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cracklover
Jan 31, 2012, 9:04 PM
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A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer.
So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking.
I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs.
And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too.
What do you think is the best way to balance things out?
Thanks,
GO
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Traches
Jan 31, 2012, 9:22 PM
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I always thought climbing was a good full-body workout, with the exception of your chest, triceps, and finger extension muscles... I know my core strength has increased dramatically in the few months that I've been able to climb regularly.
But I'm a gumby noob, so don't mind me 
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flesh
Jan 31, 2012, 10:29 PM
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cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO
You know, I've been climbing forever and I've never done anything. The only thing I routinely do are 5-10 rep shoulder presses with 15 lb dumbell a few sets after each climbing day. I never have shoulder problems if I do this.
Also, I do the medial epicondilytis (sp?) workout. This makes sure I don't get any pain where the finger muscles connect to the pointy part of the elbow. You do this by taking say a 15 lb dumbell and hold it facing the hand up. You use your free hand to lift the weight up bringing your palm and fingers closer to the bottom of your forearm, then you do the negative, you allow the weight to slowly go down, taking about 5 seconds. I do 3 sets of 10 after every climbing day, it never hurts there anymore.
In the past , for a couple years, my elbows hurt on the top part of the elbow and doing push ups and reverse wrist curls helped, but looking back on it, I was doing alot of steep lockoff training and practicing one arm pull ups, I don't train that anymore and that spot never hurts.
Not sure about your back, makes me think it's genetic or maybe due to your work or other activities, or simply climbing to much volume without enough downtime.
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cracklover
Jan 31, 2012, 10:55 PM
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flesh wrote: cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO You know, I've been climbing forever and I've never done anything. The only thing I routinely do are 5-10 rep shoulder presses with 15 lb dumbell a few sets after each climbing day. I never have shoulder problems if I do this. Also, I do the medial epicondilytis (sp?) workout. This makes sure I don't get any pain where the finger muscles connect to the pointy part of the elbow. You do this by taking say a 15 lb dumbell and hold it facing the hand up. You use your free hand to lift the weight up bringing your palm and fingers closer to the bottom of your forearm, then you do the negative, you allow the weight to slowly go down, taking about 5 seconds. I do 3 sets of 10 after every climbing day, it never hurts there anymore. In the past , for a couple years, my elbows hurt on the top part of the elbow and doing push ups and reverse wrist curls helped, but looking back on it, I was doing alot of steep lockoff training and practicing one arm pull ups, I don't train that anymore and that spot never hurts. Not sure about your back, makes me think it's genetic or maybe due to your work or other activities, or simply climbing to much volume without enough downtime.
Ya, I also do things to fight epicondylitis - but those exercises works fine, so I didn't mention.
Yes, it's certainly possible that it has nothing to do with climbing or my strength being out of balance. But I've known several climbers who got progressively worse back problems, and only quitting climbing (along with other changes) worked to solve them. I do *not* want to go there.
GO
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flesh
Jan 31, 2012, 10:59 PM
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Which part of your back?
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granite_grrl
Feb 1, 2012, 1:21 AM
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cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO
I'm curious what you have done for your back so far. I hurt my back a number of years ago but didn't do anything about it until I got a good chiropractor to help me out. She cracks my back periodically (every 1 to 3 months) but she also gave me a number of stretches and core exercises to do.
The core exercises are very important, a strong core will give you better back support and reduce the pain. The exercises I do will never give me a 6-pack, they are the deeper kind of core exercises, the sorts of ones you might get during a pilates class.
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damienclimber
Feb 1, 2012, 2:37 AM
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cracklover wrote: flesh wrote: cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO You know, I've been climbing forever and I've never done anything. The only thing I routinely do are 5-10 rep shoulder presses with 15 lb dumbell a few sets after each climbing day. I never have shoulder problems if I do this. Also, I do the medial epicondilytis (sp?) workout. This makes sure I don't get any pain where the finger muscles connect to the pointy part of the elbow. You do this by taking say a 15 lb dumbell and hold it facing the hand up. You use your free hand to lift the weight up bringing your palm and fingers closer to the bottom of your forearm, then you do the negative, you allow the weight to slowly go down, taking about 5 seconds. I do 3 sets of 10 after every climbing day, it never hurts there anymore. In the past , for a couple years, my elbows hurt on the top part of the elbow and doing push ups and reverse wrist curls helped, but looking back on it, I was doing alot of steep lockoff training and practicing one arm pull ups, I don't train that anymore and that spot never hurts. Not sure about your back, makes me think it's genetic or maybe due to your work or other activities, or simply climbing to much volume without enough downtime. Ya, I also do things to fight epicondylitis - but those exercises works fine, so I didn't mention. Yes, it's certainly possible that it has nothing to do with climbing or my strength being out of balance. But I've known several climbers who got progressively worse back problems, and only quitting climbing (along with other changes) worked to solve them. I do *not* want to go there. GO
1. Too much time on computer gives you back problems-fact
2. See a P/T for evaluation-smart
3. Get wife to walk on your back and give you massage!-fun
(or divorce her) 
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cracklover
Feb 1, 2012, 5:04 PM
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flesh wrote: Which part of your back?
Oddly, it seems to vary quite a bit. Sometimes it's lower back with symptoms radiating down one leg. Sometimes it's the middle, and sometimes it's the upper middle. Pretty much always worse on left side, though.
I strongly suspect that there's one thing that's screwy, it's just that my back tries different things to compensate for it, and those are the muscles that cramp and freak out. And then over the long term, various other sets of muscle imbalances in my back develop. But who knows. After ten years, it's a pretty tangled web no doubt.
