Phantom back pain and your Core
banks1850
Posts: 3,475 Member
So I have been recently (over the last 3 years or so) been rudely introduced both personally and through the wife, to the nastly little problem of back issues. I thought I would give you guys some of the results after both of us have seen multiple doctors, "specialists" (I put that parenthetically because some of these specialists left a lot to be desired) and exercise physiologists for our "injuries".
So after many long grueling months and years of recovery from back pain we have learned a few things. I'll share, you can decide for yourself where, or if, you fit into one of these categories, and consequently, what to do about your problem.
1st category, back pain from a specific condition. Like arthritis in the lumbar spine, or from a degenerative disease of some kind, or possibly from stress damage to a disk over a period of years. Not much you can do about this from a recovery standpoint except to recognize it, maybe treat it with medication, and follow doctors advice on it. Usually this is permenant or at least very long term and outside of a specific regimen proscribed by a doctor, you shouldn't be attempting to make this "better" or "push it".
2nd category is back pain from an injury of some kind. Usually very acute types of pain resulting from a muscle pull in one of the many spine connecting muscles, you'll recognize this immediately when it occurs. It's usually the result of a specific activity or movement. While this injury is probably the most painful of all, it's also usually the fastest one to recover from. Above all, take the advice of the old joke which is this: Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this......" Doctor: "Then don't do that." Rest and recovery is important here, you can use alternating heat and ice to reduce inflamation and swelling, but you must give it time to heal. Because of how often we use our core muscles, this can take a long time, it's not like an arm that you can immobilize or a leg that you can put into a cast. Consider a back brace or a tight neoprean wrap to hold the muscle in place and keep it as immoble as possible. This is a difficult injury for a doctor to diagnose and many times is incorrectly diagnosed as a spine injury, just because doctors tend to rush through diagnosis these days and go for the easy route. Since diagnosing a spine injury covers most of the things "not to do" for a core muscle issue, they diagnose it and feel safe because the person will not further exacerbate the issue. Unfortunately this doesn't take into account the recovery and rehab needed to make sure the muscle isn't re-injured.
3rd is general back pain from having a generally weak core. This consists of muscle strains, and pulls and is usually because many weight programs in the past (trainers are much better about it today then in say... the 90's, but many trainers still ignore many of the core muscles). the problem with this type of pain is that it can be easilly mis-diagnosed as a bulgeing disk because of the inflamation usually at the point of contact between a muscle and the spine, or the hip flexors. If you have nagging aching or some pain in the hamstrings and gluts, you probably have weak core muscles and are overextending. If you notice this pain comes and goes, with weather changes and heavy weight training, but not with high impact cardio, then this is probably muscle related.
Now, what to do about this.
With the first category above, not much, but for the other two here is what we have been told by a very well respected physical therapist (it took us 2 doctors, 3 specialists, and 2 other physical therapists to find this woman, but when we did, she was right on in all of her diagnoses, and has been a god send for our core health.)
I'm paraphrasing since we have had multiple long conversations.
The first thing to realize is that this is a long term solution and will take years to really fulfill. Once you get it in your head that you won't be "fixed" in 10 weeks, then you can really grasp and take hold of this solution.
When you work out your major muscle groups, always try to reciprocate. Every major muscle group, whether it be legs, shoulders, back, or chest; all need action/reaction training. In other words, you can't just do bench presses, as they only work 1 part of a muscle group, you must reciprocate with the reverse, muscles can both pull and push (technically this isn't true, muscles can only contract and release, but for our purposes it is true enough), so when devising a routine, make sure you cover all directions a muscle group works, not just the one that makes you "look" better or use more weight.
why is this important for your core you ask? Because most muscle groups either directly, or indirectly engage the core, and thus, put stress on your back and stomach. Next time you do a sitting leg press, try to concentrate on what your back and stomach are doing, you will realize that you need to engage the core with almost any type of exercise, some for balance, some for stability, even others for additional strength.
