Stupid back twinge ouch

[johnny]

Tinged my back doing an exercise that I wouldn't normally expect to cause back issues.

Alternate shoulder press on a balance platform.

Dumbell in each hand, only 4kg each, with each hand starting at the shoulder and raising up toward the sky alternatively (left, right, left, right), whilst standing on one of those balance boards - bottom side is like half a ball that is inflated and the top side is a hard plastic platform that I stand on with my feet about 300mm apart, whole board is about 500mm wide.

As my arms alternate so do my legs in a running fashion so the balance board tilts left and right. As right hand raises board tilts to the right and left knee raises like in a running fashion. Doing this today and a small little pop under my left shoulder blade in between it and my spine and now I have a dull pain there that I know will take a week or two to subside.

It occurred as my left arm was raising and my left foot was extending down to the floor. My back had felt a little uncomfortable for a few weeks and I wasn't sure what was aggravating it. Now I know, figured I'd share the pain with you cats as well.

Interested to hear if anyone knows of some good mid/upper back exercises to strengthen. I already do light deadlifts, seated rows, lat pull downs, push ups. bench and all the other normal 'work out' exercises. I don't do bent over rows/flyers or back extensions though.

 

[Pastavore]

Tinged my back doing an exercise that I wouldn't normally expect to cause back issues.

Alternate shoulder press on a balance platform.

Dumbell in each hand, only 4kg each, with each hand starting at the shoulder and raising up toward the sky alternatively (left, right, left, right), whilst standing on one of those balance boards - bottom side is like half a ball that is inflated and the top side is a hard plastic platform that I stand on with my feet about 300mm apart, whole board is about 500mm wide.

As my arms alternate so do my legs in a running fashion so the balance board tilts left and right. As right hand raises board tilts to the right and left knee raises like in a running fashion. Doing this today and a small little pop under my left shoulder blade in between it and my spine and now I have a dull pain there that I know will take a week or two to subside.

It occurred as my left arm was raising and my left foot was extending down to the floor. My back had felt a little uncomfortable for a few weeks and I wasn't sure what was aggravating it. Now I know, figured I'd share the pain with you cats as well.

Interested to hear if anyone knows of some good mid/upper back exercises to strengthen. I already do light deadlifts, seated rows, lat pull downs, push ups. bench and all the other normal 'work out' exercises. I don't do bent over rows/flyers or back extensions though.

I'll PM you Johnny, got some very nice scapula stabilisation exercises for you.

For what it's worth, I am not a fan of those balance board gizmos.

 

[scblack]

I find with the back stretching is the most important thing.

A couple of stretches I use:

• I have always rolled on my back a lot - just curl up into a ball with knees in face and roll back and forward on back.
• Lay on back with arms extended straight out at 90degrees, raise one leg straight up and try to touch toes on the other side of the body keeping the shoulders as flat to ground as possible.
• Stand with feet a bit more than shoulder width apart and stretch arms out, then swing body around to twist spine.
• Simply touching toes helps too I find, that gets back moving.
• Also stretch neck plenty too, but don't roll the neck around, just go from side to side or back and forward. Rolling pinches the corners of the spinal cord.

Its years now since I last did weights, but bent rowing and dead lifts with knee on a bench lifting a large dumbbell were the main back ones I did. Oh, and using body weight opposite to a sit-up with whole body hanging off a bench and legs secured.

 

[scblack]

For what it's worth, I am not a fan of those balance board gizmos.

I agree similar to trying to do exercise on the big blow up ball. I reckon either do weights, or do balance, don't mix the two.

 

[moorey]

Get a foam roller and some targeted exercises. I was dubious, but my back loves it.

 

[lindz1817]

I agree similar to trying to do exercise on the big blow up ball. I reckon either do weights, or do balance, don't mix the two.

I have read some research that supports using unstable surfaces for resistance training. It can help to stimulate joint stabilisation and proprioception and can also be made to be more functional. Or it can be just plain dangerous if done incorrectly as it opens the kinetic chain more.

