<p>If I had a lumbar stress fracture from arching my back to the point of an overuse stress fracture, I would be all over Amazon.com buying the appropriate Stuart McGill book(s) and DVD(s). </p>
<p>I know he has one DVD filmed at his clinic that is nothing but evaluating people with back injuries and working through a series of exercises they can stand. For example, if it causes pain when they they sit in a chair, grasp the seat with both hands and pull down, then, their pain is triggered by spinal compression and that dictates certain exercises.</p>
<p>From a little bit I saw, your injury is caused by backward extension of the lower back (arching it backwards). So any solution must include core stability strength to keep your spine from bending. The trick is to come up with exercises that you can do pain free to strengthen the core. This is where some of the McGill stuff would worth the cost of a pricy book and DVD. This guy is the cat’s meow when it comes to getting bad backs rehabbed. His stuff is a little bit pricy for just casual reading and watching, but someone who is trying to grapple with a lower back injury would more than get their money’s worth, just listening to the guy work through the sequence with a series of clients.</p>
<p>I’m not a doctor or physical therapist, but I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that your hip issues are inter-related, to at least some degree, to your back issues.</p>
<p>The nice thing about running is that you can always increase your progression from either more distance or faster running - at least until your joints give out. I guess you can keep going with weights too.</p>
<p>With sports like tennis and table-tennis you can play better people (if you can find them). They make you run faster, stretch further, hit the ball harder, etc. to win a point.</p>
<p>Stopped off at Sports Authority this afternoon. Picked up a pair of tech shorts for running and a tennis tech tee. I have running tech tees that I was using for tennis but I think that the tennis variants have a bit more room in the shoulders. I think that the companies that put out the shirts have the impression that runners are all skinny. Some very good prices for Adidas shirts, especially the long-sleeve variety. I probably should have picked one up - maybe next time I’m there. Good prices on sleeveless and non-sleeveless shirts too. I now have four long-sleeve shirts, four short-sleeve shirts, four sleeveless shirts and two pairs of shorts that I use for running and tennis. I would like to get another two pairs of shorts - that would mean that I’d have enough for a laundry cycle in all of this stuff and that I could get rid of a drawer-full of cotton shorts. The tech stuff has been very nice in freeing up a lot of space in by dresser.</p>
<p>Mom60 – I had what was called trochanteric bursitis along with tendinitis of the IT band, and a steroid injection made a huge, huge difference after many episodes of deep tissue work, ultrasound, and iontophoresis (electrical current used to drive steroid through the skin.) I was able to sleep on that side for the first time in two years after the injection, and it seemed to quiet everything else down enough to let the other stuff start to heal. More on the topic: [Trochanteric</a> Bursitis: eMedicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation](<a href=“http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/309286-overview]Trochanteric”>http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/309286-overview)</p>
<p>And iDad is undoubtedly right – as far as I can tell, every darned part of me is connected, as proved by the recurrent plantar fasciaitis / achilles tendinitis/tight calf muscles/tight hamstrings…- the failure mode at any given time seems to depend on which is weakest at the moment.</p>
<p>Noted physical therapy writer Gray Cook and Mike Boyle espouse a theory of alternating joints of the body. Pain in one joint is often a symptom of a problem at the next joint up the chain. For example, the very common front knee pain (the kind you feel when you walk up stairs) often has nothing to do with the knee at all, but is caused by stiff hips – the other end of the muscles that attach to the knee. </p>
<p>Each link in the chain compensates for the adjacent link. So, if you have hip immobility, you are likely to compensate by bending your lower back instead, and – voila – back pain. The amount of sitting we do at computers and in the car is just a disaster in terms of reducing joint flexibility. These guys are hammering the need for mobility warmups. Not the old static stretching, but sequences of exercises designed to increase the range of motion of all the joints, starting at the ankle and going on up.</p>