Also, core strength doesn't require large weight. Most often, core work can be done with resistance and light weight with higher repetitions. The key to core training is good form, there are a lot of muscles in your lower back that connect to a lot of very important things, if you aren't sure, find a GOOD trainer that can show you how to work your core correctly. Core work with low weight can be done more often then other weight training since you are not attempting to increase muscle mass significantly, you are trying to increase your muscle density to a degree, but you are also trying to train those muscles to work more efficiently and engage quicker and for longer periods without fatigue. When your core fatigues, you loose form, and can hurt stuff (this is true for all weight training). It's important for your core muscle to have high endurance, more so then to have "Large" core muscles is to have core muscles that can stay engaged for long periods.
Final thoughts:
Core is vital to balance, stability, stamina, and strength (and remember, core is more then just your "6 pack abs", it's all the smaller connecting muscles in your back as well). The old addage of starting from the inside out is true here. Your core is just that, the core of your body, all other muscles will work and look better if you have a strong core. If you ignore your core muscles and just do major muscle groups, not only are you risking injury, but you will never have the body you are hoping for.
NOTE: I am not a doctor or a health professional, so take this for what it's worth. If you feel like you have more specific or pointed questions, seek our the professional opinion of a specialist or exercise physiologist (Note that I didn't say a general doctor, in many cases, they don't have the expertise to handle back related issues, I have found this out the hard way, doctors can be wrong too!). Be wary of trainers that give advice on back pain, while they usually mean well, they are not (in most cases) trained to deal with diagnosis and recovery, and could do more harm then good.
So after many long grueling months and years of recovery from back pain we have learned a few things. I'll share, you can decide for yourself where, or if, you fit into one of these categories, and consequently, what to do about your problem.
1st category, back pain from a specific condition. Like arthritis in the lumbar spine, or from a degenerative disease of some kind, or possibly from stress damage to a disk over a period of years. Not much you can do about this from a recovery standpoint except to recognize it, maybe treat it with medication, and follow doctors advice on it. Usually this is permenant or at least very long term and outside of a specific regimen proscribed by a doctor, you shouldn't be attempting to make this "better" or "push it".
2nd category is back pain from an injury of some kind. Usually very acute types of pain resulting from a muscle pull in one of the many spine connecting muscles, you'll recognize this immediately when it occurs. It's usually the result of a specific activity or movement. While this injury is probably the most painful of all, it's also usually the fastest one to recover from. Above all, take the advice of the old joke which is this: Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this......" Doctor: "Then don't do that." Rest and recovery is important here, you can use alternating heat and ice to reduce inflamation and swelling, but you must give it time to heal. Because of how often we use our core muscles, this can take a long time, it's not like an arm that you can immobilize or a leg that you can put into a cast. Consider a back brace or a tight neoprean wrap to hold the muscle in place and keep it as immoble as possible. This is a difficult injury for a doctor to diagnose and many times is incorrectly diagnosed as a spine injury, just because doctors tend to rush through diagnosis these days and go for the easy route. Since diagnosing a spine injury covers most of the things "not to do" for a core muscle issue, they diagnose it and feel safe because the person will not further exacerbate the issue. Unfortunately this doesn't take into account the recovery and rehab needed to make sure the muscle isn't re-injured.
3rd is general back pain from having a generally weak core. This consists of muscle strains, and pulls and is usually because many weight programs in the past (trainers are much better about it today then in say... the 90's, but many trainers still ignore many of the core muscles). the problem with this type of pain is that it can be easilly mis-diagnosed as a bulgeing disk because of the inflamation usually at the point of contact between a muscle and the spine, or the hip flexors. If you have nagging aching or some pain in the hamstrings and gluts, you probably have weak core muscles and are overextending. If you notice this pain comes and goes, with weather changes and heavy weight training, but not with high impact cardio, then this is probably muscle related.
Now, what to do about this.
With the first category above, not much, but for the other two here is what we have been told by a very well respected physical therapist (it took us 2 doctors, 3 specialists, and 2 other physical therapists to find this woman, but when we did, she was right on in all of her diagnoses, and has been a god send for our core health.)
I'm paraphrasing since we have had multiple long conversations.
