Lower Back Pain

[old] gaffano · Post by **[old] gaffano** » October 2nd, 2004, 3:15 pm

I have been using my ERG at the local gym 3x week for the last month. Sometimes I get lower back pain duing my 5000k/25 minute routine. I have watched the training video and think my form is good. Is it common to experience lower back pain? Is this just a new conditioning problem? I am scared to do any damage that might cause chronic back pain down the road.... thanks...

[old] stkcoal@comcast.net · Post by **[old] stkcoal@comcast.net** » October 2nd, 2004, 9:12 pm

Gaffano, if you have been erging for 3 weeks, chances are your back problem is related to poor technique. I see people erging with poor technique every day at my YMCA. I erged over 1 mil meters with poor technique and couldn't understand why my back was bothering me. Thanks to discovering Paul Smith I am learning proper technique and I no longer have back problems. I think one of the problems is that the health club members think that hopping on the erg is the same as hopping on the treadmill or the crosstrainer. It isn't! Just because the erg is lined up next to all this other equipment doesn't mean you can just hop on and expect to row on a regular basis and not have a back problem without some instruction. Joe Drinon 60/lwt

[old] gaffano · Post by **[old] gaffano** » October 3rd, 2004, 11:56 pm

Who is Paul Smith????

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » October 4th, 2004, 12:16 am

Gaffano, Be sure you are keeping your back straight through the stroke, especially your lower back, and rotate from your hips.

[old] stkcoal@comcast.net · Post by **[old] stkcoal@comcast.net** » October 4th, 2004, 8:50 pm

Gaffano, Go to (www.ps.sport.net) if you want to know who Paul Smith is. Paul is a contributer to this Forum and a great coach. He coaches me online and I highly recommend him. Keep in mind the straps act as a crutch and allow you sway back more then you should if you want to prevent back strain. I think that the advice you received on bending at the waist is great but difficult to do without straining your back if you start your recovery with too great a body angle. Strapless erging will prevent this error in technique. Paul Smith posts quite often in this Forum. I have erged over 1 mill meters strapless and at 10 meters per stroke (s10ms) with Paul coaching. My back is fine and my erging is improving. Joe Drinon 60/lwt

[old] stkcoal@comcast.net · Post by **[old] stkcoal@comcast.net** » October 4th, 2004, 8:52 pm

I should say rotate at the hips, sorry. Joe Drinon

[old] PaulS · Post by **[old] PaulS** » October 4th, 2004, 11:19 pm

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE (stkcoal@comcast.net @ Oct 5 2004, 12:50 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Go to (www.ps.sport.net) if you want to know who Paul Smith is. Joe Drinon 60/lwt </td></tr></table> Or <a href='http://www.ps-sport.net' target='_blank'>http://www.ps-sport.net</a> will work. (I can't be too harsh, I type ".com" once myself. DOH!) Erg on, Paul Smith

[old] grams · Post by **[old] grams** » October 5th, 2004, 7:24 pm

Put the damper down to 3, and row without using the straps at about 20 strokes per minute, coordinated so that you do about 10 meters/stroke. Rmember that your recovery time (the trip from the back of the erg to the front) should take about twice as long as the stroke. I started erging to cure my back pain and it worked. At first I was trying too hard so I was making my back and shoulders do too much work. Slowing down using the suggestions above really helped. grams

[old] brucedarby · Post by **[old] brucedarby** » October 7th, 2004, 8:40 pm

One of the reasons I took up rowing was because I have back pain. My chiropractor told me that if I strengthen my abs it would provide better support for my lower back. I have been rowing for about a month now and up until I bought my C2 I lived with back pain constantly. My back pain is now almost entirely gone. The C2 video on rowing technique has helped me to do the movement correctly. Bruce Darby

[old] David Speed · Post by **[old] David Speed** » October 8th, 2004, 7:35 am

As a back pain sufferer, my catch all tips would be: 1) Set the resistancve low - drag factor of ~125 2) Concentrate on good posture, no slouching on the rower 3) Accelerate smoothly through the drive - don't snatch the catch! 4) Avoid hard sprint work and concentrate on the longer work until the strength builds up in the back 5) Do back mobility exercise before and after training to ensure the back is warmed through before rowing. If the back does start aching, walking slowly on an incline on the treadmill can prove quite therapeutic (that spelling just looks wrong )

[old] c2jonw · Post by **[old] c2jonw** » October 8th, 2004, 8:28 am

Gaffano- The one thing I would add to all this is that rowing is an activity that engages the back muscles more than most other sports. So it's important to work into it slowly. JonW

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