Lower back pain exercises

[crucible]

Anybody know of any exercises that I can use to relieve lower back pain from alpine riding?

Interestingly, it's only on the left side of my lower back, and only affects rotation to my heel side.

My form is good, I'm crouching low and centered and not breaking at the waist, but the pain started when I started to crouch lower on my board to accommodate riding on icy terrain.

I have always been very inflexible - I couldn't touch my toes even in 1st grade, but am laterally flexible from yoga and martial arts.

I am doing Pilates, and lower back yoga stretches that specifically target my PSOAS muscle, but it ain't working... there is some marginal improvement during the stretches, but then it locks right back up the next day.

At 44, i'm adjusting to the fact that I have to do more limbering exercises and take more Advil to deal with hard charging sessions, but i would appreciate any suggestions.

George

[big mario]

A friend of mine nearly had to give up windsurfing and mountain biking due to incapacitating low back issues, he recently got on a combobble board from the lower back store and has not had any problems since, might be worth investigating.

mario

[skategoat]

The big one is the cobra stretch. I do them every night:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJc0U2a0UJs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJc0U2a0UJs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Also, you might want to review this video (for medical purposes only).

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2hVeq3bZCM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2hVeq3bZCM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Bordy]

Good thread, several career athletes I know have the worst backs, my self included.

Any one with tips please post!! Any MD also....

One streatch I find helps, and you'll see a ton of racers in the lodge before a event in this position, is to lay on the floor on your back with your calves and feet on a chair up to you knees then slowly slide closer to the chair. Then slowly raising you head and shoulders toward your knees (like a slow back stretching sit up) then back to your back and bring each knee to you chest slowly while streching each leg indepently.

Also I always stretch my hamstrings as much as possible every back issue I have had some medical member remind me that stretching my hammys to full range has a huge effect on my back pain, they have all been correct.

good luck

[Gecko]

especially if you live in a college area where you will also have built in motivation:eplus2: OK seriously yoga provides flexiblity that is usefull in all other forms of sport. The only other activity that II've ever done that provides as complete a workout is slacklining....at at present it's too cold for that

[Ernie00]

I'm a college volleyball coach and over the year I have seen many injuries from myself and my players ! Thank God to free therapy since I'm a coach. :)

This happens really often specially with athletes, their lower back problems comes partly from super strong and not flexible Hip Flexors. This pulls your Hips forward and there is constant pressure on the lower back.

You can do the Modified Thomas Test to see how flexible your hip flexor are. It's very simple.

if you leg is falling down, you are good to go.. you can start looking somewhere else for your pain problem if it hangs in the air above the table's height it might be Part of the problem.

[BadBrad]

I have scoliosis and have had a lot of back pain over the last several years. I used to be an avid triathlete and always stretched a lot, but the back pain got me to start doing yoga. I took classes to ensure my form was correct. What I found was that some yoga poses actually made my back worse. Standing forward bends especially seem to irritate my back.

One yoga pose that does help me a lot is pigeon pose. It's great for stretching out the hips and low back and the area around the sacrum, where I often have pain.

http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/pigeon.htm

I tried physical therapy, chiropractic, and acupuncture, and saw spine specialists and scoliosis specialists, and nothing helped.

The one thing that has helped me the most is core strength training. I took some pilates classes for awhile and my back felt better, and now I do a pilates video at home a couple of times a week, plus some other core training at the gym. I think a big factor in my back pain, besides the scoliosis, is that I have gained weight and my core muscles have gotten weaker.

Another thing that helped me is walking more. I still run, bike, swim, and strength train, but I've got an old dog with bad hips that can no longer run. He still likes to walk, though, and walking seems to help him, so I walk him almost every day, and this added walking seems to have helped my back.

[Fleaman]

My wife is a Physio and sometimes I get low back pain, she tells me that my muscles are imbalanced so she recommends I stretch the affected muscle and then also my hamstrings and quads also, it suremakes a big difference.

I lay on my back everymorning and stretch and haven;t had any problems since. If I forget for a few days, a slight bit of pain comes back.

[fluke]

I know it sounds silly, but since I'm playing with power kites my back pain has vanished. Flying those kites may look boring and somewhat foolish for an adult. But I can assure you it's a real workout--especially in moderate to stronger winds. And it's sooo much more fun than the gym. :)

(No, it's not me.)

Best,

fluke

[crucible]

Hmmmm...

Power kites- yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

That's just what the wife is gonna want to hear, "Baby, I'm gonna buy a power kite - it's guaranteed to fix my back".

[timinor]

I have found using the rowing machine at the gym has been great for my back. I think it is the Concept II...correct me if I'm wrong...it is the most common, high end machine.

Be sure to not round your back...ie bend forward at the hips and then stroke with a straight back.

The rowing machine, yoga and a strong routine of ab strengthening has given me great results.

[skategoat]

There may be something in fluke's experience for all back pain sufferers. I found that despite what all my friends and some doctors told me about taking it easy and avoiding certain activities, I found that only exercise brings me relief. Maybe it's blood flow, maybe it's the stretching, maybe it's core muscle strengthening.

Or it could just be psychological. There's a book by a doctor named John Sarno that says if you took an MRI of anyone over a certain age (can't remember if it's 25 or 35), you will see disc bulging. In theory these people should experience back pain. But not everyone does. Why? Stress and tension.

I think there is something to this because as soon as I stopped obsessing over the symptoms of my herniated disc and as soon as I stopped seeking passive treatments (ie. where someone is doing something *to* you as you lie there), the pain started receding.

I started with swimming, progressed to biking, now I'm playing basketball and hockey. Oh ya, and snowboarding. The only symptom I have left (and I couldn't walk in November) is a tingly big toe.