 

[scblack]

I have read some research that supports using unstable surfaces for resistance training. It can help to stimulate joint stabilisation and proprioception and can also be made to be more functional.

I have read the opposite. MyWifesIrrational had research that showed it to be quite bad with poor strength outcomes.

I do not research this stuff much at all to be honest though.

 

[johnny]

I find with the back stretching is the most important thing.

A couple of stretches I use:

• I have always rolled on my back a lot - just curl up into a ball with knees in face and roll back and forward on back.
• Lay on back with arms extended straight out at 90degrees, raise one leg straight up and try to touch toes on the other side of the body keeping the shoulders as flat to ground as possible.
• Stand with feet a bit more than shoulder width apart and stretch arms out, then swing body around to twist spine.
• Simply touching toes helps too I find, that gets back moving.
• Also stretch neck plenty too, but don't roll the neck around, just go from side to side or back and forward. Rolling pinches the corners of the spinal cord.

Its years now since I last did weights, but bent rowing and dead lifts with knee on a bench lifting a large dumbbell were the main back ones I did. Oh, and using body weight opposite to a sit-up with whole body hanging off a bench and legs secured.

I actually already do a lot of variations of these now. I suspect I might have pinched a nerve more than strained a muscle (I say that with zero reason or credibility, though....)

Get a foam roller and some targeted exercises. I was dubious, but my back loves it.

That's what I reckon will be the end result. I have a roller and other than not doing the exercise that caused it (and not paying $$$ to have a physio fill me full of BS) I think this is the logical outcome.

 

[pink poodle]

Tinged my back doing an exercise that I wouldn't normally expect to cause back issues.

Alternate shoulder press on a balance platform.

Dumbell in each hand, only 4kg each, with each hand starting at the shoulder and raising up toward the sky alternatively (left, right, left, right), whilst standing on one of those balance boards - bottom side is like half a ball that is inflated and the top side is a hard plastic platform that I stand on with my feet about 300mm apart, whole board is about 500mm wide.

As my arms alternate so do my legs in a running fashion so the balance board tilts left and right. As right hand raises board tilts to the right and left knee raises like in a running fashion. Doing this today and a small little pop under my left shoulder blade in between it and my spine and now I have a dull pain there that I know will take a week or two to subside.

It occurred as my left arm was raising and my left foot was extending down to the floor. My back had felt a little uncomfortable for a few weeks and I wasn't sure what was aggravating it. Now I know, figured I'd share the pain with you cats as well.

Interested to hear if anyone knows of some good mid/upper back exercises to strengthen. I already do light deadlifts, seated rows, lat pull downs, push ups. bench and all the other normal 'work out' exercises. I don't do bent over rows/flyers or back extensions though.

I'm by no means an excdfcise or back specialist, but this rocking twisting reaching exercise sounds like a recipe for disaster...in keeping my decrepit body functiining I find stretching more important. Shoulder and neck mobility.

Have you tried the reverse push up? It has a name I don't know but hang up side down in a push up position from a bar and pull yourself up to the bar. Kind of combines a chin up and a push up but backwards...

 

[Pastavore]

I'm by no means an excdfcise or spelling specialist,

Fixed it for you Poodle

 

[pink poodle]

Fixed it for you Poodle

Damn straight.

 

[johnny]

It's really not as complex as it sounds, it's basically jogging on the spot and punching up in the air but you've weights in your hands and you remove the bouncing of the jog motion. Pretty simple exercise to be honest.

 

[lindz1817]

I have read the opposite. MyWifesIrrational had research that showed it to be quite bad with poor strength outcomes.

I do not research this stuff much at all to be honest though.

True about the strength outcomes. Volume must be lower due to higher degrees of freedom, but it has application in high level athletic training for joint stability (particularly through hips/ SIJ/ lumbar spine). It all does depend on the exercises and aims though.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

I have read the opposite. MyWifesIrrational had research that showed it to be quite bad with poor strength outcomes.

I do not research this stuff much at all to be honest though.

Indeed, it compromises strength gains.

