Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

General discussions about getting and staying fit that don't relate directly to your indoor rower
H2O
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by H2O » February 4th, 2017, 12:32 pm

I stopped rowing about 10 years ago, then did very little exercise, always sitting and developed severe back problems.
When I got on the rower again I had a back incident reliably after 10 minutes of rowing (where you walk crooked for days thereafter).

The reason was my sloppy posture on the rower. I started paying attention to the posture and the problem disappeared.
Now my back actually feels better than when I was not rowing, but still always feels slightly strained.
I think that this is normal and can be disregarded.

H2O
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by H2O » February 5th, 2017, 4:25 pm

Something else I thought of:
I have a foam roller ("foam" is misleading since they are fairly hard).
I use it for back massage.
Get the cheapest model. I ordered the cheapest as well as a better advertised one.
I prefer the cheaper version.
On amazon search for "PharMeDoc Foam Roller for Muscle Massage".
It works or me.

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Gammmmo
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by Gammmmo » February 14th, 2017, 4:24 am

Update: I simply now don't get backache with erging. I am much more aware of when my form on the erg is breaking down and possibly leading to injury, and oddly enough I feel much better now just doing a few body weight exercises every other day rather than blitzing myself in the weights room once a week. I'm not even doing core anymore. I don't require seatpads or anything on my hands when I erg either. I think I've adapted...now I just need to achieve those targets. :)
Last edited by Gammmmo on February 14th, 2017, 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Paul, 49M, 5'11" 83kg (sprint PBs HWT), ex biker now lifting
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Erg on!

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bisqeet
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by bisqeet » February 14th, 2017, 5:48 am

I was diagnosed with spinal Disc herniation about 5 years ago.
L4/L5 L5/S1
in Addition to spondylosis and General pain. Had a fair bit of pain, and dissability to the extent that the doctors decided that I was 30% disabled.
The main Problem was that because of the pain, Training was limited. Lack of Training -> more pain. it was more of a downward spiral than anything.

I decided against Operation and (beleive or not) under reccomendation of my doc - started ballroom dancing (you may laugh).
that coupled with silly excersizes (cleaning teeth / shaving on a wobble board) - and specific REHA Sport excersizes (ones that I still do btw) helped immensly.

Jogging was out / Swimming was great. Cycling to some extent ok (had to raise my bars a Little, swap in the Carbon hardtail for a 29' fully). started rowing (C2)
I had some pain to start with - stretching and Reha Sport helped here, I founbd that strapless rowing helped a lot here.
Low rateing stuff made me use my legs more, instead of pulling with my back.

This is my 3rd year rowing and yes, I can say that back pain has decreased in that time.
Not purely by rowing, but a mixture of core, stretching and strength excersizes.
I still Dance 1-2/week (with the wife), go the gym; REHA Sport with the Oldies 1/week and try to go circuit Training (strength) 2/week.
During the winter months I tend to row a lot more (5-6/week), which tends to Balance out in summer with OTW and cycling stuff.
I'm guessing all in all maybe about 10-15hrs/week

I think everybody Needs to find the right Balance - pure rowing will not be effective as a mixture of stuff.
the gymrats might laugh at ballroom dancing/ yoga / aquagymnastics and the rest of the 'old Lady sports' - but the older one gets - the less flexible one is and the more 'core' Problems one has...
Dean
2020 Season: 196cm / 96kg : M51
Training Log - ʕʘ̅͜ʘ̅ʔ -Blog
~seven days without rowing makes one weak~

ivan141
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by ivan141 » February 14th, 2017, 11:30 am

I'll first admit that I havent read every post in this thread, but I believe the following article is very important
for everyone that regularly ergs:
http://www.worldrowing.com/news/feature ... ime-120442

Personally, I have noticed a huge benefit to my lower back since I started rowing (mostly on water).
I have a desk job and used to be plagued by lower back pains at a relatively young age (nothing too serious,
but annoying non the less). Rowing with correct posture will strengthen your core and back over time.
Erging however should be approached with some caution. I've overstrained my back on 2 occasions in the past,
often after 1-hour erg sessions. Since I've read the article mentioned above I've made it a point to include a short
break every 10-12 minutes or so to allow my back to recover a bit. Havent had problems since.
M/39/99kg Image

prairiefire
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Re: Does general back pain go away in time when erging more?

Post by prairiefire » February 26th, 2017, 10:08 pm


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