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Muscular back pain help with core strength.
PaulT
Posts: 6
in General Chat
Hi all,
I have a muscular back problem that comes and goes. I have had successful physio onit about 2 years ago where the physio stated that i needed to build my core strength up to sort the problem out.
The exercises were very simple (sitting hip rolls .. on all fours spinal flexing, leg raises etc).
When i followed these exercises they worked after a period of about 2 weeks but i never really kept up any of these core exercises.
I have successfully built up my cycling (mtb off road) over the last couple of years which peaked at some 4 hr + rides on the North downs (Leith/Holmbury/Pitch hills) and one very hillyride on the Soth downs way.
I was considering training this year to try the south downs way challenge in one day which is 100 miles end to end with 10,000 feet of climbing. Not an easy feat and some say equivalent to an ironman in effort ? I had 2 friends do the event last year and only 1 finished in a time of 13 hrs and he has a better level of fitness than me.
My goals have changed a little and are now veering toward an olympic distance tri. I have never done one but have completed over the yrs about 6 sprints. My dream would be to complete an ironman one day but i realise its one step at a time.
I have completely given up alcohol (over 1 yr now) and gave up smoking some yrs ago. I suffer with asthma but its under control.
I feel i am really up for an olympic this year but my main problem at the moment is my back.
I have damaged my back doing various sports including water ski jumping ... weight training etc etc
None of these caused me to have any time off work untill 2 yrs ago when i got up out of a chair and my back just went eventually into spasms and i had 2 weeks off work in absolute agony.
Luckily i have been assured its only muscular. hence the physio and core strength work.
I have started a run/walk running program but sat awkwardly the other night and seemed to set my back off again. I am only 1 week into the 6 week program and now seem to have continuous back pain.
My question is do i carry on with the program and work that along with the core exercises and see if it eventually goes away ?
or should i stop running untill the back ache goes ?
I swam for the 1st time this week in ages and that still made my back ache even tho i used a pull bouy and only did 3 sets of 10 lengths (which was a lot harder than i thought it would be !!!)
i guess the other option would be to go back to a physio and see what they recommend altho this is a costly process that if i do go needs to be kept to a minimum. Married with kids etc ...
The run walk program helped me over 2 yrs ago come back from an achilles problem but my running is more than sporadic.
At the beginning of last year i joined a gym and running 3 times a week on the treadmills up to 30 mins a session was fine, no back ache then. ?
I am really fired up at the moment but its making me miserable. i want to succeed and am prepared to take things slowly hence the run/walk to 5k in 6 weeks. i feel that when i can run 30 mins 3 times a week pain free that will be a great starting point.
Cycling doesnt genrally affect my back so im going to do a couple of hrs off road tomorrow.
any suggestions would be much appreciated.
thanks
Paul
I have a muscular back problem that comes and goes. I have had successful physio onit about 2 years ago where the physio stated that i needed to build my core strength up to sort the problem out.
The exercises were very simple (sitting hip rolls .. on all fours spinal flexing, leg raises etc).
When i followed these exercises they worked after a period of about 2 weeks but i never really kept up any of these core exercises.
I have successfully built up my cycling (mtb off road) over the last couple of years which peaked at some 4 hr + rides on the North downs (Leith/Holmbury/Pitch hills) and one very hillyride on the Soth downs way.
I was considering training this year to try the south downs way challenge in one day which is 100 miles end to end with 10,000 feet of climbing. Not an easy feat and some say equivalent to an ironman in effort ? I had 2 friends do the event last year and only 1 finished in a time of 13 hrs and he has a better level of fitness than me.
My goals have changed a little and are now veering toward an olympic distance tri. I have never done one but have completed over the yrs about 6 sprints. My dream would be to complete an ironman one day but i realise its one step at a time.
I have completely given up alcohol (over 1 yr now) and gave up smoking some yrs ago. I suffer with asthma but its under control.
I feel i am really up for an olympic this year but my main problem at the moment is my back.
I have damaged my back doing various sports including water ski jumping ... weight training etc etc
None of these caused me to have any time off work untill 2 yrs ago when i got up out of a chair and my back just went eventually into spasms and i had 2 weeks off work in absolute agony.
Luckily i have been assured its only muscular. hence the physio and core strength work.
