Back Pain & Fitness Exercises

I wanted to share something that I am experiencing. As you know I started the Insanity program and about 2-weeks ago I had a minor set back, in regards to my back, I re-injured, slightly but enough that the pain would not allow me to continue  working out until I was better.

Anyhow, it took me two weeks to get back to my old self, sort of speaking, well at least no back pain. So I started back up, but during my downtime I did a little research and of course I am sure many of you are aware, but any heavy impact movements, such as High jumping-Jacks can re-injure any back problems you have.

Ok obviously at the beginning of each DVD there is a HUGE paragraph directly stating to consult a doctor before attempting any of these exercises and if you have back problems it is highly recommended to not attempt it unless of course your doctor approve. And believe you should because even though I was only out of commission for 2-weeks it could have been worse, so definitely check with your doctor.

Anyhow, I went ahead and did consult my doctor, after the fact, but I did explain to him that only certain exercises would cause any pain or discomfort, such as High Jumping-Jacks. The impact when you hit the ground is what does it. Obviously having some kind of mat would help reduce the impact or simply doing small jumps…small…like a 2 year old jumps. Not saying that you should still do them, the thing is that that works for me and my doctor told me as long as I listen to my body and what it is trying to tell me then I should be good.

So right now I am doing the program, but certain exercises I do very gently or not at all. What I do instead is continue doing the previous exercise in its place, resting when needed of course. Now, once again this seems to be working for me, but one other thing and I do emphasis this extremely, please do the stretches before and after, do skip the after stretches because you think you do not needs them, they are in the program for a reason, to help reduce injury and of course the after stretches help in cooling you down. So please make sure to do them.

Like I said this so far seems to be working for me, I will keep you posted on how I progress and of course I will take notes on which of the exercise do not fair well with my Back…LoL. Remember stretch, do any thing that looks like jumping-jacks to the very minimum or do not do them at all. Running in place, take small steps, maybe picking up the speed, but do not lift your legs to high. Which brings me to the High Knees running, do not do them if you feel any discomfort, and instead continue with the small running in place steps. The thing is we want to sweat and shed the pounds; the building up muscles will come with some of the exercises or maybe adding weights to the program, which maybe can be done in the second 30 days of the program.

But for now, if you have any back problems like me, do not attempt any high impact exercises of the program or just do them with small jumps, or small steps. Always consult your doctor before trying any fitness program, I wish I would have done more research on this program, but now that I have it I will work around it, if I can. But loosing weight is not as high on my priority list that keeping my back healthy.

My Perspective:
I know I have post two other times on the same topic, but since i am passingthrough this at the moment I wanted to share it. So, Always consult a doctor. Listen to what your body is telling you, if that movement hurts don’t do it or reduce the speed or height or both if needed. If a movement hurts, then simply continue with the previous exercise until the next exercise you can do comes up, Always rest when needed, because it is better to do it slowly, and take care of yourself than to injure your self and never do anything at all. You will have these DVD’s for as long as you want; so maybe every other day will work for you, but always take care of your self. I will continue doing it and of course post anything I experience with each DVD or exercise.

Thanks for reading till next time Latino Man singing off.

Back Pain Relief– A Possible Solution

I wanted to share this, I thought it was interesting and it might not work for everyone but there may be a few out there it just might help.

Now, I recently posted about my back issues and I wanted to share how I was able to get better. Simply, what I was doing was, at night I was going to sleep on a lazy chair, I had just purchased. Now the bed for some reason was making my back pain worse in the morning and before, when I would get these episodes I would sleep on the floor, but that was not helping out at all, because I was having pain and it was difficult to get up off the floor in the mornings.

So I started sleeping on this lazy chair, recliner. It goes back pretty far, but when I woke up in the morning I felt relieved and my back pain was lessening. It has been three nights now and I am pain free. I am still feeling a bit tight in the lower back, but I plan on sleeping in the recliner for another 2 nights…just to make certain. Actually possibly till Monday morning, that way I can get back into my Fitness program, Insanity this coming Monday morning.

That was on another post that I spoke about it, and I seriously want to get right back in. of course I plan on easing into it, even easing in to it you can still sweat and get a good workout. My only thing is that a few certain exercise moves they perform I will not be doing to that intensity or maybe not at all…depending.

