Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Unwinding

For the first time in a very long time my lower back locked up on me on the plane coming back from a great FMS Advanced Corrective Exercise course in Minneapolis.
Just nice even muscle spasm across the lower back that had me hobbling yesterday but I am unwinding from it today.
Lots of Club Swinging, half-kneeling stretches and movement to unlock the hip flexors and get rid of the lower back spasm. Amazing how effective the Clubs and half kneeling work are for unlocking the body.

I am currently working on regaining some ranges of motion that have always been challenging for me (lower back and thorocolumbar fascia stuff) and sitting in a small seat shifted around reading etc... got me.
My lower back history is an interesting one (at least to me) - injured in high school (sophomore year), periodic back pain following that, ruptured disc 2003 (bad back squat attempt) with microlaminectomy later that year, but have been really successful since then. My back did spasm on me a bit during my hospital stay in early December 2009 (nothing like sleeping in a hospital bed to get those hip flexors to lock down) but that was just a couple of days. This is just a reminder that I have a history there and it can on occasion jump up and bite me a bit.

Feeling better by the hour and will be back to some bodyweight and light KB work this week.

9 comments:

Vitt PE said...

Hi Brett,
Is there a Advance FMS coming to Boston? Do you have to be RKC? I am FMS certified and would love to take it to the next level. Please let me know.

Thanks,
Vitt

Brett Jones said...

Vitt
We will be in New Jersey in Sept. for an Advanced FMS but we are open to looking at Boston in 2011

Chris said...

Brett

The half kneel moves you mentiond....are these similar to the half kneel rotational press in the KS Getup DVD, aiming to relax the psoas?

My back is a problem from time to time and I am always on the look out for tips to manage it

Brett Jones said...

Chris,
Yes the half kneeling press from KS is an example - just be sure to keep the hip neutral (straight line from ear to knee without moving forward into a lunge or hip flexor stretch position)

davor said...

Planes, and travelling in general, can be murder on the back. Michael Stare and Cassandra Forsyth wrote a good article on T-Nation on how to try and avoid the torture. But no matter what you do, if it don't catch you in the wash, it'll get you in the rinse. I reckon there's a lot to be said for being a 'land lubber', and just living in the one place for one's entire life. A lot of people are prone to getting wanderlust at some point in their lives, though. Be it for work or for pleasure.

Chris said...

Thanks Brett

Mark Reifkind said...

sorry to hear that man.I KNOW just how miserable low back stuff can be. Let me know if I can help at all.

Brett Jones said...

Davor,
"if it doesn't catch you in wash it'll get you in the rinse" - that is great!
I'll have a longer blog post coming up on what I think is going on with my lower back.

Rif
Thanks - I know you "feel my pain".

davor said...

I got that line from a Gil Scott Heron song: 'Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues'.
I'll be tuning in for that. Having tripped going down the stairs and tweaked my own back, it couldn't be more perfectly themed.
I should have believed your declaration that 'shoes (and their associated laces) are bad news'

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