Lower back pain

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kellyk3lly
kellyk3lly Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi I'm new to this place so apologies if I've posted in the wrong place.

I've been doing insanity about four times a week for the past 6 weeks and for the past week or so I've got a really painful lower back. It feels really stiff more than anything when leaning forward with the pain mostly on the left side. I warm up before every training session but I am just wondering should I stop training until the pain stops or just soldier on? I've read being inactive can make it worse, thinking about it the pain started happening when I had a two week break from training during Easter holidays when the kids were home and made it impossible for me to fit anything in. Any advice would be much appreciated as it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I'm worried I may be making it worse! Thanks

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  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Stop doing insanity immediately.

    Take 4-5 days where you do gentle activity in the form of going for stroll, etc.

    Don't sit in crappy positions for too long and make sure you get good sleep. You may want to try digging a lacrosse ball into your glutes/piriformis and seeing if you have any trigger points that are contributing.

    If you don't see improvement day-to-day then go see a sports physio/orthoped.

    If you so see improvement, don't jump straight back into high intensity stuff the minute you feel better. You'll end up right back here.

    Ultimately you'll need to figure out what weakness/imbalance/form issue caused this so that you don't repeat it....
  • kellyk3lly
    kellyk3lly Posts: 8 Member
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    Oh no really!?! I'm never in any pain training tho....I am active all day long between looking after four children and housework/school runs/kids activities etc I really am on my feet til bedtime so there's no time for sitting in crappy positions really other than when I'm driving I suppose. I was wondering if the fact I am picking up and putting down baby all day long and also carrying her around on my hip and she weighs around 25lb could be a factor as the pain is more on my left side.

    So your advice is to rest, but what's that!? Lol seriously tho I am gutted to learn that I need to stop insanity as I really enjoy doing it while the baby naps but I really do hate the back pain so somethings got to give! Thanks for the advice
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    If you constantly heft a baby on one hip, that can cause the QL on the other side to shorten/tighten.

    Google QL/psoas releases and try that out for a few days. If you are a habitual left hand baby carrier - switch hands to give it some relief for a little while.

    Rest means non-intense, low impact. It doesn't mean stop being a busy person/parent...
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    PS just what do you think will happen if you stop bouncing around for a few days? Fitness takes a while to build and a while to lose. A week or two is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things...
  • kellyk3lly
    kellyk3lly Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks for the info I will look into the QL release ...I'm not worried about my fitness level I've done insanity/running on and off for a few years and always picked it up again quite quickly it's more a mental health thing for me tbh (exercise is my anti depressant/stress release) so when I stop I feel like crap.
  • Ws2016
    Ws2016 Posts: 432 Member
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    I've suffered from lower back pain off and on for 30 years. Two suggestions: 1) Before you go insanity, build your core strength for a month. Some legs presses and eliptical or bicycle will help, too. 2) Do the following stretches once in the morning and once in the evening. These are deep stretches that get to your glutes, hamstrings, and all the difficult to reach places.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN3K2qj-L0

  • kellyk3lly
    kellyk3lly Posts: 8 Member
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    Ws2016 wrote: »
    I've suffered from lower back pain off and on for 30 years. Two suggestions: 1) Before you go insanity, build your core strength for a month. Some legs presses and eliptical or bicycle will help, too. 2) Do the following stretches once in the morning and once in the evening. These are deep stretches that get to your glutes, hamstrings, and all the difficult to reach places.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN3K2qj-L0

    Thanks I will give those a go

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