The first thing to realize is that this is a long term solution and will take years to really fulfill. Once you get it in your head that you won't be "fixed" in 10 weeks, then you can really grasp and take hold of this solution.
When you work out your major muscle groups, always try to reciprocate. Every major muscle group, whether it be legs, shoulders, back, or chest; all need action/reaction training. In other words, you can't just do bench presses, as they only work 1 part of a muscle group, you must reciprocate with the reverse, muscles can both pull and push (technically this isn't true, muscles can only contract and release, but for our purposes it is true enough), so when devising a routine, make sure you cover all directions a muscle group works, not just the one that makes you "look" better or use more weight.
why is this important for your core you ask? Because most muscle groups either directly, or indirectly engage the core, and thus, put stress on your back and stomach. Next time you do a sitting leg press, try to concentrate on what your back and stomach are doing, you will realize that you need to engage the core with almost any type of exercise, some for balance, some for stability, even others for additional strength.
Also, core strength doesn't require large weight. Most often, core work can be done with resistance and light weight with higher repetitions. The key to core training is good form, there are a lot of muscles in your lower back that connect to a lot of very important things, if you aren't sure, find a GOOD trainer that can show you how to work your core correctly. Core work with low weight can be done more often then other weight training since you are not attempting to increase muscle mass significantly, you are trying to increase your muscle density to a degree, but you are also trying to train those muscles to work more efficiently and engage quicker and for longer periods without fatigue. When your core fatigues, you loose form, and can hurt stuff (this is true for all weight training). It's important for your core muscle to have high endurance, more so then to have "Large" core muscles is to have core muscles that can stay engaged for long periods.
Final thoughts:
Core is vital to balance, stability, stamina, and strength (and remember, core is more then just your "6 pack abs", it's all the smaller connecting muscles in your back as well). The old addage of starting from the inside out is true here. Your core is just that, the core of your body, all other muscles will work and look better if you have a strong core. If you ignore your core muscles and just do major muscle groups, not only are you risking injury, but you will never have the body you are hoping for.
NOTE: I am not a doctor or a health professional, so take this for what it's worth. If you feel like you have more specific or pointed questions, seek our the professional opinion of a specialist or exercise physiologist (Note that I didn't say a general doctor, in many cases, they don't have the expertise to handle back related issues, I have found this out the hard way, doctors can be wrong too!). Be wary of trainers that give advice on back pain, while they usually mean well, they are not (in most cases) trained to deal with diagnosis and recovery, and could do more harm then good.
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So I have been recently (over the last 3 years or so) been rudely introduced both personally and through the wife, to the nastly little problem of back issues. I thought I would give you guys some of the results after both of us have seen multiple doctors, "specialists" (I put that parenthetically because some of these specialists left a lot to be desired) and exercise physiologists for our "injuries".
So after many long grueling months and years of recovery from back pain we have learned a few things. I'll share, you can decide for yourself where, or if, you fit into one of these categories, and consequently, what to do about your problem.
1st category, back pain from a specific condition. Like arthritis in the lumbar spine, or from a degenerative disease of some kind, or possibly from stress damage to a disk over a period of years. Not much you can do about this from a recovery standpoint except to recognize it, maybe treat it with medication, and follow doctors advice on it. Usually this is permenant or at least very long term and outside of a specific regimen proscribed by a doctor, you shouldn't be attempting to make this "better" or "push it".
2nd category is back pain from an injury of some kind. Usually very acute types of pain resulting from a muscle pull in one of the many spine connecting muscles, you'll recognize this immediately when it occurs. It's usually the result of a specific activity or movement. While this injury is probably the most painful of all, it's also usually the fastest one to recover from. Above all, take the advice of the old joke which is this: Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this......" Doctor: "Then don't do that." Rest and recovery is important here, you can use alternating heat and ice to reduce inflamation and swelling, but you must give it time to heal. Because of how often we use our core muscles, this can take a long time, it's not like an arm that you can immobilize or a leg that you can put into a cast. Consider a back brace or a tight neoprean wrap to hold the muscle in place and keep it as immoble as possible. This is a difficult injury for a doctor to diagnose and many times is incorrectly diagnosed as a spine injury, just because doctors tend to rush through diagnosis these days and go for the easy route. Since diagnosing a spine injury covers most of the things "not to do" for a core muscle issue, they diagnose it and feel safe because the person will not further exacerbate the issue. Unfortunately this doesn't take into account the recovery and rehab needed to make sure the muscle isn't re-injured.