GO
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cracklover
Feb 1, 2012, 5:15 PM
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granite_grrl wrote: cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO I'm curious what you have done for your back so far.
The following seem to have helped at times:
- hamstring stretches
- massage (especially trigger-point)
- crunches and pushups
- heat
- prescription dose ibuprofen
In reply to: I hurt my back a number of years ago but didn't do anything about it until I got a good chiropractor to help me out. She cracks my back periodically (every 1 to 3 months) but she also gave me a number of stretches and core exercises to do.
I have not tried a chiropractor. I'm kind of hoping that won't be necessary, because I'm not confident they won't do more harm than good.
In reply to: The core exercises are very important, a strong core will give you better back support and reduce the pain. The exercises I do will never give me a 6-pack, they are the deeper kind of core exercises, the sorts of ones you might get during a pilates class.
I tried pilates once. I totally and completely sucked - more evidence that I have weaknesses that are at least contributing to my issues.
GO
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olderic
Feb 1, 2012, 5:35 PM
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Any possibility that is is sciatica?
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flesh
Feb 1, 2012, 5:46 PM
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It's way beyond me. I'd repost this question in the injury forum. You'll likely get a better answer there. knock on wood, never had a back problem, been sitting at a desk for 13 years.
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granite_grrl
Feb 1, 2012, 6:59 PM
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cracklover wrote: granite_grrl wrote: cracklover wrote: A little background - I've had minor back troubles for years, and sometimes they flare up enough to keep me from climbing. They also seem to get worse the more I climb. And it doesn't help that when I'm not climbing, I'm sitting on my fat ass wasting time working on the computer. So I'm pretty sure a significant part of my problem comes from my muscles being out of balance. Pretty much the only exercise I get is climbing, hiking to climb, and some biking. I've started going to a gym to work on strengthening the things that are most weak (shoulders, chest, hamstrings), plus work on abs. And my wife just picked up the p90x thing, so I could try that too. What do you think is the best way to balance things out? Thanks, GO I'm curious what you have done for your back so far. The following seem to have helped at times: - hamstring stretches - massage (especially trigger-point) - crunches and pushups - heat - prescription dose ibuprofen In reply to: I hurt my back a number of years ago but didn't do anything about it until I got a good chiropractor to help me out. She cracks my back periodically (every 1 to 3 months) but she also gave me a number of stretches and core exercises to do. I have not tried a chiropractor. I'm kind of hoping that won't be necessary, because I'm not confident they won't do more harm than good. In reply to: The core exercises are very important, a strong core will give you better back support and reduce the pain. The exercises I do will never give me a 6-pack, they are the deeper kind of core exercises, the sorts of ones you might get during a pilates class. I tried pilates once. I totally and completely sucked - more evidence that I have weaknesses that are at least contributing to my issues. GO
I found out all this after sending my xrays to a chiropractor (I don't really trust most GPs for taking time with soft tissue problems). I've heard a lot of horror stories about chiropractors and I think I have a good one. She has always done a combination of Arctive Relese Technique, some back cracking, stretching and has shown me a variety of exercises to strengthen my core. It's an all in one package for me, but maybe the best for you would be PT, or maybe massage therapy.
One thing that I have noticed for myself and have self diagnosed with the help of my chiropractor is the tightness of my hips effecting my back. I've heard of a lot of people having back problems from tight hamstrings, but keep your eyes open for other things that might be effecting you as well.
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ecade
Feb 1, 2012, 8:25 PM
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Hey,
i've got a similar problem too, Don't know where you get it, I get it in my lower back. Doc said its acute arthritis but i'm only 28 and i refuse to believe him, mind over matter right :)
Stretching and some core workouts help strengthen my back, but the most important for me has been
POSTURE, its just annoying that its an ongoing struggle.
If i keep good posture, i don't get the flaring pains.
I also find that Top Roping makes it flare more than lead climbing. IMHO because top rope falls are jerkier (fall on anchor) while lead falls, if your belayer is good, can be more cushioned.
And when it really flairs up, I take a bath with epsom salts and a glass of scotch. Also after a tough day on the rock, especially outdoor trad when i'm carrying a heavy pack, i take an anti-inflammatory for a couple days following the session. Also, sleeping on my hardwood floor with just a thin foam pad helps too.
heal up soon and happy n safe climbing
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Gmburns2000
Feb 1, 2012, 10:04 PM
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I've always heard that a good way to improve your back problems is to improve your core.
Barring that, I swim a lot and that has made a big difference in my ability to move about in ways that walking, riding a bike, or generally working out don't give me.
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IvanL
Feb 1, 2012, 11:27 PM
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I've recently been getting PT for a minor lower back fracture I sustained a couple of months ago. The physio has been getting me to strengthen my core, specifically my T.A (transversus abdominis). He has been building me up from just lying on my back tensing it (you can feel it by putting your fingers just below where your pants sit). The key is that you must not let your abs engage, feel them with your thumb and make sure they are not tensing. From there you can advance by starting to take a foot or two off the ground with your knees bent up (still making sure your back stays flat and your abs do not tense up), then after a while you can start straightening your legs as the TA muscle gets stronger and also moving your legs to the side while keeping your hips straight.
Iva been doing this for a week or so and it has already been really good for increasing my mobility and has stopped a lot of the pain I have been getting in my back muscles from activity. Seems like having a stronger TA could probably settle down a lot of back pain issues, definitely worth a try.
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cracklover
Feb 4, 2012, 5:54 PM
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Well, thanks, all, for the stories and advice.
Cheers,
GO
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