lead to ultimate performance.

Purchased for a trainer/body builder who said it is excellent book filled with valuable info.

Provided information to correct my back issues and changed my entire approach to core strengthening.

I bought Back Mechanic and Gift of Injury both by McGill and loved them both. I decided to give this one a try and while it has a lot of information in it, it's not really meant for people suffering from back pain. You'd be much better off reading Back Mechanic. This book is more beneficial to people like physical therapists because he goes into great detail on how to examine patients and how the body works. I don't regret buying it but if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it

Particularly in the area of health care, the publishing market is flooded with unreliable information. This book is careful. It is based not only on extensive academic studies, but on academic studies carefully correlated to clinical treatment. It recognizes the difference between muscles whose function is to stabilize the body during movement and muscles intended to create movement. Recognizing physical reality and correlating it with years of successful rehabilitation of many back difficulties, I see this as very reliable information. A person who simply wished to avoid injury could use this book to help structure a good exercise program. A person who was injured but could not afford the increasingly inaccessible medical system, might buy this book for less than a treatment session and accomplish a good portion of self-rehab. It is, of course, never optimal to avoid medical treatment. Not everyone can afford it these days.

I was recommended this book as a person with a serious lower back herniation. I will be working through this book after I master Stuart's book "Back Mechanic"

My tennis trainer/coach introduced me to the work of Dr. Stuart McGill through what I came to know as “The Big Three” (well represented on the internet). This is a set of core exercises that includes the “curl up.” The curl up is a substitute for the sit-ups and crunches we’ve been brought up on – but which Dr. McGill has found can injure the spine. One thing led to another and I wound up buying and studying his most recent book, published in 2017. To cut to the chase, my back remains in excellent condition and my tennis game has improved. I link these directly to a greater understanding of how to protect my lumbar spine and how to strengthen my core without hurting myself. Dr. McGill extensively discusses “stiffness” as a way of protecting the spine and also for allowing the most effective flow of energy and power through the kinetic chain. Particularly fascinating and useful is his presentation (on p. 187) of how you can generate tremendously increased grip strength by calling stiffness into play, evoking “neuronal overflow.” In trying this out, be careful you don’t crush someone’s hand or allow yours to be crushed. I have found, and continue to find, this book to be tremendously interesting, well documented, and useful. I suspect that physicians, trainers, and athletes will, too.

I can't say enough great things about this book and the author. This is a must ready if you have back problems. This is the go to author. His book has helped me immensely in healing my back and learning to live with a herniated disc. Stuart McGill is the expert in back mechanics. I found out about it him after endless amounts of research to help me heal a herniated disc without surgery.

I am enjoying this book, but every time the author has intended to write ‘movement’ he has written ‘moment’.

Disclaimer - I am writing about the 5th edition, not 6th edition; however, same review applies. I have just finished my 3rd reading of this book over the last few years and, as some have stated, I pick up new and valuable information each time. UBFP, along with Back Mechanic, Gift of Injury, and 10 20 Life, along with coaching by a great McGill practioner have finally allowed me to break through the chronicity of my lower back injury that started in 2019. I simply was not honoring many of the biological principles and failed to build up enough core conditioning, capacity, and worked on my weaknesses to break through and give myself momentum in training. There is so much wisdom along these pages, specifically in regards to programming and wise exercise selection and training the core in the proper way, load management, etc. All of these things combined (it has not just been one thing) have allowed me to get back to conservative lifting pain free as I continue to build capacity. If anything, by focusing on prior weaknesses (core, glute integration, foot athleticism, grip strength, "steering strength", upper back, and hyper diligence to form on ANY load) I feel myself becoming a more well-rounded lifter and it is painfully obvious how my programming, disregard for load and "boring" core work in the past caused me to get my back into that mess in the first place. This book is incredibly valuable for all athletes looking to get more longevity in their careers and training in not only a more sustainable way, but one that can lead to ultimate performance.

Purchased for a trainer/body builder who said it is excellent book filled with valuable info.

Provided information to correct my back issues and changed my entire approach to core strengthening.

I bought Back Mechanic and Gift of Injury both by McGill and loved them both. I decided to give this one a try and while it has a lot of information in it, it's not really meant for people suffering from back pain. You'd be much better off reading Back Mechanic. This book is more beneficial to people like physical therapists because he goes into great detail on how to examine patients and how the body works. I don't regret buying it but if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it