Benefits, Observations and Help

[bluedrift]

While camping in the great outdoors the old foot and calves were reeaally burning doing the various leg circles and the 4CBD on uneven ground/gravel/grass etc. Out in the middle of a forest with no one else around heightens the senses to say the least, especially when combined with WW practice. Practice in different environments is a great thing to explore.

Over the last 6-8 weeks I observed that my posture seemed to heighten and relax at the same time. I can now stand tall and walk very relaxed with everything falling into proper place. Before it felt like a struggle or a slight resistance that I couldn't pinpoint and overcome. Such great freedom now!

Question For Help

My lower back right around the belt line about an inch or two in height, within an inch of the spine on both sides feels a bit agravated but not painful. This comes when I do the bends at the waist left/right/forward/back and on the odd occasion after the 4CBD. Usually the next day it is ok. If I cut out the bends at the waist and do the thoracic circles and waist circles my lower back becomes less agrragavated over a few days and begins to feel better.

During BB the second form (into a plow like postion) I notice my lower back is tight/stiff and can be aggravated but if I only do the first form its ok.

I feel locked in at this moment, some exercises aggravate while the ones that help recuperate don't seem to be tackling the issue.

Can someone help provide some advice to help loosen up my lower back, and, bring strength back to it. I am hoping to turn this unfortunate discovery into a benefit in disguise if I can overcome it.

[dianneg]

Hi Kevin-
It's awesome for you that you are standing tall again. I know the feeling. As far as you questions I am happy to share with you what I find helpful in this similar 'stuck' feeling:

-pelvic tilts and thrusts with hands against the wall
-side to side bumping with the hips and then circling the hips with hands against the wall
-downward facing dog pose while walking the heels up and down and feeling this movement up into your hips and low back
-downward facing dog with one leg extended back and circling the leg behind you (as if you are drawing circles with your foot on the wall behind you)
-jumping up and down while closing your eyes and completely letting your limbs be loose; I know this sounds silly but sometimes when I am stuck this helps to let me relax a bit :lol:

I hope you find release and freedom in this region.
Good luck.

in peace,
Dianne

[Matt_OZ]

Hi Kevin,

WW is what normally makes my back feel great. I have a few little tips which me (and plenty of other people too) ease through stiffness during WW. Here they come...........

I have had some major back problems in the past (great now though) and even though I can move very comfortably I still enjoy the Beginner version of Warrior Wellness™. I have a couple of specific tips for your Warrior Wellness™ practice which help me feel even more comfortable with the terrific exercises in the WW program (these are little quirks I developed in response to questions some of my clients have had regarding their Warrior Wellness™ practice).

Lower Back Warrior Wellness™ Tip#1: For the spinal flexion and extension exercise (the one where you bend forward, straighten up and then arch your back).

During the arching component position your hands so that they are below the top of your pelvis & your thumbs are on the top of your glutes (as opposed to up higher where your hands would be resting on your lower lumbar). By placing your hands this low you are assisting the extension but not placing direct pressure on the lower lumbar (which could increase your chance of excessive localised extension at the level of the lower lumbar vertebrae). This is very important because arching (extending) and rounding (flexing) our spine can be done in two ways...
1. Smoothly, with the load and curve shared evenly amongst the vertebrae
2. In a "kink", where the load/curve is distributed unevenly throughout the spine. The curve is made by an excessive amount of movement at one level of vertebrae and not much at the other levels.

Think of a smooth curve being like a rainbow and the "kink" as being more like the top of a triangle. Both of these structures can end up with their root points in the same place but the rainbow shares the load much more evenly than the triangle (I'm no engineer, I'm just using these examples for the purpose of guided imagery). As Scott says in the Body Flow tapes, "think about the middle of a movement, not just the beginning and end". How you get there is more important than simply getting there.

Try to make your curves as smooth as possible along the length of your spine (during the flexion AND extension).

