Quote:
Originally Posted by essendoubleop
Hmm. Well, I guess I won't be hearing more from him until June. I do want to correct the problem when it's just starting rather than letting it get worse. Can anybody recommend a better alternative that is more long-term oriented?
|
Physical therapy, yoga, and Pilates are all long-term solutions. Physical therapy will help you strengthen what absolutely needs strengthening--yoga and Pilates will help strengthen everything else. Strengthening your core, like suggested by other posters, is really critical to dealing with back problems. So is stretching your hammies and legs on a regular basis--lower back pain can be caused by your hamstrings tightening up and pulling on the muscles of your lower back.
One good tool you'll get a lot of use out of--plus it's fun--is a body ball (or physioball, whatever you want to call it). It's great assistance for various ab exercises. A yoga strap, mat, and block are also useful--the strap can assist in stretching out the hammies, the mat is obviously good from keeping you off the floor while you stretch, and I'd really recommend the block for a simple chest opener: put the block flat on your mat about where the area between your shoulder blades makes contact with the mat when you lay down, then lay down on the block. Your shoulders should sort of drape back over the block. It's very relaxing. You can move the block up and down a bit to stretch and open other parts of your back.
Rodney Yee has a great video for Back Care Yoga. You should check it out.