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Originally Posted by highthief
With regard to the stretching - I've had a back problem in the past and certainly core strengthening along with yoga at the end of the workout has improved my back 90-95%. It's been an amazing thing.
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Yeah. I started with yoga about five years ago (separate from my weight workouts, though), and it basically had eliminated problems I had with back spasms; previously, my back would "go out" at least once a year for 5-7 days at a time. Yoga stopped nearly all of that. But I still had back issues and, as described above, started to feel creaky with age. Increasing my core strength has taken care of most of the rest of that.
For instance, coming out of a shoulder stand in yoga, one first lowers one's back to the floor, then lowers one's legs to the floor while keeping them straight. Before my current regime, I could never do that without getting a twinge in my lower back and having to bend my knees somewhat. Now I can lower my legs while keeping them absolutely straight, with no twinge at all.
What kills me is that several "experts" told me to avoid doing the very exercises that eventually helped me -- squats, deadlifts, etc. -- because they would further "injure my back." I suffered back problems for almost 20 years. If I'd know then what I know now, I could have got over them in six months.