My Perspective:

On back pain, I don’t wish it upon anyone. It is not something that one wants to live with for their rest of their lives, but taking care of your self is vital. So, next time you have some back pain, try sleeping on a Recliner lazy boy chair for about 5 days, making sure to add 2 days even if you feel 100% better…just in case. Also, very important to have strong Abs, maybe not a six-pack, but you need to do some kind of exercise that will work the Abs…to the Core. It is vital for reducing the chances of reoccurring back pain. Please always consult your Doctor before doing anything I mentioned here or that you have read anywhere.

Thanks for reading, stay safe, healthy but be adventures. Till next time Latino Man signing off.

Back Issues -

Exercise programs

It was a cold day outside, there was overcast and it seems like rain was coming. I thought it was a good idea to give my son a bath, since it did not seems that we were going to go anywhere for the day. So I was kneeling down by the tub and preparing the water for my son to take a bath, I remember his giggles; he was 14 months old and was looking forward to playing in the water with his new toys.

As I was kneeling and preparing the water he kept coming into the bathroom, you know how kids are, anxious to get things done, but he kept reaching for the paper waste basket or opening the toilet seat…so I had to keep on chasing him out while the water was running.

In one of those instances I was testing the water and it almost seems right, but out of the corner of my eye I happen to see my son reaching into the tub and about to fall in. I was still knelling and my reaction was sort of weird, but the movement that I made would change my life for ever. As I was knelling and saw him going head first into the tub, I twisted my body to catch him, together with the awkward twist, his weight and my position my back went out.

It was the most painful sensation I have ever had, I had my son in my arms and was twisted to one side, I it seems like hours, but I finally got the strength to yell for my wife. She ran into the bathroom and saw my expression, she knew something was wrong. Her first response was if our son was ok, when she noticed he was fine she looked at me and how I was positions on the floor…I could not move. Every attempt I made to move was the most excruciating pain I would never wish upon anyone. I remained in that knelling twisted position for sometime, and after an hour had gone by my wife wanted to call an ambulance, I told her to give me sometime. You know how guys are…anyhow, about three hours had gone by and I was finally able to get up with help. I headed to the bed, which seem like an eternity, it took an additional 15 minutes to even climb into bed.

This occurred on a Friday evening, by Sunday night going to the bathroom would bring tears of pain. That Monday morning my wife had to take me to the Hospital, arriving there was painful for ever bump we hit was painful. A nurse had to come out to get me in a wheelchair, since the pain while walking was intense. After several hours in the hospital, with X-rays, a few doctors checking me out, they finally diagnose me with one of my Disks had slipped out. The doctors did not know how I was so still since I should be in excruciating pain, I told I was. They were talking to see if surgery was going to be needed, but after several additional hours I was sent down to Therapy, where I went through several exercises’, and electro shock therapy. The therapist also gave me some messages, painful at first, but it eased after a few minutes.

I was released to go home the next day and was prescribe o go to therapy. After 6 months of therapy, my insurance was done and any further therapy sessions would have to come out of my pocket…they were $195 per 45 minute session…which I could not afford at the time. The therapist understood and gave me some exercises’ to do at home, which I continued and after about a year I was almost back to normal. The thing is that now, I have to be very careful on how I pick things up, how I carry things and my limit of weight I can handle is not was it use to be. The slightest weight above my threshold or the slightest incorrect move can cause my back to go out…usually for several days, but most of the time I can still function, just very slowly.

I learned since then to watch myself and do things carefully, the thing is I am writing this because as you can read I started the Insanity Program and on my 6^th day as I was going through the routine, which I already knew, I made one bad move and my back tighten on me. I am still continuing the program, the thing is that I am doing the exercise routines slowly, ½ speed and a few exercises I do really slowly no major impact. I still sweat like crazy, but I realized that stretching and warming up [slowly] will allow you to continue. I don’t suggest that anyone continue the program if they hurt their back, I am only sharing my story, plus I know my limits…that my body can handle. I wanted to share because I have had hundreds of excuses when trying to loose weight and something always happens. I know…I know…hurting my back is a true excuse, but I wanted to not let something happen again…so I just do it slowly and carefully listening to my body as I do each move…slowly…I made it through my first day of having back issues and doing the program.

Once again do not take this post as a go ahead and work through your back pain, please don’t, I just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for reading and please come back often for more articles, thoughts, posts. Stay safe, be adventures and listen. Latino Man Signing off.