Proper Back Care

I’m Back (and it hurts)!

The number one item on my long, off-season to-do list (the to-do list is long, not the off-season) is to install the hardwood floor in our basement. In doing so, I’ve had a hard lesson in proper back care the last few weeks. I’ve done very little of the core stability work that is a staple of my normal training regime, so the combination of working on hands and knees, and improper lifting, has taken its toll on my lower back. Now, lifting without bending at the knees is not a big deal if you do it once or twice a day. However, if you do it continuously for eight hours or so, two days in a row, then something’s gotta give.

What does this have to do with training and racing? Chances are if you are doing something strenuous, like framing the basement, or training for triathlons, you will get injured. How you manage an injury makes all the difference in how fast you will bounce back, and how soon you can continue training, or just living.

Last Sunday, on my second day of cutting and hammering, I bent over to pick up a claw hammer. You wouldn’t think picking up a hand tool that weighs maybe a couple of pounds could be harmful, but after dozens of reps, the repetitive strain of picking up power tools and boards while bent over, the trap was sprung. My lower back went into spasm so hard, that it took my breath away.

Soft-tissue injuries cause inflammation, and I knew I had to minimize it ASAP. So I made my way painfully upstairs, went to the medicine cabinet and gulped a couple of ibuprofen. Then I grabbed my lower-back Theraband, headed to the freezer for soft icepack, inserted it in the Theraband and strapped it on. I laid on my back with my legs bent 90 degrees, resting on an exercise ball, and waited for the pain to subside. Watched some NFL football, and saw some guys who would be in a lot worse pain than me, by day’s end. Within 20 minutes I was able to get back on my feet, so I treated myself to a couple of extra-strength Robaxasil, limped downstairs and worked for another six hours on the floor. I worked a little slower and was more careful lifting, but felt OK; and I actually started feeling worse when I stopped working, in the late afternoon.

If you haven’t figured it out already, I’ve been through low back injury before, several times. In my late twenties and through my thirties, my sole fitness activity was weight-training. The gym I trained at in Edmonton (Thor’s, later called Titan’s) had a philosophy when it came to leg-training: If you could make it down the stairs after your leg workout, you hadn’t trained hard enough. (This philosophy would serve me well in my early forties, when I started cycling regularly). So I piled on the plates doing squats, leg press, and deadlifts, and sometimes the leg strength was ahead of the core strength. I learned after the first couple of serious tweaks that there are several things you need to do to recover properly from a low-back strain:

Minimize inflammation:
Use ice packs, or the dreaded ice bath. Take ibuprofen.

Keep moving:
Sitting or lying down for extended periods cause irritated muscles to stiffen up, and other muscles to compensate, causing further complications and pain. Easy movement, walking and standing reduce stiffness taking hold.

Adjust your environment:
If your job requires sitting all day, roll up a towel and place in behind the small of your back. This will keep your abdominal muscles engaged, giving your low back muscles a break. Get up and walk, or mildly stretch every fifteen minutes.

Bent knees:
If you must lie down, do so with knees bent, feet resting on an exercise ball, chair or sofa. Try and keep the low back flat on the floor; this relaxes the low back. Release your breath and let the belly button drop as low as it will go.

Swim, or water-walk:
Water supports the body, and the movement prevents stiffness. I swam Monday morning after Sunday’s abuse, forgot about the back pain after the warmup and actually clocked some decent 100m repeats. I wished I was back in the water half an hour later, and won’t hesitate to swim every day in lieu of other training.

Take Robaxasil or some other muscle relaxant:
Especially if you are in severe spasm. This might get you through to tomorrow’s trip to the chiropractor.

See your ART (Active Release Technology)-practising chiropractor:
ART is the godsend to endurance athletes, but be prepared to suffer during treatment. ART involves very deep pressure applied to injured muscle tissue while going through a range of motion. This breaks down scar tissue while restoring blood flow and movement. I originally discovered ART to treat a persistent weight-training injury, and without exaggeration I can say it has saved my triathlon career many times over.

Another note I would like to add here: A lot of guys complain about having a “bad back”. Typically they are overweight, and therefore have a “bad front”. A big gut places a lot of strain on the low back muscles, so their problematic back is the symptom, not the cause. Unless your name is Santa, chill on the cookies this Christmas, and look after the front side!

Slug Time is Over!

It’s been seven weeks since the Ironman World Championships in Kona. The race was packaged up and broadcast on NBC last Saturday, and I watched it with beer and chips close at hand. I’ve had a good rest and recovery, caught up on sleep and gotten rid of some aches and pains. Most important of all, I was not on a training schedule; and did what I wanted, when I wanted to. That included next to nothing; aside from easy stretching for the first three weeks after the race, then some weight training and swimming for the last four. No running whatsoever, but a couple of easy spins on the trainer after weights. And on the weekends, getting caught up on a to-do list a mile long.

I’ve had enough time to reflect objectively about race day, and put it in the proper perspective. At the very worst, it was a catered training day with cheering supporters, on an island paradise. I reviewed the previous thirteen months that led to the start line in Kona, and realized I was letting the day’s result overshadow what was my best year of training and racing, including two races in early April (personal bests of 9:51 at Ironman Arizona, and 3:10 at the Boston Marathon eight days later) that were sandwiched between trips halfway around the world.

So after watching the race on TV Saturday, I decided it’s time to slowly ramp up the training again. Sunday dawned clear and cool with a stunning mountain backdrop. Time to go for a run! After a fifteen-minute warmup on the trainer, I headed out the back gate onto the Fish Creek Park 10K loop for my first run in seven weeks. It felt good to get the legs moving again, dodging the doggie-doo, and I finished the last uphill kilometre strong to bring it home in under 50 minutes, not bad for being out of running shape. It did hurt, though. My heart rate was about 10 beats higher than normal for that effort, so still a long way to go, but there’s plenty of time between now and April 16th to get better. And I’m sure I’ll step in doggie-doo, literally and figuratively, a few times between now and then.

Coming up in the following days, pictures and thoughts from the race. Thanks for reading along!