<p>Actually, the theory is that the joints alternate: you want flexibiity in the ankle, but you want the knee to be stable, not flexible, held by strong muscles. You want the hip to be flexible, but not the lower spine which is better to be held stable by strong surrounding core muscles (just like the ideal knee).</p>
<p>That’s the problem. You can’t just keep increasing running distances. Something like 60% of runners will have a running-related injury this year. Every mile is 1500 reps with two to four times body weight on the major joints. That’s a lot of reps. Overuse injuries are almost inevitable and the challenge distance runners face is figuring out how to train while **reducing **their mileage and building in sufficient recovery time.</p>
<p>At least veteran runners are well-trained and adapted to running. What’s really scary is taking an overweight couch potato and putting them on a running program to burn calories. The force on their de-conditioned body is a surefire recipe for injury. It’s just not a smart way for a fatty like I was to start burning calories and getting in shape. There are so many lo-impact, reduced-rep count alternatives.</p>
<p>The same problems exist for powerlifters, who inevitably start breaking down from the heavy loads on their joints. Ditto for “Crossfit” and workout programs that can be dangerously intense in terms of reps.</p>
<p>Once you cross the hurdle of a lifestyle that includes moving more, you’ve then got to figure out a fitness strategy that minimizes the frequency of injury. This is where guys like Stuart McGill are having a big impact on fitness training – identifying and changing approaches that actually increase the risk of injury during workouts. I think it’s really important for us ol’ guys.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. The strange thing is I don’t do a lot of exercise that arches the back.
Arabrab- I think we are similar. I have also had periods of foot problems. Supertight IT band and psoas tightness. Also pain lifting the leg. Lots of issues all seeming to be related. For the most part I have lived with the pain with some relief from the chiropractor and massage therapist. My massage therapist is great at releasing the psoas. This past year it finally reached a point that my performance was greatly decreased. Losing the majority of my tennis matches since my mobility and strength in my right leg was minimum. Finally went to the Dr. The PT is great. Lots of muscle release plus lots of core strengthing while trying to heal the back. The MRI also showed a 6mm cyst in the same lumbar area as the stress fracture.
I think core work is going to help a ton. The hip pain has been around to varying degrees since my 21 yr old son was born. It has just become worse the last 5 yrs. I also have an abnormality in my pelvis that I have had since birth. I am pretty sure it is a factor. My sister has similar pain and a similar pelvis issue. My younger D has a similar pelvic issue as well.
I told my Dr today I want to be active into my old age.</p>
<p>I think that 25 miles is a reasonble weekly distance to shoot for.
You have to have a fair amount of time to do that. I’ve read that
30 miles is a key point for really increasing injuries.</p>
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<p>The thing about running or walking is that it is kind of an autopilot
thing. You don’t really have to think that much about what you are doing
and you can enjoy music, think about a problem at work, plan your schedule
for the next day, go over a speech, etc. Knowledge workers that use their
brains all day can benefit from doing things that don’t require a lot of
thought. I used to iron shirts after coming home from work to de-stress.</p>
<p>Oprah took a bunch of very overweight women and had them running a
marathon. I don’t recall what the training period was - perhaps a
year?</p>
<p>I don’t know any powerlifters. I see some folks at the YMCA that are
very, very strong but they’re generally ordinary people.</p>
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<p>The biggest issue for me in injuries is the varying demands on my time
from external sources and there isn’t much that I can do about those
demands. They are part of life.</p>
<p>I generally try to set up systems so as not to repeat past errors but
heavy stress can tear those systems apart.</p>
<p>Today’s workout: stretching, running two miles and weights. That should
be good preparation for tennis tomorrow. I used the new shorts - they
worked out quite well. I like Nike and Adidas shorts. I don’t like New
Balance shorts. The Nike shorts are crazy-expensive and seldom go on
sale. Adidas are not so expensive and go on sale more often. It’s easy
