Hi everyone! Back pain

Hi everyone!

After one month training foundation and hs course I was very sad to start experiencing a very acute back pain somewhere between L2, L3 which aggravated when mastering SL/P1.

I should add that I teach yoga and practice wushu (a lot of backbends for the last couple of years) and although I had a mild pain when forcing backbends too deep it was never this intense. This has prevented me from completing this week´s schedule (skipping some of the exercises due to this pain) and I´m really not sure how to proceed from here.

I tried to find back pain related topics without success.

Has anyone experienced the same situation as a beginner, what course of action would you recommend?

Thank you for your help,

Pema

I've had back pain for the last few months. I Tried various stretches/exercises to make it better, they might have been helping but it was slow progress. I was getting some relief from hanging, but don't have the grip strength to do it for long.

On a whim I went to an acupuncturist on Wednesday and as I'm typing this I have no back pain. I've always been skeptical and I'm not sure how it works, but I'll take it. Scheduled for three more appointments, I can let you know how it goes if you want.

Hi Pena,

Can you elaborate on what you feel?

Do you only feel the pain when doing the arch body hold, or do you feel the pain at other times?

Are there any other movments that aggrevate the pain?

Is it right in the centre of your spine or slightly to one side?

Do forward bends hurt? Twisting poses?

Are you lifting mainly from the low back? You may be overworking specific segments into extension and not spreading and sharing the extension along the rest of the spine, particularly the upper back.

Also, can you get relief from the pain? Any movements or stretches that seem to aleviate?

You most likely let your back drop into extension, which then loads the back. It is common for people to have increased back extension as the shoulder blades retract. When done properly it should be nearly impossible to hurt yourself. Did you keep the abs, glutes and quads tight through the movement? If you are unsure of your technique post a video.

Mastery is as much about how the connective tissue adapts to the volume and load of the exercise. I would drop back to 4x6 and take another 8 weeks to master the exercise. Get some treatment for the current flare up. I have had this happen many times and it usually settles in 1-2 weeks. This usually happens when I push too quickly. Keep training, but do less. Theses exercises are harder than we expect or we are weaker than we thought!

I've had back pain for the last few months. On a whim I went to an acupuncturist on Wednesday and as I'm typing this I have no back pain. I've always been skeptical and I'm not sure how it works, but I'll take it. Scheduled for three more appointments, I can let you know how it goes if you want."

Yes Ben, please let me know. I´m also not sure how that works. I´m very reactive to needles though. Hope it goes well for you!

"Can you elaborate on what you feel?"

I feel a flare up in L2, L3 like a very sharp pain in that area that goes down a little more when I move around.

"Do you only feel the pain when doing the arch body hold, or do you feel the pain at other times?"

The pain resulted from insisting on the arch body hold until mastery, and persisted after that throughout the days. Only rest seems to alleviate a little. 

"Are there any other movements that aggravate the pain?"

All movements that seem to compress the spine after that, the slightest back bend, is nearly impossible to do without acute pain.

"Is it right in the center of your spine or slightly to one side?"

 The pain seems to be right at the center of the spine. 

"Do forward bends hurt? Twisting poses?"

Forward bends do not hurt like Padangusthasana (big toe pose) but Jefferson curls trigger the pain so I stopped doing those for relief. Twisting poses do hurt with the flare now, but they do not worsen it.

"Are you lifting mainly from the low back? You may be overworking specific segments into extension and not spreading and sharing the extension along the rest of the spine, particularly the upper back."

Yes I think that was the problem, I always used and compressed the low back mostly without using the abs, glutes and quads. I was really not aware of the importance of this in back bends.

Hi Mark this was really helpful! I was not aware enough of these body mechanic when performing the exercise. In yoga we use some alignment but generally I let go of the tightness in order to go deeper in a backbend or, in this case, to stay higher and longer doing the SL/P1-P2.

I will definitely follow your prescription, do less but keep working on it but not sure I understand what you meant by "It is common for people to have increased back extension as the shoulder blades retract. When done properly it should be nearly impossible to hurt yourself." (probably my english not being that good). But I guess I need to work on contracting those areas - abs, glutes and quads - and get an appointment at the chiropractor this new week.

Thank you guys for your insights which were not only helpful but also encouraging!

I will try my best to post a video this week.

Sorry I misread and thought you were talking about scapula shrugs! If you are a bit vulnerable in extension you may need to reduce your ROM until you can tolerate the movement. I would still go back to week 5 and gradually build up. It would be good to see a picture or video so we can see what your position is like.

Pema,

I've found that if I think of this exercise as holding as big an arch as possible, I end up cranking on my low back.  If I think about getting long and lifting from the shoulders, my back stays quiet.  There are many cues on this move in the sticky post about the ABH, and the topic of avoiding back pain is a big part of that thread.