Weak broken back
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Slowly recovering from a slipped disk in my lower back, have had to spend a fortune of physio and stop lifting so heavy. Has anyone had lower back issue and what was the fix. i have been told to lower my weights, increase reps and concentrate on getting my lower back stronger (common sense really). Heaps of excercises on a swiss ball so I bought one on trade me this morning. I have to sit on it to keep my shoulders back and use it for lower back excercises. Will do some at the gym but we only have one ball there.<br />
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Well gym opens at 9 so better get ready for some cardio. -
it's the old story aye Deano - we all now what we [I]should [/I]do, but it takes a doc or a trainer to make us realise that we need to do it!!<br />
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I was never the fan of paying for someone to tell me what to eat and how to workout, but by hell would never turn back now!!<br />
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I have been doing heaps (in trainiers programme) of core lower back stuff (a workout is just core), and has been great. Until the foo foo valve broke and the hernia popped out that is!!<br />
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Just take it slow - something that us old fellas should know about... -
Cheers ears, my wife has told me for years to watch my back but it took the physio advice before I listened.<br />
Looks like I will have to add a core workout also to my routine instead of just an ab workout. -
I have a womans joints.... which means I am flexible like a chick and have the flexible hips required for child birth...hooray.. but my point is I have bad muscular back issues that I have to keep on top of as my muscles do a lot of the work my joints should. And I was told the best activity is to go to a pool and do backstoke (without using your arms). Its hard yaker on your torso, but low impact.
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I slipped a disc two years ago in the lumbar region, it was a complete bitch, stopped me doing anything properly. Depending on how far along the recovery process you are, make sure you're walking regularly, but never too much in one go, especially early on, build it up over time. Swimming when you can do it is a great way of building the muscles up either side of the spine as well as the core muscles.<br />
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One thing I would say is that I can't recommend an osteopath highly enough. I had physio which frankly achieved sod all (its the usual story, physio gives you specific exercises to do but doesn't actually help you during a session, you then don't do the exercises) before eventually seeing an osteo who not only gave me exercises to do but also manipulated me once a week - it doesn't fix the problem but it does allow you to feel normal for a couple of hours and acts as a reminder of how your back is supposed to feel which gives you an incentive to do the stupid superman exercises etc.<br />
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I also went to a back clinic for a few weeks which worked like a circuit training session with exercises purely to aid the lower back. The best one I found was one for the deep abs (and multifidus - muscles that hold the spine) which run across between your hip bones (these are usually the muscles that 'switch off' when you've injured your lower back and cause the most problems after the disc is sorted) - if you place one finger about an inch in from your hip bone, you have to try and tense that muscle and therefore move the finger without tensing your 6 pack muscles - it takes a bit of practice to isolate it, one way is to lie on your back and raise your hips off the floor then try or go on all fours and try to bring your belly button back towards your back. You have to tense and hold for five seconds at a time. Once you've worked out how to isolate it and can do it at will, do it while you're walking (including placing your finger there), just tense those muscles and notice the way your walking posture changes - the more often you can do it, the more likely those deep muscles are to switch back on and provide the support for your back which removes the pain. -
Thanks for all the comments, physio is down to two days per week and it is coming right now. Have to bend my knees for everything i do and that is hard to get used to. Will spend all Feb with light weight, high reps and then ramp it back up in March when hopefully my lower back and posture is better.
