Well, it's certainly not your weight. I'd get one of those braces, footwear adjustment, as everyone above was saying try yoga, stretching, etc. Just plain old swimming might do a lot of good.
theres a guy on youtube with some really good lower-back videos that helped me a lot. search "HASfit Lower back stretches"
water bananas and beer. The water keeps your muscles hydrated and performing well, the bananas give you muchos potassium that keep your muscles from cramping, and the beer helps forget the pain after a long sesh/week of sesh's In all seriousness, its common to be sore after a long run of swell, I'm sure you are very aware of this. Dont fret old man, enjoy the soreness and the fact you still paddle out
Yeah, I will definitely do more swimming. I think before I do a brace or anything like that, because like I said, this is the first week I have ever really experienced it, I will try and mentally check myself throughout the day and identify my posture etc. Maybe get one of those lumbar pillows for the back of my chair. And quite a few of you have mentioned how flip flops are bad... why is that? they are just generally flat and cushy and i Just tool around the house in them. I never thought they could be a detriment or any worse than any other choice of footwear.
Flip flops arent bad, people are sissies these days and need supportive shoes just to go to work. For **** sakes, the human species spent most of thier existence barefoot or wearing sandals, and all of the sudden we are too smart for genetic evolution. Flip flops are bad for those who wear shoes constantly. You get used to a certain way of walking heel first in a pair of supportive cushy shoes, when in reality you are supposed to run/walk/cruise happy hours planting your whole foot and rolling to the toes. Read about barefoot runners, youll see, shoes have ruined much of how walking is supposed to be performed
Pretty much concur w/ DPSup.. 1. Stretching is especially important before and after. If you have heated seats in vehicle, fire'm up.. it will help the pre sesh stretch (warm shower will help also). 2. I also pack a few of those "soft ice packs" and after sesh put one on my lower back and one on my knees (those are the usual bothersome areas - sometimes on shoulders) for the drive home. 3. General up keep and preparation, Keep your core strong & flexible via "off day work". I do situps, pushups, lunges, various stretches, etc. 4. Aleve when necessary. 5. You should expect some soreness. Just wait until you get even older
Yeah, that was the straw that broke the camels back... I mean, people were literally laughing at me. Just keeping the thing up in the wind felt like I was trying to reel in a 600 pound monster. My feet were digging into the stand with every step and by the time I got back to our beach setup, I just collapsed in a tide pool and laid there. It all went down hill from there.
You have to stay loose...You're entire body. Find a good stretching routine, and stick with it. Yoga is fine, but, you need to find the right practice for you and take things slowly. Keep your lower back muscles and ab muscles (eg Core) strong. Start small and progress. Use the McKenzie Method for acute lower back pain...Very simple. Look it up online. POSTURE POSTURE POSTURE when resting/sitting/etc. Your lower back should maintain its natural curvature similar to when you're standing with good posture. Forget about chiropractors...I've learned over decades that they are a bunch of snake oil salesmen. You can improve most problems yourself. Forget about meds. Pain is a feedback mechanism. Antinflammatory meds, other painkiller, and muscle relaxers only mask the real problems. Relax. Stress can manifest itself into actual physical symptoms. Rest. The body heals itself while sleeping. That's it. LOL.
I used to blow out my lower back/upper buttocks area a couple times a year. The doc used to give me Flexeril, UNTIL I moved my wallet from my back pocket to my front. try this for muscular aches and pains. http://www.ticoshopping.com/Cofal-Fuerte-4.2-oz
Humans used to live 50 years and be essentially crippled by then. As for barefoot running, complete fad and the high impact is causing major problems. Correct, we were supposed to be running barefoot....we were also supposed to be walking everywhere. The car has changed it. Technology is our friend in some cases. 99% of the population grew up in shoes/sneakers. It's EXTREMELY difficult to revert. It's also extremely impractical, unless of course you're good to go in a suit rocking...well feet. Also, look at barefoot runner times vs runners that wear sneakers. Night and day. Also, there's a class action lawsuit against vibram right now over the claims of barefoot/minimalist running. Not looking good for them. Shoes may have ruined our natural form of walking, but it's improved long term impact damage. Any long distance runner (marathons, etc) will be absolutely toast by age 60. Fact. High impact on the body = not good. Swimmers on the other hand, zero impact. They don't tell people with arthritis that are out of shape to swim for no reason, otherwise they'd say "yeah sure, go run barefoot for a few miles, it's natural". Not knocking your post at all. There's two different schools of thought on this subject. Totally respect yours. It does work for some people, but people that have been in shoes their whole lives can seriously hurt themselves going this route.
Thats the point I was making exactly and I think we disagree at this part I dont feel technology that puts band aids on technology that eff'd us up is a good move. Good discussion though.
Here's a little longboard trick that helps me in windy situations.... I carry the board wax in, tail first and hold the leash with my opposite hand. While holding the leash I'm essentially "trimming the sail" except I'm trying to make it catch the least amount of wind as possible but still pulling slightly against the leash. It isn't fool proof but it helps. Another much kookier way is to get in shin high water and hold the very bottom of the leash where it attaches to the board and drag the nose through the water. Make sure not to drag it through sand. Either way you're still torquing your back for long distances. Listen to everyone else about the stretching. I made it a habit this winter to sit on the floor and stretch while watching tv. My flexibility went up and my tv watching went down.
Slow yoga 15 minutes every morning. You HAVE the time. It wil stretch you Slowly and properly over time and teach you to Breathe through movements. And This- http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/FoamRoller.htm
Check out foundation training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI Really helped my lower back and takes 10-12 mins day.
Zach...do a little stretching every morning, after work if there aren't any waves go walk 3 miles or so miles, it seems like a lot but it takes about an hour out of your day, walking is a good exercise to strengthen your lower back muscles, it works for me.
Hey bro I used to have a lot of back pain too- some things that everyone else has mentioned that I have found also that works: 1. The infamous heating pad. Get one . Use it as work from time to time. It will help. 2. Go easy. Backs take for ever to heal. When your carting some thing heavy for a long time on one side of your body- your going to mess it up. Also sleeping posture will effect it- sleeping on your side is NG. 3. Once healed- start focusing on building muscles in your 'core' body. Usually some easy exercises in the am to keep your back strong. Your getting old bro- gotta give up the bench offs in Belmar and lifting 500lbs and focus on your core and cardio... Sorry man happen to all of us... Welcome to the club. Oh ya- wearing a back brace helps too- I got one from cvs that I like that is basically just elastic (not the black one with the supports built in)...
