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Yup, Back is in Trouble

Posted on June 30, 2019June 30, 2019 by John

Last year I seriously hurt my back with way too much couch time.  I was unemployed and doing all my side ventures from my laptop, and so not only was I sedentary, I was in extremely bad posture.  The warning signs were there, but I did not understand the significance. I was more and more stiff when I would get up, to the point that I would walk away from the couch hunched over like an old man and it would take a few moments for me to straighten up.  Then it happened. One day, I got up and was seized with back spasms of the like I had never known and I crumpled to the floor.  Fortunately, I stayed calm and discovered that if I lay prone on the ground in corpse position eventually my back spasms would chill a bit and in time I could get up.  I had never had back problems and in my ignorance when I heard of people saying they were incapacitated, I did not appreciate just how literal they were being.

I eventually found some useful videos on how to begin my recovery and I got a back brace since I needed the extra support, especially when I had to go on an interview.  It took a week to feel it was manageable and maybe a month before I felt it was mostly behind me.  I was left with a slight sense of the location of the damage (a slight herniation of a disk I bet) and my back flexibility never fully returned to where it was.  Still, life went on and I was pain-free.

I had begun to realize, as I was starting this 6-week challenge that my bed was starting to aggravate my back.  I had known it was time for a replacement for a while but between the unemployment and the business of the new job I had not taken action.  However, I knew not to ignore the warning signs this time and had intended to purchase the new bed in the coming weeks, and I’m sure that would have been fine, except I added something new to the equation – the personal training on Friday.

Ironically it was not the workout that had done me in. If anything I think that was building a solid supportive framework for my back.  What got me were the assisted stretches at the end. I’m a pretty stiff person, and that is something I need to address, and when my trainer was putting pressure down I “tapped out” like I would in the dojo.  I was pretty sure I had pushed me into the danger zone, and sure enough on Saturday, I had some spasms.  Not as bad as last year, but enough to keep me home all day, returning to my back care routine.  Today I must go to Woodstock to host a forest therapy workshop and session and I think I will be ok, provided I keep the brace with me if needed and keep to my back care regiment (which includes the exercise here plus all the exercises here).

I do not know if this will impact my workouts.  I will wait until Monday’s class to see how that goes.  I am pretty sure those drills are safe.  What I may need to be cautious of are the punches.  The left hook, in particular, had a lot of twisting of the back.  Depending on how I feel when I get back from Woodstock today I will do some punching drills with my Century Bob and see how my back feels.  I know I need to play it safe where I can, but I also do not want to lose momentum and undo my progress.  So far I think this will not pose too much of a problem.

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