Why my back loves pull-ups.

While searching for exercises which could be done at home to keep the body fit and also add some muscle, I encountered this video Super Pull Up Workout. The exercise seemed simple to do in a home environment. I got myself a Pull-up bar and attached it to my bedroom door.

Now one of the things i really liked is that the trainer here specifically mentions how pull ups help your back muscles. And this was one of the main reasons, apart form his awesome physique, that inspired me to do these exercises. As i started doing my pull-ups, slowly and cautiously off course, i realized that my back felt better after the routines. The pain was lesser and the flexibility was more.

Now as much as I know my body I can trace this back to two reasons only:

Strength: Back muscles, specifically the lower back ones, are hard to train and are often ignored. These pull-ups added strength to my back muscles and hence could be reason why my back pain felt reduced.

Stretch: We all know how slipped-disc occurs. The gel which is present in your disc moves out, as the outer wall ruptures, and hence affects the position of your spinal bones. Now, while i was doing my pull-ups, or sometimes just hanging from the bar, i realized that this activity is stretching my spine. I would not like to say that because it stretches the area between two spinal bones it is lending a hand to let the gel based liquid get back in line. But I am sure gravity acts in a way to help the gel get back into the default position.  Or may be it is just a little flexibility it gives to the back in a way normal body stretching exercises give to other body parts.

Bottom line: For me they have really helped me deal with my back pain and i hope that they help you too.

-Out

How does some ‘Me time’ help you deal with that back pain.

All work and no play makes Ram Naresh a dull, scarcely muscular, boring, badly groomed boy with poor vocabulary and ancient dancing skills. It is very important to spend some time on oneself.  When you work on improving yourself everything around you gets better. You learn about carpets and that helps you buy a great piece for your living room.  You learn to dance and girls/boys want to dance with you at a club or a party.

What does all this have to do with Back-pain?

Let me go all ‘science student’ on you and explain through some bullet points. :)

• Spending time on oneself develops a lot of confidence and a confident person gets less stressed out because they know they can handle the toughest situations. A stressed out person increases his chances of contracting back pain and off course the longer the stress periods the more vulnerable you become. I have covered the reasons in one of my previous blogs. Do check.

• I am assuming that spending some time on oneself does include some form of exercise be it swimming, outdoor sports, dance or hitting the gym. Exercise in all its forms helps you loosen up your muscles and strengthen them. A muscle which is strong in any part of your body will help you deal with back pain. This has really worked for me. I have observed myself go through a process of regular exercises. I can say that, for instance, strong legs are also quite helpful in combating back pain. They are not as helpful as maybe your abdominal muscles or your back muscles which directly affect your back but they do affect posture, walk and act as buffer for absorbing some stress in situations when you have sudden jerk or a back and forth motion. 

• Doing something you love will always force you to spend your calories. Unless what you like is an activity in which you need to be stationary like watching a movie or reading a book.  Burning your calories will help you shed some of that extra weight. It will help you deal with my unwanted friend Suresh-the belly.  And I like to believe that a lighter body implies that the stress on that vertebra is lesser. Just in the same way that a thinner person will have a benefit while dealing with his/her knee pain as compared to a person who is, let’s say, 10-20 kgs heavier.

So, take that well deserved Time-out and help yourself have a healthier back.

-Out

When my belly had to be given had to be given its own name.

Bad eating habits make your back condition difficult to manage.  Bad timings, fat filled junk food and that lovely ice cold beer all help you get that nice grip around your waist called love handles.

Suresh was discovered one day while my friend was walking towards me from a distance. I saw his huge belly move up and down in slow motion. It was baywatch gone bad, really really bad!! The belly was so big that we had to establish it as a separate identity. Reference to it only as a beer belly seemed inadequate.

Hence was born Suresh: The Belly.

As per my observation, my back did hurt the most during days when Suresh was at his maximum size. These brief periods were followed by lots of crunches and other such exercises. These were not rigorous exercises but slow concentrated ones that would take a bit longer to show results but they would not irritate my sensitive back.

You don’t need to take your shirt off and see that the belly is directly connected to your back. Each gram of weight you add to your belly directly affects your back. Since I had a back condition it was imperative that I reduced my Suresh. As I worked on it, the strain on my back reduced not only because of its reduction but because of the muscles on my abdominals getting stronger. I had a neat 2 pack in summer of 2010 :)

Key, for me, to taking care of my back is taking care of my Suresh.

-Out

Stress: Just like my second girlfriend

I am not sure if this will really work for you.

Stress is like a very bad girlfriend. She will affect you physically, emotionally, mentally and even financially.

Overall stress does not let you live to your maximum abilities. It holds you back. It reduces your productivity and forces you to be mediocre in everything that you do. In extreme moments I would imagine it feels somewhat like a flash grenade has gone off next to you. All your senses are compromised and your thinking is highly impaired.