[trailertrash]

I used to have pretty bad lower back pain. I did a few things to relieve it. Stretching, core strengthening, clinical massage and a new mattress. The last one is often overlooked.

[BadBrad]

In addition to the things mentioned above, traction helps me too. I hang from a bar either by my hands or by my ankles (using gravity boots) and can really feel the spine elongating and aligning when I do this.

There are also pull-up handles at the gym that are just at the right hight for me to grab them with my feet on the ground. When I first grab onto them I usually can't get my heels on the ground, but after a minute or two my heels will reach the ground, indicating that something is getting stretched out. I then inch my feet forward on the ground to maintain the tension in my back. It feels really good.

Interestingly, swimming often irritates my back, at least while I'm doing it. Once I finish and then sit in the hot tub for a few minutes it's fine.

[Galen]

I'm a college volleyball coach and over the year I have seen many injuries from myself and my players ! Thank God to free therapy since I'm a coach. :)

This happens really often specially with athletes, their lower back problems comes partly from super strong and not flexible Hip Flexors. This pulls your Hips forward and there is constant pressure on the lower back.

You can do the Modified Thomas Test to see how flexible your hip flexor are. It's very simple.

if you leg is falling down, you are good to go.. you can start looking somewhere else for your pain problem if it hangs in the air above the table's height it might be Part of the problem.

After 6 weeks of PT for psoas and hip ab/adductor problems, this is the best stretch out of the many I do as it stretches most of the hip flexor muscles. It's also helpful to have someone apply VERY light downward pressure. Agree with the comments that back pain usually has something to do with other muscle groups. I'm towards the end of PT and my psoas and gluteus medius is still having a bit of a tug of war, causing general lower back stiffness. Here's a good link for stretches:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

[Gleb]

when I used to play football, I had incredibly crippling lower back pain. When I started up with wrestling, I strengthened my abs and all the lower back pain is gone. Also, hundreds of pushups helps too, by strengthening your overall body, and if you do them slow, can also work your abs out as well.

I started doing sit ups during commercial breaks while watching tv. Every break, I'd do like 30 sit ups and switch it up with push ups, then just work from there.

This is not a solution for all back pain, but it worked for me and a few others that i know of. Good luck guys

[Allee]

Taking up Pilates and improving the core strength worked wonders for me. As did Trailertrash's suggestion - a new mattress. A decent mattress makes such a huge difference - I used to gimp out of bed every morning, and now there's no back pain at all when I wake up.

The other thing I might suggest is having a chiro do a work up with x-rays and the spinal roller, which gives you a map of where the aggravation points are on your spine. What was interesting with mine was that the pain was manifesting as lower back - and the problem was actually the second and third vertebrae on my neck -

[Surf Rat]

for me it is all about yoga, sit ups, and streching the Hammys

[Pat Donnelly]

I wrenched my back one year during SES which I believe was due to riding at lower angles ~ 50/45 and over-rotating my heel turns. I usually ride 65/62 and with this set-up I do not experience lower back pain.

[zoom]

Lower back pain is a pretty new thing for me, but I've had neck and upper back problems from an accident (~ 10 years ago). Great advice in this thread so far. For me, gentle stretching is helpful, but not as helpful as core strengthening, activity as tolerated, and especially movement therapy. I've studied Feldenkrais, but any other therapies that work with teaching the body new or forgotten body patterns are terrific. They treat the cause and the symptom!

In my recent lower back episode this lesson is what got me back on track and riding again. It's important to avoid stretching and "muscling" through the exercise - the point is to show your body new or forgotten ways to move more efficiently. If it hurts, do less or even just imagine the movement. Sounds cheesy, but it's like magic for me. More exercises here.

[BDZal]

You should probably see a doctor first.

My hip adductors were really tight in my rear leg from snowboarding. This can definitely cause back pain.

Romanian deadlifts and hanging leg raises (done properly, pelvis and leg raises) help for strengthening, assuming you can do them without problems. Higher-rep abdominal work is also important (as in more than the 5 or 10 reps you can do of the leg raises, if that).

[carvedog]

The big one is the cobra stretch. I do them every night:

Also, you might want to review this video (for medical purposes only).

Skate re the medical purposes vid. I never knew that Ford models had a whole line of yoga vids on youtube. I blame you for a very unproductive afternoon yesterday. Good God man how can I concentrate after that.

[Guest DougFan1972]

Better see a doctor or a professional before you start stretching exercises. You make have a bulging disk in your spine. Crouching forward will push disk toward nerve creating pain in back (usually only 1 side). Some stretches will do the same damage. Please see professional help so you don't go through what I went through trying to do it on my own. I later learned I had 2 herniated disks with one of them bulging. After rehabbing with a physical therapist, I now live pain free. I still work out, snowboard, wakeboard, bike, beach volleyball etc. Just have to pay attention to how I lift and exercise. Hope all goes well for you.

[mackDan]

ProbodX! Looks funny works great.

[ruwi]

George(Crucible),

I started to have lower back pains when I moved from being a field engineer to office engineer sitting in the office 5 days/week until now. Just about the same age in the forties when I consulted a Russian Orthopedic Surgeon and his team of therapist when I was in Duabi many years ago. One of the exercises they gave me is the Cobra. It always works for me. Low impact for an old man like me(52 yrs old). You will notice a lot of kids watch TV in the same position is highly recomended than sitting in the couch. They also prescribed me a lumbar support (Gibaud from France) when I told them I'm moving to Canada for good. It's work like a women's girdle with metal inserts of 2 types (soft, medium). Sometimes I remove the inserts and use it at the office like today to make it comfy while seated. So at this age, I still board and play as much as I wanted to.

regards,

ruwi