Arch Vs. Round?

A spaghetti bridge is extremely strong when it is used wisely; all pieces in the correct position and alignment. A spaghetti bridge that doesn't properly put the pieces together or one that uses cooked spaghetti will fail. Where am I going with this?

If you are new to fitness, you may have heard people use the words "arch" and "round" in terms of back position during an exercise. You may have even thought, "That's odd, an arch IS round, what do they mean?"

Trust me, I understand, they sound similar and in the rest of the world, they may mean very similar things, but in the gym, there is a world of difference between an arched back and a round back. A difference as big as between a properly constructed spaghetti bridge (arched back) versus a sloppily constructed bridge made from cooked spaghetti (round back).

Arch generally refers to keeping the lower back in it's natural resting position. A healthy spine (see image to the right) will have a natural arch in the lumbar area.

We will also use this image to explain the word round. A round back is what naturally occurs at the thoracic region of the spine. Therefore arch and round both refer to curves, but for simplification, arch refers to a curve that leans you backwards while round refers to a curve that leans you forward. When we yawn and stretch, we typically arch our back. When we sit at a desk all day, we tend to let the shoulders droop forward and call that slouching, that is a rounding of the back.

As with most things, we are looking for moderation and to avoid extremes. When you execute movements, you will generally want to keep a neutral (or slightly arched) lower back and a neutral (tall posture, no slouching) upper thoracic back. We want to avoid over arching the lower back as much as we want to avoid rounding through the lower back. Both positions put the lumbar spine at risk for strains and disc issues. Also, do not forget the neck, keep your neck neutral as well and avoid the tendency to look like the guy in the picture below craning his head head to look up.

To recap: arch is leaning backwards, round is slouching forwards. Avoid extremes, keep the spine braced and neutral through most of your exercises.