Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The evil penguin]

Its a sad state of affairs when somebody (me) would rather trust the advice of anomynous (arrrgh don't hit me please spelling nazis) daves posters then relying on (or indeed even visiting) korean doctors.... but...well... thats the way it goes...

Heres the thing... My lower back.... combination of long distance rides slouched over the motorbike seat, bad psture at work,,, and muscle strains from Hapkido... Not to mention the onset of old age... (jeez... nearly 30....) Anyway, its not too good. Somedays just a twinge, somedays it actually bloody hurts bending down to pick up droped pencils and so on...

So what I'm after is advice from the health and fitness people lurking on here..... anyway know or reccomend good back strengthing excercises?
I'm not overweight or anything and in pretty good shape from hiking and so on.. But i'm not into gyms.... Just something I can do from home.......

Back problems do tend to run in the family....
Anyone help?

[Captain Corea]

honestly, anyone giving advice on this subject is walking a fine line.

I would advise talking to a doctor first. Also, there are a numer of "medical forums" on the net that give advice for back pain. Search them out.



I hurt my back somethin' feirce a few years back. Going to the bathroom ened up being an hour ordeal and putting my socks on, well, forget that.

With light stretching, lots of rest, several trips to the accupunturist and very strick trips into the gym it's now back at... well, I can function again.




Good luck m8.

[vixen nomad]

Pilates is definately the way to go. I had back problems my entire life until I discovered pilates. Which was recommended to me by my doctor. But you would have to order a video online. A yoga mat would be useful as well. Good luck!

[jlb]

This probably isn't the best place to ask for back advice. Go to a sports doctor or do a search for some info. online.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'm happy to give anyone heaps of free peanut-gallery advice on fitness, boast about how much I smoke, and then invite them come excercise or jogging with me ... but bad backs is the last thing I'd dare give advice to anyone about. My only advice would be to get more than one professional opinion.

[sadsac]

One way to help alleviate lower back problems is to strengthen your abs. Look at doing crunches utilising just the upper torso, whilst tightening your abs. Find some light stretching exercises for your lower back as well. Yoga and pilates offer some excellent stretching exercises.

[I_Am_Wrong]

You gotta see a doctor and have them check to see what's causing the problem. I had some chronic back pain in University after a small snowboarding mishap. In my case it wasn't too serious so the doctor gave me a series of small exercises to do at home for 15 minutes every morning and night and I haven't had a problem since. See a doctor.

[morituri]

Maybe you got arthritis from doing breakfalls on concrete. If your back works like an aneroid barometer, hurting just before a rainy day; you should suspect that.

You should really see a doctor first to see if your spine is OK. Don��t know if this is going to be much help and you probably know all of these but here goes.

First check your spine: sit on the floor with legs together straight in front of you and very slowly try to touch your toes with your hands, if your lower legs start to feel tingly, then you should see the doctor to check for a slipped disc, and not try any back-related exercises until he says OK.

If no tingling, then to loosen up lower back:

1. Spread legs as wide as they will go, then slap the left sole with the right palm by bending forward and swinging the right arm in a wide arc, then slap the right sole with the left palm in the same way. Do this 50x. If your hamstrings are tight don��t spread legs too wide or you could tear a muscle. Your head should pivot to watch your hand.

2. To strengthen lower back: Iron Ox Ploughs Field (tie niu jing tian). In a pushup position feet together, hands shoulder width apart, fingers facing ahead, raise your hips as much as possible keeping your legs straight. Bending your arms and arching your back at the same time push your head forward between your arms and past them, your nose and chest almost touching the ground until you begin to straighten your arms. As you straighten your arms arch your back as much as possible. Reverse above steps as you bend arms again and go to initial position. Do 8x then increase in sets of 8, working up to 8x8 reps. The US Army calls these dive-bombers, Indian wrestlers call them dard or cat pushups and do zillions a day, it is the first upper body exercise you learn in Shaolin boxing.

3. To strengthen lower back: get into wrestler��s bridge: Lie on your back feet together and knees bent, put your palms on the ground, wrist facing forward near ears and elbows facing sky. Lift body into high U shape. Bend arms as low as you can then straighten them. Do 8 reps. (Don��t attempt if you have had a detached retina). Try to narrow the distance between feet and hands until they approach half an arm's length.

4. To loosen lower back and hamstrings: Biting Shoe (cong xie). Stand with parallel feet about 2 shoulder widths apart and bend left leg at knee, keeping right knee straight but lifting right toes off ground so only the ball of the right foot is on the ground (seven star stance). With left thigh bent around 45 degrees, turn trunk to face left and bend it, trying to bite the toe of one��s left shoe. Repeat for other side. Also repeat left and right but with side of head flat on knee, eyes looking ahead, as if listening to something: reclining shoe (wo xie).

5. Clasping Shoe (bao xie). Stand on one foot, bring left leg up to chest, left knee completely bent, holding left shin with left hand and instep with right. Keep back and right knee very straight. Hold for 8 breaths, repeat for other side.

6. Stand with back to desk, about a yard in front of it, place left foot on table, soles uppermost. With both hands on waist, push head backwards to try and touch toes. Hold for eight breaths and repeat for other side.

[morituri]

*beep*. major typo in #4.

4. To loosen lower back and hamstrings: Biting Shoe (cong xie). Stand with parallel feet about 2 shoulder widths apart and bend left leg at knee, keeping right knee straight but lifting right toes off ground so only the ball of the right foot is on the ground (seven star stance). With left thigh bent around 45 degrees, turn trunk to face left and bend it, trying to bite the toe of one��s left shoe. Repeat for other side. Also repeat left and right but with side of head flat on knee, eyes looking ahead, as if listening to something: reclining shoe (wo xie).

should read:

...., turn trunk to face right and bend it, trying to bite the toe of one's right shoe.

sorry about that.