Taking care of my lower back and knees

[suzannebea1975]

F35, 157cm (5’2), 59kg (130lb). One child. 4x week lifting, 1x swim, 3x run 7km(5miles)

Before every type of activity I do warm ups and finish my workout with stretches.

Q.1. I’ve recently started feeling tension and discomfort in my lower back after my exercises. I’m took a couple of days break and I’m more concious about my lifting and exercise techniques. But it is now affecting my sleep and overall I keep feeling that something is off. How do you take care of your lower back? Are there any supplements? Or lower back specific warm ups/stretches? Any advice welcome

Q.2. I also recently started feeling my knees when I run. How do you take care of your knees? Supplements? Warm up/stretches? Vitamins? Any advice welcome!

Thanks!

 

[dawn16]

@suzannebea1975 I have back problems. If you go on YouTube and search “original 12 minute foundation training workout by Dr. Eric Goodman” it’s a really good exercise that’s helped my lower back. It’s tough to get through sometimes, so sometimes I just do a couple moves from it, but it has helped so much with my lower back problems.
Also, if it’s feasible, I’d recommend going to see a physiotherapist. They can tell you what’s going on so you don’t accidentally make anything worse. I’ve had back problems for years and at first I’d let them pile up until I was crippled and it took months to get better, but now when my back is off and doing all the stretches and exercises that help aren’t doing the job, I go to the physiotherapist.
I’d avoid doing any exercises that put a lot of load bearing on your lower back in the meantime. Do alternative exercises that don’t use the lower back as much.

 

[viendieutrinamdonga]

@suzannebea1975 Are the warm ups you’re doing warming up the areas you’re working out? Sorry if this seems like a silly question but I definitely hurt something once because I felt like I was warming up properly but it was all warm ups that focused on areas that were not as active during the workouts I was doing.

If you think you are, have someone double check your form for weight lifting, you might be doing something in correctly and now it is causing tweaks.

No advice re: knees and running beyond making sure your calves are part of your warm up. I have plantar fasciitis and my podiatrist said part of it was because I was not stretching my calves enough and the tension had to go somewhere — for me it went down to my foot first, but I was also at risk of it going up to my knees.

If you are flat footed make sure your shoes have enough support because doing squats my form is slightly off as my feet shift slightly to compensate for the fact that I don’t have a natural arc.

 

[suzannebea1975]

@viendieutrinamdonga Thank you!!

 

[nobillis]

@suzannebea1975 Lower back pain is usually from tight hips, glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Make sure you’re stretching properly everyday.

 

[billbennet]

@nobillis Yeah I was going to add that OP might want to make sure she has good ankle mobility as well, and possibly needs to change running shoes.

 

[dawn16]

@suzannebea1975 Knee pain is from weak glutes and hip flexors….
I learned that from a Physical therapist/CPT. My knees used to hurt at mile 5 of a hike. I began lifting weights to strengthen my lower body and I can now hike 10 miles with no knee pain. Seeing how you have lower back pain, I highly recommend a deep stretch before and after lifting.

 

[suzannebea1975]

@dawn16 That’s great thanks - I started a glutes and lower body focused weight lifting training a month ago, so I’m glad to hear this will positively impact my knees.

As for my lower back. What is a deep stretch?

 

[dawn16]

@suzannebea1975 Here’s
A good article that talks about several stretches you can do for the lower back, which is connected to tight hip flexors. 1, 2, 3, 6, & 11 are my favorite stretches.