Standup Zone Forum
General => Training, Diet, and Fitness => Topic started by: SUPDaddyBear on May 16, 2017, 01:32:47 AM
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Hi all,
I have long suffered with back issues and generally keep it "under control" with trips to the osteopath but it's been suggested to me by a fellow SUPer that I should try Yoga. He also said that I have tight hamstrings which impacts my lower back as well.
Does anyone have any good advice for me on how to get started and if it can really help?
Is it worth trying it at home before paying out for a class? Any particularly good moves to do for the back?
Thanks in advance
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One of my friends works in the maritime industry and he, like me, has a lower back problem although his lower back pain is worse than mine. He has a desk job and he wears a back brace all the time while he is at work. He doesn't have any lower back pain while he is at work and he attributes this to his back brace.
The back brace he uses is in the link below.
https://www.braceshop.com/product/mueller-adjustable-back-brace-w-removable-pad
The above is just food for thought since you're thinking about yoga.
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You might find a good PT. I was in agony, bulging discs, spinal stenosis, spinal cysts....went through some steroid injections, facet block. They helped for sure but it was the PT after and his exercises that I keep doing that have helped the most.
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Does anyone have any good advice for me on how to get started and if it can really help?
Is it worth trying it at home before paying out for a class? Any particularly good moves to do for the back?
Thanks in advance
Yes, yoga works. It's a ginormous amount of info, as are the mysteries involved with "back pain."
If you want to identify the primary cause of your pain and, most importantly, develop an individual, inexpensive routine to keep it at bay - nothing is better than yoga.
It may take a while to find the root cause. The osteopath has no magic bullet, so it's a tricky one. Your tight hammies may be protecting something. He/she explained that to you. The answer is in there and yoga will find it. Continue to see your Osteo as you develop a "practice." He/she will reinforce your knowledge and may move deeper as your layers unravel.
Osteos, PT's, Super smart massage therapists (I have one) are highly trained and will steer you straight. However, it's an extremely complex, ever changing problem...
Whether you have the time and discipline to deal with it is up to you. But nothing is more comprehensive than yoga. Medical imaging is spectacular, but the treatments can be counterproductive. Surgery, bracing, pain meds etc. are LAST resort. If you can crawl onto a yoga mat, that's where to start.
Personally, I don't want to see what's in there. The stats of people that have (identical) damaged vertebral discs with and without pain are remarkably similar.
You need to start with an instructor. No way you can do it yourself.
Beware the interwebs for info. Marketing has ruined any glimmer of hope. It's a vast wasteland of ads and confusing rubbish.
This is the only guy I ever understood. He's talking to yoga instructors in this clip. If I ever get really messed up, I'll buy his series.
https://youtu.be/HdL5N5hQdEM
And this one. I love anatomy. Yoga really opened up my eyes. The neck muscles are so amazingly complex. Wow, what a machine. We are so very fortunate. Damn shame it's over so soon.
https://youtu.be/8owgc-eQ8ag
Yoga is hard at first, but when you begin to understand the mindset, it's magic. You will be amazed at what the root causes of pain are. They move around! Recently, i've been focusing on neck posture as I work out. Been great for my hammies. Instant, massive gains in water stability and perceived power output. Great stuff that yoga. It fixed a minor plantar fascia I was worried about in 5 seconds. WTF?
Try to find a yoga teacher that's been around for awhile. Young ones can be flighty.
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Yoga is great and it is a long term commitment to see results.
First it feels like you are stiff as Hell
Then you start to feel like you are making some good progress
Then you are getting deeper into more complex asanas and you feel like you really have a good flexibility
Then you start to get a proper alignment and suddenly it feels like your flexibility has regressed BUT in fact it is just there that you start to really get into yoga...and you are getting better alignment on more and more poses....
After that I do not know, I have not traveled past that point in my few years of limited practice (twice a week only)
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Yoga has many benefits. It has been around for a long time. The practice can also help you be more attuned to your body. You may find that you change the way you move etc..