3rd is general back pain from having a generally weak core. This consists of muscle strains, and pulls and is usually because many weight programs in the past (trainers are much better about it today then in say... the 90's, but many trainers still ignore many of the core muscles). the problem with this type of pain is that it can be easilly mis-diagnosed as a bulgeing disk because of the inflamation usually at the point of contact between a muscle and the spine, or the hip flexors. If you have nagging aching or some pain in the hamstrings and gluts, you probably have weak core muscles and are overextending. If you notice this pain comes and goes, with weather changes and heavy weight training, but not with high impact cardio, then this is probably muscle related.
Now, what to do about this.
With the first category above, not much, but for the other two here is what we have been told by a very well respected physical therapist (it took us 2 doctors, 3 specialists, and 2 other physical therapists to find this woman, but when we did, she was right on in all of her diagnoses, and has been a god send for our core health.)
I'm paraphrasing since we have had multiple long conversations.
The first thing to realize is that this is a long term solution and will take years to really fulfill. Once you get it in your head that you won't be "fixed" in 10 weeks, then you can really grasp and take hold of this solution.
When you work out your major muscle groups, always try to reciprocate. Every major muscle group, whether it be legs, shoulders, back, or chest; all need action/reaction training. In other words, you can't just do bench presses, as they only work 1 part of a muscle group, you must reciprocate with the reverse, muscles can both pull and push (technically this isn't true, muscles can only contract and release, but for our purposes it is true enough), so when devising a routine, make sure you cover all directions a muscle group works, not just the one that makes you "look" better or use more weight.
why is this important for your core you ask? Because most muscle groups either directly, or indirectly engage the core, and thus, put stress on your back and stomach. Next time you do a sitting leg press, try to concentrate on what your back and stomach are doing, you will realize that you need to engage the core with almost any type of exercise, some for balance, some for stability, even others for additional strength.
Also, core strength doesn't require large weight. Most often, core work can be done with resistance and light weight with higher repetitions. The key to core training is good form, there are a lot of muscles in your lower back that connect to a lot of very important things, if you aren't sure, find a GOOD trainer that can show you how to work your core correctly. Core work with low weight can be done more often then other weight training since you are not attempting to increase muscle mass significantly, you are trying to increase your muscle density to a degree, but you are also trying to train those muscles to work more efficiently and engage quicker and for longer periods without fatigue. When your core fatigues, you loose form, and can hurt stuff (this is true for all weight training). It's important for your core muscle to have high endurance, more so then to have "Large" core muscles is to have core muscles that can stay engaged for long periods.
Final thoughts:
Core is vital to balance, stability, stamina, and strength (and remember, core is more then just your "6 pack abs", it's all the smaller connecting muscles in your back as well). The old addage of starting from the inside out is true here. Your core is just that, the core of your body, all other muscles will work and look better if you have a strong core. If you ignore your core muscles and just do major muscle groups, not only are you risking injury, but you will never have the body you are hoping for.
NOTE: I am not a doctor or a health professional, so take this for what it's worth. If you feel like you have more specific or pointed questions, seek our the professional opinion of a specialist or exercise physiologist (Note that I didn't say a general doctor, in many cases, they don't have the expertise to handle back related issues, I have found this out the hard way, doctors can be wrong too!). Be wary of trainers that give advice on back pain, while they usually mean well, they are not (in most cases) trained to deal with diagnosis and recovery, and could do more harm then good.0 -
not a single scathing remark or comment? I feel a little unloved ATM.:frown:0
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Thanks for this Banks! I must say ever since I've been doing yoga regularly, I haven't had back pain like I used to. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I've lost weight as well
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Wrong, wrong, it's all wrong!!!
