Back Pain with Chalean Extreme
Becoming_A_Butterfly
Posts: 2,534 Member
I have finished one full week of Chalean Extreme (in the Burn phase). A LOT of the exercises involve being in lunge position or starting from deadlift, which means a LOT of the exercises involve being bent over. No matter how much I focus on my form, this kills my back by the end of the workout! I had a back injury a few years ago, and I get very nervous about anything that makes my back sore.
Are there any suggested modifications or ideas for still doing the exercises, but being gentler on my poor back? Thanks!
Are there any suggested modifications or ideas for still doing the exercises, but being gentler on my poor back? Thanks!
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Replies
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Mean hurts occasionally so I understand where you are coming from.
You have probably already tried these things but my suggestions are:
Your weights might be too heavy
Check your stance. Maybe your legs are spread too wide or not enough
Keep your butt lifted and pushed out. Shoulders should not slump.
Are your knees locked? Try a soft knee.
How many reps can you do before your back starts hurting?0 -
If it's the first exercise on the DVD, I can make it the whole way through the 12 reps. By the 2nd or 3rd exercise that involves bending over, my lower back starts to hurt and becomes very uncomfortable. I will try just not bending over quite so far, but that's hard to do when the exercise starts out with a deadlift!0
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How about trying a Back Support Waist Slimmer Belt ?
I use one to support my lower back :mad:
Best Regards,
Vio0 -
Thanks! I will look into that.
Every time an exercise starts with a lunge or deadlift, I groan. It seems like all of them do!0 -
I only get a very occassional back pain when doing Chalean DVDS. And at least for me, I can always tell it is a result of my bad form.
Some tips:
-Make sure your back is flat ( or for me its easier to think of a "U" shape if you were looking at the top of it) You could also think of it as making sure your back is in the opposite shape of a crazed cat with its back arched ("O" shape)
-Make sure your knees are shoulder width apart, or a little more. I find that if my legs are too close together (or too far apart) it screws up my balance and can make my back hurt.
-Squeeze your butt. I don't know why, but it helps.
-Squeeze your abs. This helps too
-Use a mirror to look at your position and compare it to Chalean's
Listen to your body and try to make little adjustments as you can.
Good luck!0 -
Sometimes even good form isn't going to help. From what I can tell, barbells, deadlifts and back-hinging exercises cause a strain on the lower back that makes physical therapists and chiropractors cringe. (both of mine prefer I stay away from those types of exercises - however, I'm not listening too well...lol). If you need to, you can modify or choose other exercises that work the same muscles but are less stressful on the back but if you wish to continue the exercises:
1. I think the MOST essential thing is to get your core muscles in the best shape of their lives. Increase your core workouts until your midsection is strong enough to support the exercises that involve the lower back. Often our backs are sore because our core is weak.
2. Also, sometimes we just try to lift too much, too soon so also make sure that you aren't trying to lift too heavy too fast.
3. And of course...proper form is crucial as well.
4. Above all else, LISTEN to your body. If your back starts to feel a strain, STOP. No point putting yourself out of commission completely over an exercise that you can switch out for another.0 -
Thank you so much! And I definitely need to work my core. I have been adding core workouts into my routine but just started back to consistently working out.0
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I felt this when I got to some exercises in the Push Circuits. She has dead lifts and rows and I am using 15 pounds per dumbbell on those. My lower back started to hurt...
I did get a mirror to check form. I hold in my abs more when I do those. I think for the most part, it has since gone away.
Overall, I have problems with my elbows. Well mostly my left elbow I think. I don't know if it is form, but sometimes after doing tricep stuff, even push-ups my elbow on the left arm will hurt. I believe this is because when I was a little kid I broke that arm (like really broke the bone and they had to totally put my bones back together in my arm) I remember having trouble bringing my fist up to my shoulder-like a bicep curl-I particularly remember family members working on me with it because that is what the doctors/maybe therapist were having me do too.
I can totally bring my fist to my shoulder now. I don't know that it really is due to that (the elbow pain) but whenever any dvd does tricep stuff I skip it. I just know my body and figure that my body says that doesn't feel right to it.0 -
I am on my second round of CLX and I have trouble with my lower back hurting during deadlift rows. I actually recorded myself doing the exercise to check out my form and I've figured out that my back is flat, but I'm not pulling my abs in. Chalene does say something about your abs being your girdle in some of the workouts and it's really true. I decreased my weights to make sure it wasn't just that I was lifting too heavy, so maybe record yourself and check out your form.0
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I found that I get back pain during the push circuits and simply switching to the split stance rather than basic stance really worked wonders for my back!0
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A LOT of people hurt themselves on deadlifts because their form is WRONG. There is an EXCELLENT item in this month's Men's Health magazine about deadlift form - here are the four main points (paraphrased):
1. STAND STRONG. Chest up, back naturally arched, knees slightly bent, shoulder blades pulled down and back.
2. HINGE AT YOUR HIPS. Don't bend over. Push your hips back slowly and your torso will naturally descend toward the floor.
3. KEEP THE WEIGHTS CLOSE. As you lower the dumbbells, resist the temptation to let them hang straight down from your shoulders. Keep them as close to your body as you can. (Note from me: THIS IS #1 reason for lower back pain - keep the weights close to your legs as you lower them !!)
4. GO ONLY AS LOW AS YOU CAN - the goal is to lower your torso until it's almost parallel to the floor. AS YOU RISE BACK UP squeeze your glutes and thrust your hips forward. This helps to stabilize your trunk and minimize the stress on your spine.
I really hope this helps - paying close attention to my form on this made quite a difference and I was able to feel the work in my glutes and hamstrings, not my back - which is the whole idea. Try going through the exercise a few times without weights to check your form. Ask yourself as you practice the form: Where are you feeling the work? Are you bending only from the hips, pushing them back as you go down? Are you keeping your hands close to your body as you lower? Are you thrusting your hips forward as you come back up?0 -
I also forgot to add - if the compound exercise is too tough to keep good form, split it in to two separate exercises. For example, perform 12 reps of just the deadlift portion, then to 12 reps of just the rowing portion. It allows you to focus better on your form for the individual exercise and you'll minimize the possibility of hurting yourself unnecessarily.
For example, I have a bum knee that I tore up skiing in my youth, so instead of doing the sumo squats with the calf raise, which really torques my knee and feels too unstable to be safe, I perform the sumo squats by themselves, then do standard calf raises separately.
I also do this sometimes when I know that I can go heavier on one part of the compound move but can't use quite as much weight on the other portion of the move. I can do lunges with 35 lbs. in each hand, but there's no bleeping chance that I can do a 35 lb. tricep kickback! So, I do heavy lunges by themselves, then grab my lighter weight and do the kickbacks.
Do what works best for you - but be sure to use good form for best results and to avoid injury.
I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Michelle0