Keep thinking of maintaining a "long spine" (crown to coccyx). Just because a person is bending their spine is no reason it can't still adhere to the long spine concept (this is what will help you distribute load evenly like the rainbow example).

Lastly, always be sure to ease into the Warrior Wellness™ moves. Notice in the tapes that Scott emphasises we work at our own level, don't rush it. When I first did the flexion/extension of the spine I had to go very, very slowly. I never deliberately tried to speed up my moves but I found that they just got smoother and quicker all by themselves (as my mobility improved my brain knew when to "loosen the leash" that my muscles were providing).

Warrior Wellness™ Tip #2: During hip circles you may find your back feels better if you activate your glutes tightly during the part of the circle where your back arches (helps keep the smoother curve again). It helps to stabilise the spine in those with lumbar probs.

Warrior Wellness™ Tip #3: During the knee to chest exercise keep in mind during the back swing (hip extension) to maintain a relatively stable lumbar curve. The knee to chest move is a hip exercise, your hip has only about 5-10 degrees of extension (depending on which text you read). If your leg is flying way behind your body it means you are arching/hyperextending your lumbar (which unloaded may be okay on some spines but yours may prefer not to be hyperextended too much, especially in a ballistic move).

Also try doing 10 mins of moderate to brisk walking prior to your WW (especially if it's first thing in the morning).

Good luck, let me know if you get any extra benefit from these ideas.

Stay Well,
Matt :D

[bluedrift]

Thank you both for the detailed advice. I will be putting this to work.

:D

Just noticed a few articles in the latest magazine release too.

Dianne, when doing the downward facing dog while walking the heels up and down the feet remain in place, it's just providing a means of pivot while the lower back has more elongation, correct?

Matt, if I understand you correctly when bending forward and backward the knees should be bent a bit, correct?

If the WW exercises are done with higher reps this will lead more to actual exercise for the muscles in that region - would that also be beneficial?

[Matt_OZ]

Hi Kevin,

Yes, I believe a slight bend in the knees is certainly a great idea, just enough so that they aren't locked but not so much that you feel like your squatting.

I'd advocate keeping the reps to those advised in WW, there has a number of posts on the issue of avoiding too many reps in WW so as not to turn it into "a workout" (I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist). If you want to do more WW I feel it would be better to repeat an additional WW session later in the day rather than do lots of extra reps in a single session.

Cheers Kevin,
Matt :D

[bluedrift]

When doing BB the first form, start from lying with the plan to move my feet over my head, when I fold at the hips and exhale as my knees near my chest I can feel the tightness in the lower back.

It's at this point that I should bring the threshold of pain/aggravation to 3 out of ten?

The beauty of this exercise is this. Because its a circular movement and not linear I can adjust the tightness of the curve to approach the degree of threshold. It has both approach and retreat to the threshold while in smooth motion, whereas a linear motion has a pause - which is more scary and thus harder to overcome.

[Matt_OZ]

Hi Kevin,

There is a fair chance that your thoracolumbar fasica is part of the deal when it comes to that tightness you feel in your lower back. If you are able to find a good manual therapist (massage, chiro, physio) who is trained in myofascial release therapy then they should be able to work your superficial back line in such a way that you get some excellent benefits which will serve as a great kickstart to reducing your lower back tension. It's certainly worth checking out.

Cheers mate,
Matt :D

[dianneg]

when doing the downward facing dog while walking the heels up and down the feet remain in place, it's just providing a means of pivot while the lower back has more elongation, correct?

Kevin, yes the balls of your feet remain in place and the position of down dog elongates the back beautifully. If this isn' t the case, then you can bring down dog to the wall. Face the wall with hands extended and then walk the feet back as you pivot forward at the hips. You will come into a box position. The box is your hands to pelvis, pelvis to heels, heels to wall, wall to hands. When you find the length in the pose, push hands deeply into wall, lower shoulders from ears, lengthen spine from crown to tail. From here you can then begin to walk heels. Experiment and have fun! :D

in peace,
dianne