Haha, just kidding, it's helpful just like all of your posts! :flowerforyou: The only thing I'd add to this is that a lot of core work *without stretching* can actually increase lower back pain due to tightness in the hip flexors, which are engaged in sit ups and any movement that brings the legs to the chest. These exercises don't target the 'lower abs', as there aren't any. All 4 layers of your abdominal muscles wrap around your trunk, attaching either at your pubis or lower ribs, and originating at either the pubis or lower ribs. The hip flexors originate at various points around your iliac crest (hip bones) and insert at the top of your femur. The important thing about the hip flexors is that your strongest hip flexors originate in the *lower back*, and insert at the ASIS, or front of your hips/groin area. So, when they're tight, they pull on your lumbar vertebra, causing pain. When you work your core, it's incredibly important to stretch your abdominal muscles and hip flexors! People often forget about them because they don't tend to feel tight or sore like other muscle groups. Back bends, stretching your arms faaaaaar above your head to lengthen your spine, and lunge stretches all take care of this important area. 0 -
I just saw this!
I have struggled for years and years from my "back going out" starting with a diving injury in high school. I can AMEN everything you said in here.
What about this idea.... remember what you said about toning every part of your body? I think that with each weight gain (or weight loss too) I have trouble with my back, adjusting to a different body too. So, I have to be especially careful to stretch out my back muscles every day.0 -
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you need to either
1) utilize the power of editing
2) start the old fashioned roman numeral indent a, b, c style of writing
3) put a big giant WARNING! NOVEL A HEAD! with your threads! :sad:0 -
I got nuttin' but love for u baby... I got nuttin' but love for u honey!not a single scathing remark or comment? I feel a little unloved ATM.:frown:0 -
Thanks Banks.......but I fall under #1. Degenerative Disc. Disease. I really try hard to work on my muscles in my back, in hope it will make my back stronger. But it pains me so much to do so, I pay for it for a couple of days. I have a emarrising question for you:embarassed: but you seem to know about these things. I have lost a little weight in my stomach and keep trying to tighten it up, but still have like a beer gut, and I don't drink. My question is about bladder control, I take Detrol in the morning. BUT It seems to me that when My back is hurting from trying to work on the muscles my bladder is weak during that time. IN other words the worse the pain, the weaker the bladder:embarassed: A few years ago I had a hysterectomy and they made a sling for the bladder. I don't know what the medical term is. Anyway......what do you think or know about this problem I have. Another thing is that when I go and lay down at night, when I stand up during the night to go to the rest room, I have no control at all. During the day I don't have any accidents.
Sorry so personal. Any ideas on what exercise of muscles I should be working as well? 0 -
Anyone?:blushing:Thanks Banks.......but I fall under #1. Degenerative Disc. Disease. I really try hard to work on my muscles in my back, in hope it will make my back stronger. But it pains me so much to do so, I pay for it for a couple of days. I have a emarrising question for you:embarassed: but you seem to know about these things. I have lost a little weight in my stomach and keep trying to tighten it up, but still have like a beer gut, and I don't drink. My question is about bladder control, I take Detrol in the morning. BUT It seems to me that when My back is hurting from trying to work on the muscles my bladder is weak during that time. IN other words the worse the pain, the weaker the bladder:embarassed: A few years ago I had a hysterectomy and they made a sling for the bladder. I don't know what the medical term is. Anyway......what do you think or know about this problem I have. Another thing is that when I go and lay down at night, when I stand up during the night to go to the rest room, I have no control at all. During the day I don't have any accidents. Sorry so personal. Any ideas on what exercise of muscles I should be working as well?0 -
Anyone?:blushing:Thanks Banks.......but I fall under #1. Degenerative Disc. Disease. I really try hard to work on my muscles in my back, in hope it will make my back stronger. But it pains me so much to do so, I pay for it for a couple of days. I have a emarrising question for you:embarassed: but you seem to know about these things. I have lost a little weight in my stomach and keep trying to tighten it up, but still have like a beer gut, and I don't drink. My question is about bladder control, I take Detrol in the morning. BUT It seems to me that when My back is hurting from trying to work on the muscles my bladder is weak during that time. IN other words the worse the pain, the weaker the bladder:embarassed: A few years ago I had a hysterectomy and they made a sling for the bladder. I don't know what the medical term is. Anyway......what do you think or know about this problem I have. Another thing is that when I go and lay down at night, when I stand up during the night to go to the rest room, I have no control at all. During the day I don't have any accidents. Sorry so personal. Any ideas on what exercise of muscles I should be working as well?
