Exercise
I had mentioned previously that Physically, I’ve never felt better. Well, I have low back pain, which was the impetus for my new regime, but other than that, I’m in great shape. I used to go for walks and do a lot of brute force chores at home which kept me somewhat in shape, but it wasn’t regular and it wasn’t really the type of exercise that I needed. It started back in 2021 when I “threw” my back out. In actuality, I extruded a vertebral disc in my lumbar spine. 15mm herniation. I saw lots of doctors, tried some spinal injections with no success and then again, like mental heal support online, I found the sciatica subreddit and there was a post, with yet another great book, called “The Back Mechanic by Stuart McGill”. I started out with the exercises in that book. What they call “The Big Three” relatively spine-safe exercises. Some gentle supported crunches, side planks, and bird-dog.
I would do those every day or at least 5 times a week. I would also go for frequent walks. Nothing too long. Just breaking up the sitting. Within 6 months, the herniation was 0. Undetectable. I know that’s not everyone’s experience and I am lucky. It was a wake up call that I need to take care of my body. It’s got to get me through several more decades. I then went to go see a local Pilates instructor for a private lesson. Mostly wanting to build onto what I had learned from Mr. McGill. She gave me a few more exercises that I’ve been incorporating.
My Core Routine:
3 sets of 10 bird-dogs holding each pose for 10 seconds.
10 side planks (each side) on my elbow holding a 10lb weight with the opposite hand. I went from 2 sets of 6 to 1 set of 10. Just one set to failure. I’ll build up.
4 sets of 10-12 outer leg lifts on my side (each side) (so it hits the outside of the leg). Pushing down through my heel like I’m trying to slide a quarter up a wall with my heel.
2 sets of 20 inner leg lifts on my side (each side) (so it hits the inside of the leg). Just trying to keep it up, up, higher, and higher
2 sets of 20 clamshells (each side)
3 sets of 10 bridges - pulling my heels towards my butt to engage the hammies
3 sets of 10 supported micro crunches. I put my hands beneath my low back to provide stabilizing support and hold each for 10 seconds with one leg bent. Then repeat with the other leg bent.
~60 or so pushups (3 sets of 20). I use cheepo hand grips as my wrists hurt without them.
3 sets of 10 tricep lifts (each side) with 15 lbs. I’m on all fours, and then use one arm to lift, then alternate.
3 sets of 10 bicep curls (each side) with 15lbs.
2 sets of flys, 15 lbs each side, lying on my back.
I’m pretty shaky after all that and impressed with my muscle tone. This is what i’ve built up to over the years. It took my a long while of other core straightening to be able to incorporate pushups. I noticed that it would hurt my low back.
I’ve also taken up Mountain Biking. I used to ride BMX as a kid. Going off crazy jumps and doing tricks. I’m not doing all of that with MTB at my age now, but it does make me feel like a kid again. Where I might be the speed racer with some of my friends and family, I’m definitely a small fish in a big pond with the local MTB scene. It’s great exercise and it’s great at keeping me focused on the next jump/rock/root/squirrel right in front of me. I did cheat a little and get an Ebike. Mostly because, I’ve noticed on steep climbs that my knee hurts. Even in the lowest gear. So I just need a little help to get up those but mostly keep it off.