I have started a run/walk running program but sat awkwardly the other night and seemed to set my back off again. I am only 1 week into the 6 week program and now seem to have continuous back pain.
My question is do i carry on with the program and work that along with the core exercises and see if it eventually goes away ?
or should i stop running untill the back ache goes ?
I swam for the 1st time this week in ages and that still made my back ache even tho i used a pull bouy and only did 3 sets of 10 lengths (which was a lot harder than i thought it would be !!!)
i guess the other option would be to go back to a physio and see what they recommend altho this is a costly process that if i do go needs to be kept to a minimum. Married with kids etc ...
The run walk program helped me over 2 yrs ago come back from an achilles problem but my running is more than sporadic.
At the beginning of last year i joined a gym and running 3 times a week on the treadmills up to 30 mins a session was fine, no back ache then. ?
I am really fired up at the moment but its making me miserable. i want to succeed and am prepared to take things slowly hence the run/walk to 5k in 6 weeks. i feel that when i can run 30 mins 3 times a week pain free that will be a great starting point.
Cycling doesnt genrally affect my back so im going to do a couple of hrs off road tomorrow.
any suggestions would be much appreciated.
thanks
Paul
0
Comments
Having said that I went to NHS physio about my back & they told me to sit up straight & use a lumbar roll....thanks.
Get into an exaggerated lunge postition, so your kneeling knee (touching the floor) is behind your hip and your front leg has the foot well forward of the knee. Back straight push the hip of your kneeling side forwards (minimal movement available - but try) and if you still cant feel the stretch then lift up your arm on the same side.
if this makes sense and you are willing to try, then i would be interested to hear if it amde any difference, if not then we will move to different exercise and so on until you feel improvement.
So, a swiss ball is definitely something to invest in! (I use it too, and also at the gym, just for core/stability exercises - do a lot of things like chest/shoulder presses on them, so that more muscles are being worked all the time).
All that aside, core strength activities should be in every athletes training programme - generally good for building injury avoiding strength - protecting those joints and muscles that get whacked during high impact activities like running.
So either do core exercises, or core exercises + your other training, as you are able to cope.
Ive tried it and am feeling the stretch mainly at the top front of my leg near to my groin. is this right ? if not can you talk me through it again. How long should i hold the stretch for ? what sort of frequency and duration should i be looking at ?
thanks again
paul
Its very difficult to try and diagnose over a forum, and not wise, but you certainly wont do any harm through stretching your hip flexors and if it works then my hunch is correct.
cheers
Also, with regards to the running. I also stopped running when the aches started. My physio advised me to try and run in a slightly different position. My natural position is to run quite upright, but over the last couple of days I have altered this to slightly leaning forward and the only aches I have now are where they should be, in my legs! I would also point out that my back ache would also be worse if I did a a lot of hill running, so this may be a factor, but again, my physio advised that when running downhill, dont let yourself "freewheel" down the slope. This only increases the impact going through the body and the lower back suffers badly. Try to control your running as you move downhill and also think about which foot you land heaviest on. I found that my right foot was taking a bigger impact than my left and funnily enough, its my lower right back that gives me more problems. Obviously, I now concentrate on trying to even this out and run smoother.
certainly staying mobile, stretching, doing core exercises will do more good than any harm.
Good luck![:D]
@ Britspin
If you don't mind mate, i'd like a copy of your plan.....
gary.roberts101@googlemail.com
stretching is good advice, working on your core is also good, however if you feel your tummy packing in and youfeel your back taking over STOP...
if you are in pain (in my personal experience) take ibroprophen it will take the swelling down around the infalmed area and give you nsome releif, if you dont then you may cause trouble elsewere compensating.
Whereabouts is the pain comming from upper, middle or lower,im going to take a stab in the dark and say lower ( iliocostalis ) a very common problem in my trade.
I'd do crunches on a swiss ball as it will support your back, you'll find yourself shaking once you've balanced correctly and when you stop shaking it means you stomach muscles have been exhausted and your backs doing more of the work, like i said before then its time to stop.
You'll find if the muscles are week, you'll only be able to do this for a matter of a few seconds ata time and over time for longer periods (we used to do this on the floor at the gym when i used to box, then the trainer would drop a medicine ball on you from sholder height... i never liked him very much [:'(]...)
also try doing some planks, this helps control, again whn you feel your back kicking in go to your knees and stretch it out.
hope this helps