I'll send you a PM about it...it's private stuff :flowerforyou:0 -
Anyone?:blushing:Thanks Banks.......but I fall under #1. Degenerative Disc. Disease. I really try hard to work on my muscles in my back, in hope it will make my back stronger. But it pains me so much to do so, I pay for it for a couple of days. I have a emarrising question for you:embarassed: but you seem to know about these things. I have lost a little weight in my stomach and keep trying to tighten it up, but still have like a beer gut, and I don't drink. My question is about bladder control, I take Detrol in the morning. BUT It seems to me that when My back is hurting from trying to work on the muscles my bladder is weak during that time. IN other words the worse the pain, the weaker the bladder:embarassed: A few years ago I had a hysterectomy and they made a sling for the bladder. I don't know what the medical term is. Anyway......what do you think or know about this problem I have. Another thing is that when I go and lay down at night, when I stand up during the night to go to the rest room, I have no control at all. During the day I don't have any accidents. Sorry so personal. Any ideas on what exercise of muscles I should be working as well?
Thank you songbyrdsweet, will look for your message
I'll send you a PM about it...it's private stuff :flowerforyou:0 -
you need to either
1) utilize the power of editing
2) start the old fashioned roman numeral indent a, b, c style of writing
3) put a big giant WARNING! NOVEL A HEAD! with your threads! :sad:
:ohwell:
Um, I guess the old "you can't please everyone" is true.0 -
You are so right, Banks! It's a great post, and it really caused me to stop and think. There's a fitness club that I'm a member of, and they offer core strengthening twice a week. Because of your post, I'm definitely starting with their next meeting (that'd be Tuesday). You're the best!
Judy0 -
You are so right, Banks! It's a great post, and it really caused me to stop and think. There's a fitness club that I'm a member of, and they offer core strengthening twice a week. Because of your post, I'm definitely starting with their next meeting (that'd be Tuesday). You're the best!
Judy
Glad I could help! :happy:
Best of luck with it Judy.0 -
auntkaren,
I'm not gonna touch your question, as I know very little on it. Sounds like SBS has you covered anyway, I hope it works out for you though! Your a great lady with a great attitude, and I really think you deserve to be healthy and happy!
:flowerforyou:
Banks0 -
I ocassionally get sciatica which was diagnosed by a MD. This is a relatively common form of lower back pain and sometimes leg pain.
I don't like drugs and I don't like surgery.
What worked for me is a DVD:
Healing Yoga by Rodney Lee
It has an 8 minute routine of gentle streaching and breathing that "opens up the spine". If I do that twice a day my pain disapears after 1 to 3 weeks. Your results may vary.0 -
I ocassionally get sciatica which was diagnosed by a MD. This is a relatively common form of lower back pain and sometimes leg pain.
I don't like drugs and I don't like surgery.
What worked for me is a DVD:
Healing Yoga by Rodney Lee
It has an 8 minute routine of gentle streaching and breathing that "opens up the spine". If I do that twice a day my pain disapears after 1 to 3 weeks. Your results may vary.
I love the term sciatica. Cuz it can be so many different things. I used to get the same thing frank. One doctor said I had a ruptured disk, another one said I had a pinched nerve, another said I had a pulled hip flexor, another said I had a herniated disk.
2 of these doctors were "specialists", none of them diagnosed my back correctly, and none of them spent more then 20 minutes examining me or giving me any tests, how they came to these conclusions without MRI's or even X-Rays I have no Idea (of course at the time, I was much more ignorant of these processes, and didn't know to question them).
