Heather Herbeck

Many of us will experience lower back pain in our lifetime. I’ve experience many of my clients and fellow paddlers complaining of back pain at some point in their lives. It’s the age of sitting, and as paddlers we do a lot of it: we sit at work, we sit in our vehicles as we head to the river, we sit in our kayaks or canoes and we sit watching TV or dining as we relax from the day.

 

Lower back issues can stem from a lot of different causes, such as:

• Weak glutes

• Overcompensating movement with other muscles

• Injury

• Imbalances

• Decreased flexibility

• Inactivity

• Sitting

Typically it isn’t until we can barely move, our roll deteriorates, or pain intensifies that we start a rehab program to fix it. Having back pain makes you age much quicker or feel older, which makes paddling more uncomfortable. I’m encouraging you to use these exercises as preventative care for your back as you continue to paddle, or as a way to assist in improving the health of an already “bad back.” 

 

Here are a few of my favorite preventative care exercises for the lower back:

 

1. Always practice good posture.

When sitting, choose to sit on an exercise ball. This forces good posture. Think about contracting your core (laugh out loud and feel what happens to your core—this is core contraction); pulling the shoulder blades back and down; and lifting your chest upwards.

 

2. Stretch it out.

 

3. Add to your weekly routine.

Find these back exercises demonstrated in the video below:

• Double Knee to chest stretch 

• Flutter Kicks

• Four points

• Clam

• Abduction with band 

 

For a well-rounded program, add these exercises after your gym program, paddling session or other activity. Perform these exercises 3-4 times a week. Give it a chance—you will start feeling a difference in just a few weeks.

 

These simple exercises are important even if you don’t feel the burn you’d get from a different workout—it doesn’t mean you’re not improving. Strengthening these smaller muscles and increasing their movement will make you stronger. You are not necessarily strong if you have big biceps, glutes or deltoids, as these are just the “show” muscles. The muscles that make you stronger are the tiny ones deep inside a joint. Strengthen these and you’re well on your way to being injury and pain free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This program is not for everyone. Please see your doctor prior to this exercise program. Depending on your back pain and/or mechanism of injury, some exercises will feel better than others. If any pain is caused by these movements, please stop.

 

Heather Herbeck has a B.Sc. in Exercise Science and is a pro-kayaker, Certified Personal Trainer and Level 1 Crossfit Trainer with over 15 years experience. Check out her website for personal training or fitness consultations and trainings via Internet or phone.

 

Published in Rapid Magazine Oct 10, 2014