The Back

Doctors often prescribe fitness-enhancing exercises to treat or relieve back pain. You may be doing your back a favor by working your body into shape. So hurray! I've been working on my other areas to get rid of some pain I've had. Now it's time to add back exercises, because I can tell you, I've had a lot of back pain through my life. I'd like to get rid of it. Through my life, since I severely injured my back, I must have been favoring my back. I didn't know it till I started all this exercising and managed to drive away a lot of my pain through strengthening the joints. Now I will try to use what I've learned to do my back some favors--strengthening the back and strengthening my abdominal muscles together to make it possible for me to stand up straighter and quit stressing both my lower and upper back. Back Self-Examination Do you have pain radiating down either or both legs? Do you get back pain or radiating pain when you cough, sneeze, or strain, such as when moving your bowels? Do you have weakness in your legs, such as the inability to stand on your toes? Do you have any numbness or tingling in your legs or feet? Have you ever been diagnosed as having disk disease or a ruptured disk? Have you ever been told your back x-rays are abnormal? Have you had any episodes of significant back pain or other back problems within the last twelve months? If you answered "yes" to ANY of these questions, go to a doctor right away because you may be experiencing clues to serious back problems. If the answer to all of these questions is "no" then answer these questions: Is your back stiff when you get up in the morning? Does your back ache after you've been sitting or standing for more than thirty minutes? Does your back ache the day after any unaccustomed activity such as skiing or or tennis? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you should talk to your doctor about beginning a back exercise program before going on to a general fitness program. If the answer to all of these questions is "no", then most likely your back is in fair shape. But to be sure, go on to this next part of the examination. Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Now lean forward with your arms stretched toward your toes. Can you comfortably reach your fingertips beyond your kneecaps? Lie on your stomach. Are you able to arch your chest and legs upward at the same time painlessly? When standing, are you able to move your back in all six directions--front, back, left, right, twist to the left, and twist to the right? Can you do so comfortably? Are you able to do five curl-ups? How to do curl-ups: Lie on your back, knees bent, and your hands placed far up your chest. (I crossed my forearms and gripped my shoulders and unknowingly pulled my shoulders, causing strain on the sore shoulder, so beware of something like that.) Some manuals say not to roll your head and neck forward but they don't say why. I gave myself a headache till I read someone's advice to hold the head and neck out straight from the shoulders without curving them, so now I don't get neck aches from this and I'm sure I'm doing them right. Also, make darned sure you're not arching your back, which pulls the psoas into action and can give you a very sore lower back. Curl up slowly till the shoulders and then the upper back come up off the mat, then stop there. Hold that position for the count of three, then curl down slowly--again, without arching the back. Breathe normally as you can. Do five of these. I've already added twisted-curl-ups, and do four (left, center, right, center) with three seconds' breather after each curl-up, and do six of these to get twenty-four curl-ups. I doubt I'll have Stephen Amell's sixpacks >-) any time soon but it will be nice to be able to suck in my gut and have it stay sucked in.