Its all going to make sense…
I broke down last week in my car and rather than call the AA out to resolve it I contacted my brothers and asked them to push me home, it was excellent I carried on moving down the street and I managed to finish my journey and get home, the next day when I called they were busy so I had to call a tow truck to carry me there.
It just sounds mad, totally bonkers but you probably get where I’m going with this….
There are many options to help you manage your back pain or injury, however for a resolution you need to understand YOU and what YOU do, not just take painkillers or anti-inflammatories, I’m not saying don’t use them but to understand the role they play, remembering symptom free is not a cure, the same is implied for creams and gels they can be part of a short or long strategy but not a dependence, it’s also true Volterol can’t improve you tennis, hmmm unless maybe I had a bad batch of Volterol, I’ll get a coach next time.
To eliminate backpain or other injuries such as neck pain, knee pain and even ankle pain to name a few you need to modify your behaviour to succeed at the task at hand, you may need to be stronger if you have started looking after kids whom you pick up, you may need flexibility if you spend you time hunched over a pc, you may need strength and balance exercises to get over a hip or knee operation. Understanding this will help you move forward in the best possible way.
One of my favourite exercise to give is shown in the video, I usually break it down in stages as movement improves and pain levels reduce, this will not cure all as that needs a more comprehensive plan but it’s a good start.
The reason I give this exercise is to:
Improve spinal movement -bending forward/backward along with rotation, this help get the lower back moving better.
Strengthen the hips/knees/ankles
Encourage shoulder movement- to increase movement and help open the chest, great for rounded shoulders.
To encourage rib movement and thoracic spine mobility.
Overall it’s a great exercise and works on many joints and muscle groups. If you have a go of the exercise be consistent and repetitive starting slowly and building up, doing 13 of them should not be an issue. A number I use (because that’s how many steps to the stairs we have generally), you could also start with 1×8 working up to 3×8 movement patterns, it’s down to how you progress. You can use it as a warmup or cool down movement in you exercise plan or a simple way to get the body moving a little better.
Remember though you may get a little ache performing the movement and that’s generally ok, if in doubt give me a shout, however pain is unacceptable as this is your bodies flag to say something is wrong.
I hope you find that useful, let me know how you get on.
PS: My brothers didn’t really push me home I have AA membership along with a tow rope in the car if needed.
Anyway I hope that makes sense, and remember we are here if you need us.
And on that note keep well and keep moving 🙂
Francis Connor
