Health Blog by YinTeing

This is continuation from a previous published post on How to Overcome Shoulder & Lower Back Soreness When Travelling .

4.  Shoulder stretch- very good to relief tension in the shoulders and back area. I always do this exercise. (click HERE to view the picture from another site)

It gets more effective when done with a resistance/exercise band (holding the band with both hands shoulder width apart)

5. Another standing shoulder and arms stretch (click HERE to view the picture from another site)

 6. Shoulder stretching using exercise bands (click HERE to view the picture from another site)

   7. Child’s pose

8. Spinal roll – with this pose, slowly, in a rocking motion, roll yourself to left and right. It removes the tension and pressure on the spine.

Click HERE to view the image from another site.

9. Spinal balances (click HERE to see the image from another site)

This is an effective exercise for lower back stiffness but need to be done correctly. The back has to be in an almost straight line- most people have the tendency to curve their backs upwards- this can hurt the lower back. Tuck in the tail bone when doing this exercise. As this exercise also involves balance, do it slowly if you are new- slowly raise your hand and the opposite leg, then lower down and continue on the other side.

 10. Lateral stretch left and right with exercise band- make sure you tuck in your tailbone and keep the lower back straight when doing this. (click HERE to see the image from another site)

Hope the above stretches help you relieve some stiffness. Please don’t do stretches on cold muscles.

Lower back pain/ soreness is quite common during travelling especially if the traveller does a lot of walking, carting their heavy backpacks with them. It brings a lot of discomfort as the muscle soreness prevents a good night’s sleep, decrease enjoyment and may slow down the travel. Most of the time, travellers who want a quick fix will douse themselves in painkillers.

Before resorting to pain killers, here are the following mini tools that I bring along during travels to ensure the well-being of my back:

• Exercise band
• Guadsa board

Now you would think how would both the items above help to relieve back pain?

Lower back pain is likely caused by tight hamstrings and/or tight hip flexors and/or erector spinae (spine muscles). Stretching can do wonders to relieve the ache of your body- when your muscles are tight, you gently stretch to loosen them. For a more useful guide, please read my previous post on Overcoming Lower Back Pain.

Even though you may normally do yoga or stretching exercises in your gym, once you are out there travelling, you will no longer be stretching those muscles. After a while, your muscles will become tight. When you attempt to stretch your tired hamstring muscles after a long day’s of walk, you will find it much easier to stretch using an exercise band as it will help you stretch easier.

Stretches you can do (click on the link to view the pictures):

1.  Hamstring stretches . You can do it either standing or sitting

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When doing body weight exercises, how do you perform them? Do you utilize the muscles on your glutes, legs and arms (biceps, triceps) or do you engage your core muscles?

It is important that you train and develop your core before doing intensive body work exercise like leg pulls and chin ups. If you have weak or undeveloped core muscles, there is no more to support your exercises. And for those neglect their core, they would constantly suffer body aches (all over- limbs, shoulders, etc) and lower back pain.

How to develop core muscles

Core muscles are best developed and strengthened using tools that trigger an unstable environment. Helpful tools are like the balance board, stability/physio/exercise ball, medicine ball and the BOSU ball. If you are new to this, always get the help of a trainer or attend a class- that will help you to do it using the right technique.

A lot of people make the mistake of trying to overdo core based exercises in the wrong posture- by curling their lower backs as they strained to do these exercises….and end up with pains or injuries. But it is worth learning PROPER  techniques because when you have a good core strength, you will do a lot of exercises in the right posture and form and drastically lower your risk to injuries.

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Once, I tried to be a hero and attempted to carry a heavy box containing lots of documents. The box was very heavy-  and at a sudden jerk movement, I lifted the box up- without following the normal precautions like bending my knees or lifting it gradually.

Immediately, I felt a slight discomfort on my lower back. Oops, I could feel problems coming. This time I got off light because I’ve always incorporate exercises to build my core strength and do a lot of stretching. As the discomfort came, I quickly did some stretching for my lower back and shoulders. The next day, when doing push ups on a ball, I could sense my left wrist hurting a little.

The pain on the wrist got a bit more- it felt like a mild syndrome of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  However, we need to be aware that it is not always that the pain on the spot indicate the problem occurs there. It can easily be referred pain. For wrist pain, it is common that the cause of the pain originates from the shoulders and not the wrist itself.

Initially I have tried stretching my wrists but found no relief. This made me address the cause as originating from my shoulders. I did a number of stretches to relax my shoulders and after a few hours, the pain was gone.

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You are an avid exerciser because you know about the benefits of staying physically active. You visited the gym frequently and even go for tennis and futsall sessions with your pals. You do everything right as prescribed by the professionals: you do your cardio, weight lifting (and have those lean muscles to show) as well as the duly stretching to wrap up the session.

And yet, you seemed to be constantly suffering from pain- the stiff neck, or lower back pain and sometimes, knee pain. You wondered why?

There are a few possible explanation that stems from:

• muscle imbalance, particularly at the core area
• imbalance of chi (Eastern philosophy)
• emotional stress that translates into pain (mind-body medicine)

In this article, I will just address only the first factor- muscle imbalance at the core. The other 2 factors will be covered in more detail in future articles.

Now, many avid exercisers are becoming aware about the concept of ‘core strength’ and ‘core stability’. Let me ask you: is your idea of building a strong core related to doing lots of push-ups, having a flat stomach and using the back-extension or the hyperextension machines?

