The ONE Thing that would STOP BACK PAIN and DEGENERATION

Yes, this is a bold statement, but hear me out for a second. 

Our spines are essentially a long, flexible rod.  The vertebrae are designed to withstand forces through the spine, and the discs between them allow for movement and mobility.  This is wonderful for us because it offers us the ability to tie our shoes, brush our teeth, pick up things off the ground, etc.  However, most of us abuse our privilege by spending too much time bending (even sitting), lifting and twisting.  Over years this abuse contributes to degeneration in our spine (usually after the age of 20-25 years old). You can also suffer back pain from the "blow up" or the bad lift/bend.    

The ONE thing that would STOP BACK PAIN and DEGENERATION is simple:

DO NOT BEND YOUR BACK

Now, I never said that this would be reasonable, but it is an answer to the problem.

Imagine our back was a long steel rod instead of the flexible one we have.  It would be near impossible to degenerate (or may take years of severe abuse) before the rod would break.   Of course this scenario is unreasonable because it would be impossible to bend to tie our shoes, pick up items off the ground, and would likely cause degeneration of other joints in the body due to changing movement patterns. 

If you have ever talked to someone who has had spinal fusion surgery (usually done to relieve back pain and neurological symptoms), it is impossible to have degeneration at that segment (however, the segments above and below usually take more abuse in an attempt to pick of the slack for the lack of movement at the fused segment). The same occurs with someone who has had such bad degeneration that the segments fuse themselves.  It takes many years and most suffer a fair bit of pain as the degenerative process takes place, but pain tends to resolve over the long term as the segments fuse and stabilize (this is the same as surgery, but free!) 

The morale of the story is that if you can minimize bending of the back, you will decrease the degenerative process, and minimize the likelihood of back pain.