Hacker News Reader

Comment by sg47 | Hacker News Reader

+1 to this. I suffered from back pain for a long time. Long distance running made it worse. Running made my core weaker and my back pain became worse. Physical therapy did not help. MRI scan revealed a 5 degree scoliosis and a slightly bulging disc (L5/S1). What has helped since then is massaging my glutes thoroughly with a lacrosse ball regularly. Foam rolling my back, glutes, ITB and quads. Strength training for the back, core and upper body in general. Before starting strength training, focus on relieving tightness for a couple of weeks.

View on HN

> What has helped since then is massaging my glutes thoroughly with a lacrosse ball regularly. Foam rolling my back, glutes, ITB and quads. Strength training for the back, core and upper body in general.

For the record, this is what a good physical therapist would have prescribed.

Running and walking are the ultimate efficent exercises homo sapiens. In a perfect world all humans, within the standard deviation, are taught first and foremost how to care for there personal physical health from the time they can walk till they die. Walking and running would be the most efficient exercise for all humans. IMHO

The issues that come from running are related to where you start from lacking knowledge and lacking physical health. Knowledge guides interpretation of pain(what different types of pain mean, when to stop when to push through). Understanding pain is a communication skill that very few people will teach you, but in my opinion is more valuable then literacy. Knowledge also enables positive feedback loops concerning form and efficiency of movement.

Physical health is the structal integrity of the core and stabilizer muscles. Each of these items are on a sliding scale, and somewhere in that scale is a tipping point where if you pass under it you are hurting yourself instead of healing yourself. I hypothesize that 80% of our population falls on the injury side, but that this could be solved with education and PT.

I'm glad you didn't give up, or had the nerve to push past anyone saying "that's just the way you are, you can't fix that" because I feel that statement couldn't be further from the truth.

I've run some half marathons and concluded that long distance running is the worst exercise. It's very repetitive, takes tons of time, messes up your feet, messes up your back, makes your body economical so you'll forever have a harder time losing weight, and on top of that it makes you lose muscle, professional long distance runners look like thin-armed freaks.

Do some strength training and some playful sport instead, like basketball or BJJ. It's fun, you'll look good, you'll move well, and you'll get confident with people, all in 2-4 hours per week.

I'm sorry, but no amount of "ultimate efficient exercise" rhetoric makes running by itself a sufficient workout regime.

You also need to do some kind of strength training. A push, a pull, a spinal compression and a spinal tension. Eg pushups, rows, squats, pullups.

Otherwise your core will be weak and you will be missing key stabilizing muscles that prevent injury when you are in an unusual position, like picking up a suitcase or changing a tire. Which is exactly what causes back pain.

This is exactly the issue with what people think about running/walking and how people execute their motion. You can make any exercise a core strength exercise. I run and walk from my çore, I perform all motion from my core. This is a feeling and skill you learn from taijiquan and it is applicable to any type of exercise.

Those Glutius Medii (sp?) are tough cookies!!! Core and stability work are often more important than just strength. Also the hip flexors are really key too. My adductors and I have a love/hate relationship. :)

This. Hip flexors are key especially if you sit a lot. Also doing the cobra stretch multiple times a day has helped a lot.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com