If that is what you are doing to develop the core stability, what you are doing is only a small part of developing core strength. In her book, Straighter, Stronger, Leaner, Longer, former dancer Renee Daniels talks about what it takes to develop a strong core.

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Lower back pain is one of the most common ailment faced by people from all walks of life and work occupation.

If you suffer from severe lower back pain to the extend that you are unable to walk or move, please consult a physican to rule out any spine injuries, slipped disk or herniated disk.

I’ve known of 2 friends who suffer from back pain- one has such severe pain that he had to be hospitalised and another has perpetual back pain (means the pain is always with him, affecting his activities of his daily living and sleep). But the MRI scans does not indicate any slipped disk or spine problem. This is not surprising because scans can only detect any broken bones, irregular bone or spine structure.

But it will not detect muscle imbalances- namely tight or weak muscles. Sometimes, the pain from the neck all the way to the knee and ankles could be due to your feet structure- flat feet or feet that have an excessive arch. If you correct the condition, most of the time, the pain will also be gone. For my 2 friends, their pain is real but they are told by doctors that “it’s all in your head.”

There are a few approaches you can use to overcome lower back pain:

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Please perform these exercise at the level you can manage- do not over exert
Exercise to help overcome:
Muscle Cramps

• Cramps on the thighs
• Cramps on the foot
  

Lower back pain

• Yoga Postures to cure back pain
• Pilates to Relieve Lower Back Pain
• Lower Back Exercise
• Learn the pretzel, and knee to chest pull
• Back Stretches to Reduce Lower Back Pain
• Rehabilitating Lower Back Pain Part 1 & Part 2
• How I cured Lower Back Pain in 2 months
• Talking about back pain

Neck & Shoulder Pain/ Exercises

• Pilates Tips for Preventing or Relieving Neck Pain
• Exercise at your desk to relief neck pain
• Qi Gong for Upper Back & Neck Pain
• Shoulder Complex Loosening Exercise
• Shoulder Mobility Exercises
• Shoulder Stability Exercises (with exercise band)
• Shoulder Rehab Exercises

Knee Pain

• How to fix knee pain
• How to Strengthen Tibialis Posterior
• Knee Mobilization Exercise (in Cantonese)
• Hip Extensor Strengthening (in Cantonese)

Hip Pain

• Understanding Hip Pain
• Fix your own hip pain

Arthritis

• Arthritis & Exercise (real life people suffering from arthritis who have benefited from exercise)
• 6 Way Shoulder Exercise
• Ease your arthritis pain (video by a real arthritis sufferer)

Osteoperosis

• Preventing Osteoporosis
• Exercise to slow down or reverse effects of osteoporosis
• Skeletal Fitness
• Osteoporosis Exercise Demos

Pain Management

• Repetitive Strain Injury
• Managing pain naturally without drugs (advice from Dr Marc Darrow)
• Specific Types of Chronic Pain
• How to Work Out When you are Stuck in Traffic

If the muscles in your body are under conditioned, it will result in muscle weakness. The muscle weakness will make the person more prone to injury, muscle sprain or pain. Your body does it best to work together as a unit. Whenever there is a discomfort, your body will automatically compensate for the weak muscle by changing to an unnatural position. The unnatural position places excessive pressure on the compensating part.

What happens if you do not do anything about it:

• –constant pain, sometimes acute, sometimes chronic. Lower back pain, stiff shoulders, pain the neck are all indicative of back posture and weak muscles (especially the core muscles)
• Personal Experience
  I have mentioned in a previous post that I have pain on my right knee. for a long time (before gym days). My body tries to reduce that pain but shifting more weight towards the left leg. Now, the pain in my knee is very much reduced after I began putting more focus on core exercises. But my right hip, who have been bearing the brunt for too long, begins to show signs of pain. I am planning to do more core conditioning exercises to strengthen my hip muscles.Previously, when I started yoga based exercises, doing abdominal and back exercises wrongly (when you do not suck in your belly button towards the spine) will cause tremendous pressure on the lower back. But after one of the instructor advised me to tuck in, I was able to slowly develop a stronger lower back. Now, I do not get lower back pain because I am doing those exercises correctly.

  How to handle posture problems.
  You need to do more stretching and core exercises to strengthen your muscles. And weight bearing exercises to strengthen the weak muscle. If you have an injury, you should not do high intensity exercises. But you need to consider focusing on working on to correct your posture before it gets worst.

  Whenever you start yoga, Pilates or core exercises, let the instructor know that you have an injury. Your instructor will be able to offer you options if a certain post were to bring you lots of pain. Don’t ever force the exercise (especially if you have an injury or chronic pain)- a sharp piercing pain during workout indicates that either you are not ready for the exercise or it’s done wrongly. The safest bet is to go into recommendated exercises slowly and gradually.

  Most important, take the first step to heal any postural issues. Do not be a victim of constant back pain, muscle stiffness anymore. No more spending tonnes of money on frequent massage and spas- once you start to workout your core and do the exercises correctly, your body will feel well.

  Tips:
  You can check out YouTube.com and type in the keywords like ‘exercise injury’ or ‘exercise posture’ to find videos that shows what type of exercises help for certain types of injuries or to improve your posture. I have also compiled some exercise videos on Injuries & Pain Management and Core Muscles (for posture)

• —the part that is well will suffer injury such as fracture or slip disk because the muscles are no longer protecting the bones effectively due to weakness.
• —may led to autodegenerative diseases such as osteoperosis, athritis or osteoarthritis because of weak muscles and more pressure on bones and joints. continue reading…