I have a few experiences on how stress has affected my performances from a routine task in the office to one specific important interview. But I shall focus more on how it affects you physically.

Stress is mostly caused by work/studies or relationship. Mine was all work. Well almost all.
Whenever I was stressed, my muscles would tense up. We hold a lot of our stress tension in our back, neck, and shoulders and if not relieved, it can cause significant pain and tenderness.

Since I had a pre existing back condition, for some reason, few stressful hours would give me much more pain than many routine days put together. I am sure it has to do with something more than just stiffness in the muscles. May be something hormonal but I am not sure.

The two things that helped me deal with stress were having fun at work and regular yoga/ back exercises when I reached home. Fortunately I was working in advertising. Even though the hours are really long, you do have access to a lot of fun things in an agency. Most ( good :) ) seniors believe in getting good work done. Rest is mostly not important.

This might work for you. Or maybe you fancy a few drinks at the end of the day? Do the thing that makes you relax. But do pair this with some back exercises.

-Out

Sitting at one place endlessly

If you are that person who sits at one place for hours together mostly staring at a computer then your back is not a happy camper.

The problem with sitting at one place is that as your body and mind get tired  forcing your back to form a curve. It is natural for a back to do that. It is trying to get in a position where it does not have to spend a lot of energy trying to support your body. Your back has a natural shape which helps you walk, run and have fun in bed. But if you put such pressures on it for long periods of time it will start complaining.

Here are a few things you can do to take care of your back while at work:

1. Exercise: I love this exercise. It helps me avoid the back pain. 
1. Sit up straight on your chair with your legs forming a 90 degree angle with the ground. Sit at the edge of your chair.
2. Slide your right leg ahead so that the toe faces the ceiling. 
3. Now, keeping your back straight, lean forward. Notice that you feel pressure on your right leg. 
4. Lean for only about 10-15 degrees and hold for 10 secs.
5. Repeat the same for your other leg. 
6. Do this exercise 5 times for each leg.
2. Walk: Take breaks every 45 mins and walk around a bit. A good thing to do is have a glass of water in these breaks.
3. Stretch: Do a good ol' fashion stretch at your desk.

These simple things help me and I am sure they will help you during your hard working days too.

-Out

Usual suspect No.1 : Traveling

Release clutch, press break, release clutch, accelerate, change gear, accelerate, break... daily routine for a person stuck in traffic with everyone else who is going to work at 8:45 am.

While your siting on the drivers seat with an existing back problem you start feeling as if every time you work your magic with the legs there is a slight reminder given to you by your lower back that it exists.
I had the grave misfortune of taking my car out 3 months post my slipped disk attack. It was horrible, painful and something that my back did not forgive me for.

I should have avoided it.

If you don't drive and take a bus, rickshaw or a taxi to the office then you might not be in a better situation.

It is universally known that the rickshaw has the worst suspension ever made by man. Every small pot hole on the road makes your back feel as if it were driving through the craters on the moon. An overcrowded bus on the other hand forces you to stand with your bag through most of your 40 min travel. While the taxi has a bad suspension it is still comparatively better.

The things that worked for me were:

• Carrying no bags to work. (Easy for me since I am a guy and mostly the female employees need to carry their daily supplies)
• Whenever I was required to carry things home, I tried to leave the not so important ones at work because, here is the important part, I believe that one should not take work home. 10 - 12 hours of slavery is enough. Don't you think ?
• While traveling in a rickshaw I made sure I moved a bit ahead so as to not touch my back to the seat when going over a pothole. It reduced the effect of the jerk. But if you have good company then just good cuddle can absorb the pressure. That way it is romantic while taking care of your back. :)
• If I have to travel by bus I made sure I stepped on the first step, which is generally higher, by putting more pressure on my knees. Also always kept my eye out for a spot to sit.
• Most importantly I always wore shoes which were good to walk in. I went to a party once at LSE and ended up dancing for about 4 hours. Not only did my feet hurt because the shoes had very bad balance, although they got me a few compliments :) , but they also made my back hurt a lot that night. I went the next day spent a few extra and got a good pair of sneakers.

So basically i travel light while wearing right. True story.

-Out

Living the wrong lifestyle

In a city like Mumbai, young professionals like me spend 6 days in a week travelling or sitting in front of the computer in an attempt to get their work done while staring at the 'targets of the week' pinned to their board right behind the computer screen and eating their lunch at the same time.

This typical scene has the basic ingredients which gave me 6 months of agony in '09 :

1. Long hours of travel everyday
2. Sitting at one place endlessly
3. Stress
4. Bad eating habits
5. No time for oneself

I will go into these a bit more in detail in my coming entries.

-Out