Watch your back, Jimmy.
Remember the scene in It's a Wonderful Life when Jimmy Stewart's sitting at Martini's bar and prays for deliverance from his financial crisis only to get slugged by Mr. Welch, the school teacher's husband? (OK, so you never saw the movie . . . but stick with me here; I'm about to make a point.) Well, I've been lecturing myself for months about doing more abdominal work at the gym -- not that I need it -- and when I finally get serious about the ab crunches and twists and lower back and core work, my back seizes up like nobody's business.
Wednesday night's sweat-a-thon had me doing back extensions, "total abdominal" crunches, and moving 90 lbs. this way and that in the swivelly chair thingy. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But yesterday I climbed out of bed feeling a good deal older than I am, and today I'm stiff as a board.
This is the kind of thing that continually vexes me. I'm supposed to push myself through my strength training routine by upping the poundage and working my
Yeah, yeah, I know: I should be incorporating a regular stretching routine into my weekly workout regimen. (Maybe on the off-days between my cardio-strength training sessions?) And, I'll tell you, I wouldn't mind spending a little time today working out these kinks in my back and shoulders and neck. But there's work of the income-earning kind to be done. Maybe tonight.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to treat and prevent back pain, as Gina Demillo Wagner points out in this helpful feature in the June 2007 issue of EL. The piece argues, in fact, that the best way to bounce back from a back injury is to get back into the gym, because only through strengthening your core will you head off future back troubles. This, of course, is a piece of advice I'm going to respectfully ignore today.
The stretching tips, however, sound pretty good to me right now. That and a dose of homeopathic arnica might be just the thing.
Sounds like the twisting is what's getting you (recall that whole "people accidentally mobilize their lower backs when they should be stabilizing them" thing we've been talking about a bunch lately). Hyperextensions can be hard on the low back, too. Have you tried doing planks and side planks instead of all that twisting and crunching and hyperextending?
Good advice, Jen. What's a plank?
Resting on your elbows, just hold a pushup position for 60 seconds or so (start with less time, if you need to). More at http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm.
Side planks are the same thing only resting on one elbow and the side of one foot, legs stacked atop one another. See www.fitnessvancouver.ca/anatomyassets/exercise%20side%20plank.htm for more info.
Planks and side planks are great for stabilizing those core muscles that protect your back. (Insert high kick here to illustrate my enthusiasm for them.) :)
I can do this. Of course, now the major pain has moved to my upper back (deltoid??). I'm going to take a few days away from lifting, I think.