Back pain (muscles, lifting, push-ups, legs)

[RSH]

I have Chronic back pain and I work in the maintenance field any advice on some safe exercises to help in this area?

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by RSH

I have Chronic back pain and I work in the maintenance field any advice on some safe exercises to help in this area?

Just venturing a guess, but if you have a shrinkable gut you should try to shrink it. Moving your center of gravity forward of the center of your pelvis generally equates to an achy back after a day on your feet, just ask any pregnant woman.

Strengthening your abdominal muscle groups will make worlds of difference to a bad back. If you've ever quartered a deer you can think of it this way: If your abs and obliques are strong and tight they help to press your guts against the tenderloin muscles. This takes strain off of the backstrap muscles and helps you to maintain better posture and spinal alignment.

Push-ups are actually a better-than-decent core exercise. Have you ever seen the "ab wheel?" That's a great ab trainer.

[ogre]

I'm prone to occasional back trouble myself. With something like this I would suggest that it's always a good idea to check things out with a doctor, to get word from someone familiar with your situation about what activities would be best. In general, to take strain off of the back, it's good to follow all the usual rules for back health, such as lifting objects with force supplied by your legs and your upper body upright with your back straight, that sort of thing. Also, keeping the core muscles of the lower back and abdomen strong is helpful. Flexibility in the lower back is also important. I also find that keeping the legs strong is important. If the leg muscles are weak, it tends to make you a bit wobbly in the legs, which can throw the whole body out of alignment and cause strain in the back.

Again, I'd suggest talking about this with a doctor, all the more so if the back pain seriously bothers you. Here are some exercises that may be useful:

To keep the legs strong, try squats. Do them slowly, moving the rear end back as if you were sitting down in a chair. In fact, a good way to get the feel for this is to actually slowly sit back into a chair, but don't sit down all the way. Instead, start slowly back up toward a standing position as soon as your rear brushes the seat of the chair. You want the movement to be slow and steady. If you find that it's not challenging enough to do these with just your body weight, you might try using weights. Another repetition of the advice to check this out with a doctor. Careful about using weights without a doctor's okay, since weights add to the strain of the exercise. I would also suggest that if you do use weights, it would be better to hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging at your sides, rather than to rest a barbell across your shoulders. The barbell across the shoulders can really press down on the torso, which can strain the back if you're prone to having trouble in that area.

A way to strengthen the abs with a minimum of strain in the back is to do pelvic tilts. When you do those, really clench the abs and glutes hard so you get a good workout from this.

If you're able to handle more than the pelvic tilt, you might also try some crunches, and some crossover crunches. Just be sure to do them slowly and steadily. A herky-jerky motion can strain the back. If you do these, I would recommend still doing the pelvic tilt. The pelvic tilt should really be a staple exercise if you've got back trouble, because it's really good for getting the torso into proper alignment, and helping you get the feel of what it's like when the torso lines up correctly.

Careful with this next one. Another one I really don't recommend doing without a doctor's okay. If you get the doctor's go-ahead, an effective exercise for the lower back is the one where you lie on the floor face down, with your arms extended in front of you and your feet a few inches apart, so you're in a position like Superman when he flies, then to clench the hamstrings and buttocks and raise your feet a few inches off the floor while also arching your upper body up and back as far as you can do comfortably. Really, really don't do this one without checking with a doctor. If you do this one, make sure to do it slowly and steadily. All these exercises shoud be done slowly, steadily, and smoothly.

Finally, along with the pelvic tilt and leg strengthening, another staple exercise should be the stretch where you lie on your back and gently pull your knees up toward your chest. You can do this with one leg at a time or both legs together. It's best to grasp your legs underneath the knees instead of holding onto the fronts of your calves with the hands gripping the shins. If you grip the shins like that, there is a tendendcy to push down on the lower leg in a way that may overstretch the knee.

Those are a few basic exercises that often help ease tightness in the lower back, but seriously, once again, it's best to check with a doctor about all this. The back is nothing to mess around with.

[Degenerate]

This book will be your salvation. I know strength athletes who have herniated disks, torn back muscles and used this book to come back stronger, compete and win.

You want to order "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance". It is the definitive book for anybody who needs to strengthen their back. Dr. Stuart McGill is legendary for successfully rehabbing athletes with back injuries:

backfitpro - Dr. Stuart McGill's Textbooks (http://www.backfitpro.com/html/books.htm - broken link)

[RSH]

Here is some more of my stats:I am 5'5'',150lbs 32''waist,40''chest.I do not do medium to heavy squats for they only strain my back more.L4-5 I have a annular tear and disk bulge. At L5-S1 I have an annular tear.Any more advice out there.I am a certified personal trainer so I am stumped on this one.One surgeon said I need surgery and another doctor said I am not a candidate for surgery.From my experience the only things that have been helping a little are meds,chiropractic and cobra stretches.I need educated answers and not guesses.........

[lola8822]

I'd try inversion table therapy in combination with a solid core strengthening routine......your a PT so you should have access to some great resources......that's what I would do.

Best of luck.

[truemann77]

Rsh

here are some Qs for
1- how old are u?, gender, u know age and sex specific causes ? like a man 56 yrs old back pain is totally diff from a gymnist female 26 yro

2- what do u do 4 living? (any job related modification we can do to avoid further damage)
3- do u have any neurological signs, this pain how can u desrcibe it as regards nature (throbbing, aching,,etc) where exactly in ur back, does it travel anywhere else, do u have electrical like pain traveling to ur leg and foot?, do u have any recent onset of sphincter problems, subtle? does the pain goes more often in one side, does it wake u up from sleeping?
4- u mentioned radilogical findings (was it an mri ? or ct or plain x ray)
5- is the bulge central or to a side
6- do u have any other associated medical conditions?
7- whats ur daily activity like (Demanding, office work, or simply house work)
8- have u ever had a trauma to ur back or any other part of the body
9- do u use any belt or protective pads in ur seat at home office or car?
10- when was ur last check up

please take ur time to answer these Qs and i might give u the proper advice or help u find the resources to discuss with ur PCP

[Degenerate]

Originally Posted by RSH

Here is some more of my stats:I am 5'5'',150lbs 32''waist,40''chest.I do not do medium to heavy squats for they only strain my back more.L4-5 I have a annular tear and disk bulge. At L5-S1 I have an annular tear.Any more advice out there.I am a certified personal trainer so I am stumped on this one.One surgeon said I need surgery and another doctor said I am not a candidate for surgery.From my experience the only things that have been helping a little are meds,chiropractic and cobra stretches.I need educated answers and not guesses.........

On many occasions, bulging disks spontaneously go into "remission". I could have an MRI of my lumbar spine taken every 3 months, and it would show 3 different results each time. Sometimes I have herniated disks and sometimes I don't.

What you want to do are exercises that do not exascerbate the conditions whereby your disks will bulge. I am assuming the bulging is at the posterior of the spine (i.e., facing towards your innards). Deadlifts are not something you want to do right now. Neither are super heavy squats due to the load placed on the lumbar spine.

I have had to stop doing deadlifts. I have not stopped doing squats, although they do bother my lumbar and SI joint depending on the day/week/month.

Can I ask you how long you have been working out and how much you have been DLing and squatting? Do you consider your core to be extremely well conditioned?

[Beretta]

Thread closed her Original Poster request.