Friends and neighbors
So here is my grand finale for this Lower Back series. And with this finale I want to cover the most important issues that brought about my full recovery and what has kept me operating at a great level of performance. Much of this will be a “recap” of what we went over all ready, but please still read as I believe it can help you greatly in facing any kind of adversity in your life.
First of all there were balance issues going on with my body that I was ignoring. I thought they would just eventually go away and or “work themselves out”. Well just like in all of life, most things dont just magically disappear. They hang around and usually end up creating bigger problems until YOU do something about it. My physical issues were: Imbalances with my hamstrings, and other weakness around my core and hip area due to imbalanced training. I recognized these issues but never dreamed they could lead to such a bad situation later.
The pain and loss of full function started getting pretty bad in May that year, and finally came to that pivotal point where I was lying in the floor hollering and cussing in August. It was mid-late august when I finally went to my buddy Seth and started getting relief. Then about October I starting making a lot of movement and function improvements, and it was about January the next year that I made that decision that I was not going to accept anything less than what I had before, and actually even more.
Most important – Having HIM and His Word alive inside of me. If it had not been for this #1 factor, I believe I would be very immobile now compared to where I am. Without Him and HIS Word, I would not have had the strength and confidence that i could overcome the situation fully and even beyond.
2nd Most important – Choosing to Renew my mind constantly with the Word of God. I had to constantly fight through the pain and lack of mobility by first knowing my rights and position IN CHRIST. I had to constantly think on His Word and His Blessings and actually Speak them out loud to my self. I had to literally “take captive” every other thought that opposed what I wanted and expected. I had to make sure i did not let my “feelings’ dictate how I thought and spoke. I had to make a stand against all that would oppose what I decided was mine to possess. I decided that I would “stick it out” for as long as it took, never being willing to accept less than His best.
3rd Most important – I had to find a plan of physical therapy that I trusted and could put my confindence in. Realize that this part was a part that could not have been left out, but it was actually only the 3rd most important part. So here is basically what i did physically:
Therapy with Seth – This included a series of anti imflammatories to reduce the inflammation. (i do not recommend anti – inflam. drugs on any kind of regular basis. but in some cases they can be a great benefit) He also used a lot of wet heating pads and electrical stimulation. He had me lying on a special pad that reduced the pressure on my spine in the low back area.
Therapy on my own – I started doing a series of exercises that I had used before for myself and many clients. Here are a few: Bridges, modified crunch, reverse crunch, superman, superman on ball, hamstring stretches, “booty” stretches, and light rotational movements. THese were done daily, and many done 2-3 times per day.
I also included one of my now favorite therapy and maintenance exercises for low back issues, The Reverse Hyper Extentions. This is an exercise I had used before for myself and my clients, but little did I know how much of a difference this was going to make. Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance and promptings my eyes were opened up to how this exercise was going to greatly benefit me. It ended up impacting me and my recovering and low back health maintenance that it is now the #1 exercise i recommend to all our clients with low back issues. I did the exercise lying on a stability ball and using one of our 2 Reverse Hyper Extention machines. **Please note that the name of the machine and exercise itself can be misleading. You do not actually go into a “hyperextention” while doing the exercise. You could, but you do not want to, especially if you have low back issues. This exercise was done everyday and most days twice per day.
Regular Workouts – I started back with my regular workouts after a few weeks of consistent therapy. I started back mainly with bodyweight exercises like squats, pushups, lunges, rotations, etc. I started with mostly slow movements and built myself back up to high intensity work intervals. I was back to close to where I was before after about 3 months of starting back my regular workouts. I was very excited to be “back”, but i became dissatisfied. This is that point in January where i decided I was going to go above where i was before the issue.
Higher Intensity, Back to Old movements– I had pretty much cut out some of the best exercises for building foundational core strength balance and stability. Some of which are Deadlifts, Olympic Lifts, Front Squats, Pullups and Dips. I decided to add these back in for good. Deadlifts and Olympic Lifts i had actually not done for several years. So I started slow and built up by consistently adding these movements to my workouts. **Now of course you dont have to do any of these resistance lifts in order to be very healthy and to have a strong and stable core, but for me these exercises helped me in huge ways as far as overall performance ability and lower back health.
Today and Beyond – Today, thankful first and foremost to God Almighty, my lower back is in great shape. Other than occasional soreness and tightness from workouts, my lower back is awesome and I expect it to stay that way. I will keep working hard and consistent on my keeping my performance at a high level, the whole time being very thankful for how far I have come. I hope that this helps you in some way. Remember, these same principles that God taught me and I used to overcome this issue are the same basic ones that you can use to overcome any issue in life.
YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE Godbless u kj