Athena with a bad back!

Welcome, and good luck reaching your goals.

i am sure u have done this BUT have u consulted with doctor in sports medicine?  they may be able to steer you clear for your triathlon goals.

Welcome Kimber! Good luck with your training.

Low back pain is a common complaint, and people usually use it as an excuse agaisnt exercise. So, congratulations on beating the first big hurdle. For you I think it will be imperative that you find some high quality back stretching exercises that you do on a very regular basis, and couple it with some very,very minimal resistance excercise to build a little strength. Echoing Ron's statement, a good physician with some sports training would be a good resourse to begin with. Regardless what you decide to do, start slow to see how you back holds up.

Toaje

Thanks for all the feedback... yes, I've used the excuses for a year now but am ready to move forward, even slowly. I don't have a good sports doc locally- but have had PT and know some good stretching exercises. I downloaded the 16 week plan for running and am starting that Jan 1 with a friend... that'll work me up to 30 minutes of jogging. I'm just keeping a low profile through the holidays- with all the cookies and alcohol it's all I can do to keep my swim schedule

My coaches have really pushed trying to strenghten abs to prevent back problems, and it has seemed to help me out. I really have had no major problems, so I also have to agree that see a physician would be a smart thing to do. Hang in there!

Still Tri'n,
Michael

I have intermittent problems with low grade back pain because of an old discus injury. A couple things that I've run into:

1. Swimming- I had pain after using a kickboard and also some pain if I did too much butterfly. So I'd make kick sets no-board and go easy on the IMs.

2. Bike- I was using a hybrid bike when I got started, and had a tendency to hunch forward to duck under the wind when I rode. Definite pain issues there. A new tribike got rid of the back pain from that, though that's the expensive way to do it. At the least, I'd look into some aerobars put on your current ride, and a bike fit from a local bike shop that knows how to fit traithletes/time trial bikes.

Hey Kim - I echo Michael's strengthening the abs. I do have a sports doc and have had back issues in the past. He has me doing abs and back strengthening in the gym. A key that he put me onto was that hamstring is a key player in lower back pain. Stretching for hamstring is important. Nope this url will come through, but there's an article on hamstring and lower back pain at: http://www.spine-health.com/topics/conserv/overview/exercise/ex01.h... So far so good - no back issues since I began my fitness program (10 mos.)

Hang in

Edited by malvey 2003-12-29 7:18 PM