I am so lazy about stretching. Hamstring and IT band have traditionally been my weak links. I figure as long as I can touch my toes without pain in those areas, then I’m good to go. I do a ‘litmus test’ of touching my toes every day. Sometimes I even do a “downward facing dog” yoga pose for good measure.
Speaking of yoga, I haven’t done my Rodney Yee Yoga DVD since January. Even though I truly enjoy how the yoga workout gently stretches every muscle of my body. And I like Rodney’s soothing voice, speaking of how centering and balance will improve my athletic performance. I believe him. But for the past few months, every time I thought about doing yoga, I blew it off. There always seemed to be something more important to do with 60 minutes of my day. And I didn’t need to stretch, right?
Wrong!
Last Thursday, I did an open water swim at Jordan Lake. It was choppy and I was going pretty hard, and my lower back was really sore afterwards. So, I did the Rodney Yee yoga workout on Friday. OMG, each pose caused pain in all the muscles of my body. Hamstrings, calves, adductors, and lower back are all really tight. Especially my lower back. I could not tolerate the “cobra” or “upward facing dog” poses at all.
Why didn’t I realize I was so tight? Why did I do my whole Rev 3 Tri training plan without any stretching or yoga!? Honestly, I wonder why I am NOT suffering some sort of injury (knock, knock).
So I came up with the idea to just do a 20 minute segment of the yoga workout at a time. It’s alot easier to find 20 minutes in a busy day, than 60 minutes. Since Friday, I have done two of these shorter yoga workouts. Going to keep doing that every day this week to try and loosen up in time for race day. I read once that flexibility is FREE Speed! Hey, I’ll take it!
Today at the pool, the stiffness in my lower back was interfering with the rhythm of my stroke. Midway into the workout, I climbed out of the pool and did some stretches and the “upward dog” yoga pose. Then I finished my swim workout. That seemed to help a little.
Anybody know some good stretches for a stiff lower back?
Here’s a picture showing muscles of the back. Huh, my area of stiffness is in that white patch above the butt muscles. That must be connective tissue, not muscles. Okay, now I am wondering, is it really the connective tissue that is tight, not actually the muscles???
Update: be sure to read Mark McDonnell’s comment…he always gives great advice. I’m lucky that he reads my blog! Check out his coaching site at http://triexpert.com/
Hey Carol,
When I get lower back pain its because my hamstrings and IT band are tight. My physical therapist told me that leg flexability is the best way to protect my lower back. It sounds like we both have more downdogs to do.
Carol,
If you ever get tired of your Rodney DVD, how about some mp3’s from yogadownload.com. They have many free 20 minute classes and if you get a membership for a few months, they are very reasonable. I currently pay $7.00/month for 6 downloads of my choice. They also have some running trainers and some sport-specific classes. Good luck!
Carol, be careful to distinguish between soreness and tightness. In the muscles of the limbs, they are often parallel, but in the trunk, not a given.
The lower back is mostly made up of a complex of short intervertebral muscles, ligaments and tendons, which can get torn up, with associated DOMS and inflammation, especially when loaded with ballistic twisting movements. (Examples: twisting medicine ball catches and throws, and dealing with chop in OWS. Sound familiar?)
Targeted stretching of the low back is rarely indicated, and is indeed contraindicated in the main. Ice, rest or light work, NSAIDs if you really need ’em, and TIME will mitigate the soreness.