Research is pretty good at showing mixing a labile surface with strength training is a waste of time, nothing wrong with balance training for joint propriception, especially after joint injury this should be done, as well as strength training, just do them separately.

In regards to athletic training, smart coaches still separate the tasks. I've not ever seen this mixed at elite / Olympic level (tards at AFL... who knows).

 

[johnny]

I was looking to up the heart rate as I did mid-weight, high-rep by getting the legs going at the same time in a jogging motion.

Regretting that now. Won't take long to recover from this, like a week or less. Just annoying and ouchy.

 

[rsquared]

For those that like a diagram, this illustrates the system I use in my business and reflects what MWI is saying also.

It's called the functional performance pyramid but just illustrates that you have to build performance step by step. Components shouldn't be mixed or skipped. Bosu (that's what you are calling the balance boards) belong in the rehab/stability space and are severely overused by 'Functional Training' PT's simply trying to make exercises 'harder' and most of the time makes them effective at very little as the client form is so terrible.

What was the purpose of the bosu ball exercise you were performing? I'm going to assume that there are probably better and safer ways of achieving your goal than that exercise. Let us know what you were trying to do and I'll shoot you some exercise ideas that may be better suited.

Back 'twinge' could be lots of things and if it's serious, it's worth seeing a professional to diagnose the problem. Foam rolling, stretching and mobility exercises are great but should be specific to your requirements so it's worth understand exactly what your restrictions are and what you should be working on, which is where the FMS system is great. Look up a local certified trainer at www.functionalmovement.com and they should be able to do a screen and corrective exercise program for you that will work in with your other gym work.

 

[johnny]

I was just trying to up the workload by including a jogging type motion as I did dumbell shoulder press. Basically like jogging on the spot as I punch each arm up in to the air alternatively (left, right, left, right). Just as if I was punching up towards the sky as I jog on the spot.

The only aim was to increase work load by incorporating leg movement with basic upper body exercise. The dumbells in each hand were only 4kg, even if I wasn't doing anything with my legs I'd be looking to do about 50 reps each hand. Just looking for basic strength, fitness, endurance, basic health.

 

[pink poodle]

So you were working pretty hard?

 

[johnny]

Actually I'd only just gotten past my warm up - lol!

It does get the heart rate up when the body holds together, though.

 

[Beej1]

Interested to hear if anyone knows of some good mid/upper back exercises to strengthen.

I know shortly after this bit you mentioned not doing bent over fly's, but I found that a particular method of bent over flys (assuming I'm thinking the right thing when I mention that) helped me greatly from an overall 'good back' point of view.

Got smashed by a car on my bike prob 10yrs ago, turned into me as we rounded a corner at same time and I went over bars and landed shoulder first on the gutter at speed. Didn't feel too bad at the time but it got really bad over the next few weeks to the point I couldn't use the whole arm and the pain between my shoulder blades was intense. A very clever physio who specializes in shoulders (and who played water polo for Australia too, apparently) stuck some muscle activity sensor thing on my back between spine and shoulder blade on each side, and I did bent over fly's. The side I hit had zero activity compared to the other, indicating my body was compensating by using the incorrect muscles. It was quite fascinating, learning the body can do this.

Anyway ... digressing a bit. For several years following this, I would get almost the exact same back pain scenario you talked about (pop, and then dull pain), and while it's impossible to know if they're related in any way (and likely aren't) this exercise always helps me. It's a little bit pilates-esque.

After physio dude showed me the screen with numbers on my left side, and donuts on the right, he taught me to try doing the fly action without using any muscles other than the one between spine and shoulder blade. It came naturally on my left, but I literally had to shut my eyes and concentrate to get digits showing on the right. This is with just a 3kg dumbbell. Obviously, you do use _some_ muscles other than the one I'm taking about while doing flys, but concentrating on using this group of muscles both helped my injury, and subsequent 'twinges' and also had left me feeling more confident in back strength exercises (and other back & shoulder actions, like throwing kids up into the air) ever since. To the point I work the exercise into pretty much any routine ... always with a light weight, always slowly and concentrating on posture, the action and the muscles used. My back thanks me.