Acupuncture can be very effective at relieving pain and healing the body. Acupuncture treats the whole person.
Currently, pain isn't my concern. I'm trying to avoid surgery. So, I have been going to an acupuncturist for about 8 weeks. I noticed improvement in the first week. Based on the way my body has responded, healing is taking place. The next medical test results should be interesting. Having some very fine needles stuck in me for 1 hour a week is much more appealing than surgery.
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Thank you all very much for your replies.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge with me... sounds like I really need to give this a go!
Thanks for the info on acupuncture hbsteve - the guy that talked to me about yoga said he could do acupuncture if I ever needed it as he works in sports massage but I was a bit sceptical to be honest especially as we were at a lake at the time and he said he had some in his van!! :-)
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Yoga is very beneficial to loosen you up and let things relax. your back pain could be a product of an issue elsewhere. I was having terrible wrist issues for years and finally went to a chiro for acupuncture and adjustments. Turns out it was my elbow that was the problem and once i concentrated my efforts there my wrist has been fine. Something else i have recently come across is foundation training. It is a combo of stretching and core muscle building. There are great responses from what i have seen and experienced. This 12 minute video is something that i do regularly and it feels great after. I have never tried to embed a video so i hope it works.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4BOTvaRaDjI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Yoga is very beneficial to loosen you up and let things relax. your back pain could be a product of an issue elsewhere. I was having terrible wrist issues for years and finally went to a chiro for acupuncture and adjustments. Turns out it was my elbow that was the problem and once i concentrated my efforts there my wrist has been fine. Something else i have recently come across is foundation training. It is a combo of stretching and core muscle building. There are great responses from what i have seen and experienced. This 12 minute video is something that i do regularly and it feels great after. I have never tried to embed a video so i hope it works.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4BOTvaRaDjI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Yes that video is great and is part of my routine. Easy to do when you have a little bit of time and really effective.
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I've had a lower back issue for many years. Last year, I started doing a 3 minute yoga flow routine by the water as a warm up before every SUP surf or distance session. It has reduced the lower back soreness I felt after SUP.
When I did yoga classes 3 times a week for 6 months it really helped my balance while surfing.
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You talked me into it Larry. I need to find a good instructor.
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Two things helped resolve my lower back pain:
- Getting in the habit of tightening my abdominal muscles anytime I bent forward.
- Deadlifts
I used to occasionally tweak my lower back, and it would get really stiff and sore for a week or so each time, limiting my mobility and activity. Stretching or chiropractic adjustments would help accelerate recovery each time, but weren't preventing recurrence when it was happening quite frequently for a year or so, when doing something as simple as bending forward to tie my shoes or put on my pants.
I think strengthening my back muscles with the deadlifts helped make them less susceptible to injury under heavy exertion, but learning to reflexively clench my core muscles during any forward bending motion probably did more to prevent the stupid shoe tying back injuries! :)
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As a result of SUP, I have gotten into some basic yoga. To me, it has been about paying attention again to the movements of the complex muscle envelope, which I have tended to progressively ignore as I have gotten older.
Young people apparently can keep these awarenesses without effort or attention, but a you get older, you have to make a commitment to them on a conscious as well as an unconscious level, and also make a commitment to "waking them up". I have stated that before that SUP and yoga have been like bringing my body out of a kind of progressive motion paralysis that probably took hold from years of sitting in an office and doing only limited range of exercises.
Yoga can be easy to extremely difficult, so there is definitely a progression. It has taken me a couple of years to do some "easy" stuff "well" that at first blush seemed simple, so it also teaches humility.
I suppose the often cited "breathing" stuff is mentioned because breathing is an autonomous, semi conscious activity. When you actually start paying attention to it, breathing is actually complicated and doing it in a regular, consistent manner isn't all that easy and requires discipline. I discovered that I was breathing almost exclusively with my right lung. I eventually wound up "lifting" my left body in order to also use my left lung to full expansion and extend my CV status. I would never have paid attention to that, otherwise.