to find New Balance in the bargain basement bin.</p>
<p>Yeah. I saw some really nice NIKE shorts at Dick’s Sporting Goods the other day, but I’m not paying full retail $30 for workout shorts. I’ll keep watching Marshalls and TJ’s. They should start getting last year’s shorts in pretty soon. Fortunately I found three pair of plain black adiddas running shorts in my new size last fall and got a couple pair of North Face all-purpose shorts this winter, so I’m not desperate.</p>
<p>Workout today was my first shot at the second of two alternating workouts in the second phase of New Rules of Lifting for Abs. A lot of these are exercises I’ve done before with iPod nazi, but I’m at a different level of fitness and throwing more weight at them. I did pretty well guessing at weights. I tried the one-arm push press with 35 pounds and could do it, but not explosively at all, so I dropped that back to 30 pounds for the final three sets. Did the dumbbell step up on a 12 inch step with two 30 pound dumbbells. I could probably go up with that one, but 16 reps x 4 sets was enugh to get my heart rate up. Did a weird front squat variation with one large and one small dumbbell held at shoulder height. I did that with one 25 pounder and one 15 pounder. Could probably go up five pounds on those, although it was not easy. Heck full-depth squats with *no weight *are not easy. Did my two sets of 8 chinups with “80 pounds” of assistance bands. That was about right as I did eight good ones in both sets.</p>
<p>Crazy core stuff. Plank on one arm while rowing a resistance band from the front with the other arm. Same thing with side plank, but rowing the band from the side. Tough. After that came kneeling on the floor and pulling a band diagonally from low on one side, across the body to high on the other. Then, 12 reps of prone jacknife roll-ins on the stabiity ball.</p>
<p>Yep. Lots of opportunity for lower back hyper-extension on the service motion and, probably, on the forehand, too. These disc injuries are like bending a coat hanger over and over and over. Eventually something weakens and breaks. Unfortunately, a lot of us are hitting the age where stuff starts to wear out!</p>
<p>I don’t make anywhere near as much as she does but I can imagine the
stress that she’s under running her empire.</p>
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<p>I was probably looking at stock that had been in the store for almost a
year. The only thing to watch for with shorts is the elastic waistband.
Sometimes old stock is put on a hanger in a way so that the wasistband
gets stretched out. I may go back tomorrow to pick up another pair or
two that should be good for the year.</p>
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<p>The classic forehand and backhand strokes have the body in a closed
position “leaning over” the shot. You move back to front with your
weight rotating in a slightly seated position. That can be a lot of
stress on your lower back. Modern strokes are quite a bit different
in that they are far more open and the arms do more work. My game
is in the middle between classic and modern.</p>
<p>BC…what is your rating? Back in the old days I played singles on a 4.0 team and doubles on a 4.5. I miss playing but know I will never play again.</p>
<p>I can beat 4.0s to 4.5s regularly. I don’t think that I can beat the 5.0s without getting down to about 170 pounds. I’ve made many changes in the last five years to improve my game: stiffer racquet, switching from an eastern to a semi-western forehand grip, making mods to my grip for volleying and serving and understanding racquethead speed in the context of plowthrough. The classical game was dependent on plowthrough - weight equals power but you need the strength and form to wield it. The modern approach, made possible by new materials and new strings, uses racquethead speed over plowthrough. It makes it possible for far more people to play because the racquets are lighter. Of course it puts a lot of strain on the arm.</p>
<p>I’m an all-court player with a heavy topspin game from the backcourt. I can also play serve and volley. In doubles, I come in on every serve and come in on most returns.</p>
<p>I got some cardio on the elliptical tonight and did bench and squat. I did 2 sets of 3 reps, 2 sets of 2 reps, and 2 sets of 1 rep for both tonight. Ended up doing 150# for bench “max” and 250# for squat max. I’ve done about 190 for bench before, but it’s been awhile. I could have done more tonight, but didn’t have a spotter. I have done as much as 315# for squat, but that was 4 years ago. I would say this was probably a true “max” for now… doing it on the Smith machine and it was definitely challenging.</p>
My goal for 2011 is to get 325 squat and 200 bench…</p>