I finally did find a sports medicine specialist that did a full battery of tests including a blood test that checked for some kind of protein that is prevelant in people with spinal injuries (no idea what it was called but he said it wasn't present in my case, which was nice) and an MRI. He deduced that I was putting a lot of pressure on my back (which I was) by pitching, which was being exacerbated by shoveling and humidity during seasonal changes (which was EXACTLY when the problems were flaring up)
AND
I wasn't strengthening those muscles by using them and exercising, so I would create micro tears and small muscle pulls which feel like serious issues but were actually relatively easy to fix by stretching and core exercising (after about 6 months, no more pain, plus better balance!). Essentally the same stuff as you do with Yoga, except I don't use a set format, I vary it more towards sports strength like plyometrics stuff .
. Amazing how McDonalds like our GP medical industry has become. Needless to say I gave the first 4 doctors a piece of my mind after that! All but one agreed with the final diagnosis and appologized to me after I showed them the results. Scarey!0 -
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Thanks Banks
I had horrible back problems when I worked on my feet and my kids were little. I will admit, I gained a lot of weight with my first baby, 90 lbs to be exact, and I didn't get back into shape before baby two and my core is weak. I have to be careful with core training but I have found that back care yoga has worked wonders! I have to say that leaving my stressful on my feet most of the day job also helped, I haven't been couch bound for almost 5 years, but I do back care yoga or AM yoga daily, just to get everything warmed up and ready to go for the day so stretching in a meaningful guided way does help, and the yoga ball offers many wonderful ways to strengthen your back!0 -
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Thanks Banks.
Can you recommend a few good core exercises for someone who doesn't belong to a gym?
I walk everyday and lift free weights. Just trying to save on the pocket book, but I really need to start working the core!!!
~Kell0 -
Thanks Banks.
Can you recommend a few good core exercises for someone who doesn't belong to a gym?
I walk everyday and lift free weights. Just trying to save on the pocket book, but I really need to start working the core!!!
~Kell
Hey Kell,
Since you don't belong to a gym, an inexpensive way to work your core would be to get a stability or balance ball (those large blow up balls you see people laying on when the work out). You then can do a lot of your excercises using the balance ball. For instance if you use your free weights to do dumble chest press while balancing on the balance ball (instead of a bench) you'll engage your core muscles in the act of staying in balance. Crunches on a balance ball also engage more of the core muscles etc. You'll probably get an excercise routine with the balance ball if not do an internet search.0 -
yep, that's a good thought. Also Kell, you can go buy a yoga tape, yoga is great for core work. It's much harder then you would tend to think.0
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I'm in category 2, an injury and it's been 7 months and SLOW RECOVERY(sorry I yelled) is definately the watch word. I am now doing physical therapy on just one plane, straight up and down to stretch exactly what Banks was talking about, the little muscles that attach to your spine that make up your core. I'm sure it will be months still before I can get to twisting those muscles without pain.
Also don't ever be dumb like I was and put it off, go right away and get it looked at!
But I agree, work your core muscles, they are so important!0 -
Thanks Banks.
Can you recommend a few good core exercises for someone who doesn't belong to a gym?
I walk everyday and lift free weights. Just trying to save on the pocket book, but I really need to start working the core!!!
~Kell
Hey Kell,
Since you don't belong to a gym, an inexpensive way to work your core would be to get a stability or balance ball (those large blow up balls you see people laying on when the work out). You then can do a lot of your excercises using the balance ball. For instance if you use your free weights to do dumble chest press while balancing on the balance ball (instead of a bench) you'll engage your core muscles in the act of staying in balance. Crunches on a balance ball also engage more of the core muscles etc. You'll probably get an excercise routine with the balance ball if not do an internet search.
Thanks a bunch. I was just looking at the balance balls the other day. That may be just what I need.
I used to be a golf professional and really wrecked my back and found it difficult (painful) to work the core. Especially now with the age thing going on.... 0 -
yep, that's a good thought. Also Kell, you can go buy a yoga tape, yoga is great for core work. It's much harder then you would tend to think.
And yet another thanks a bunch!!
I will do that along with a good balance ball routine. I think the combination of these along with my walks and free weights will do the trick.
I appreciate all the input. :flowerforyou:
~Kell0
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