I only do some yoga in conjunction with my other stretching, so I am certainly no expert, it is just a part of what I do, now.
As far as back pain is concerned, I wonder why nobody suggests sleeping in chairs, such as lazy boys. I have found that sleeping in these chairs, I wake up with no back pain at all. They hold you in a kind of cupped position.
Flat beds, no matter what kind, always force me to do a lot of stretches in the AM to keep my lower back from binding, but sleeping in the chair, my body feels perfect as soon as I get up.
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Yeah stretching out hamstrings is a good idea for a tight lower back. Yoga helps. Also strengthening exercises if your back is ready for that. Deadlifts squats and core. But would try to diagnose the cause of the back issues first so as not to exacerbate anything.
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Two things helped resolve my lower back pain:
- Getting in the habit of tightening my abdominal muscles anytime I bent forward.
- Deadlifts
I used to occasionally tweak my lower back, and it would get really stiff and sore for a week or so each time, limiting my mobility and activity. Stretching or chiropractic adjustments would help accelerate recovery each time, but weren't preventing recurrence when it was happening quite frequently for a year or so, when doing something as simple as bending forward to tie my shoes or put on my pants.
I think strengthening my back muscles with the deadlifts helped make them less susceptible to injury under heavy exertion, but learning to reflexively clench my core muscles during any forward bending motion probably did more to prevent the stupid shoe tying back injuries! :)
Thanks for the reply, I do try to "engage the core" especially when lifting anything heavy but definitely need to get into the practice of doing it all the time.
I've not tried deadlifts before so will have to give that a try... what kind of weight should I use to start with?
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If starting DL -> only lift what you can with perfect proper form. If not you can cause a lot of damage to your back very easily and quickly. Major damage. But once you build up some strength -> that lift is key to building a wickedly strong lower back perfect to complement SUP. As well as everyday activities and lifting chores. ;)
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If starting DL -> only lift what you can with perfect proper form. If not you can cause a lot of damage to your back very easily and quickly. Major damage. But once you build up some strength -> that lift is key to building a wickedly strong lower back perfect to complement SUP. As well as everyday activities and lifting chores. ;)
That's a good point, Eagle. I started out really light... just propped an empty bar up on a couple yoga blocks while I figured out the movement. Then went with a pair of 25 lb plates --> 35 lb plates --> 45 lb plates. From there, each time I felt very comfortable at a certain weight with good form, I'd add 5 lbs the next session. If I struggled to maintain form, I'd stick to the same weight next time, or even back off a little if form was really crappy. Last thing I wanted do was throw out my back by lifting too much with poor form. I was able to make steady progress doing this plus squats and presses 3x a week over the winter.
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Excellent progress Board Stiff. :)
Yeah what I found is that if you do not use it -> you lose it. And approaching 60?!? it is imperative to keep up my muscle mass. And even build on that when possible. Right now my legs are leaning out huge with 3x BW partial squats. Also do full ATG as well and have noticed major gains in strength OTW. SUP is getting easier and easier to handle rough conditions vs before. My legs would give out before -> whereas now not so much.
But bench and squats and all body and core are all fantastic for SUP. The vid I posted recently of the EDT paddlers in the gym is spot on. A few of those guys have successfully transitioned to the elite levels of SUP with their work ethic and skill. As noted before at my age -> balance and sarcopenia are my main concerns. So have been pushing and forcing my CNS to adapt to a narrower board and heavier weights the past while. My DEXA scans have helped to accurately confirm my actual fat and muscle levels and bone density. Finally at this point -> maintaining and not getting injured are my primary objectives. So no more major risky adventures on the water or on the slopes or at the track. Haha. But still gotta have fun and risk tho. Just not as much as before. Gettin old. ;)