Concept2 Forum

Second query in this forum:

My first sport was cycling and I did some major, mountainous, long-distance touring, but I developed lower-back (LB) problems that forced me to radically cut back on the mileage. By the time my back went sour, I had gotten into running and am virtually pain-free - in the back, anyway - when I run. I'm enjoying CII rowing again as well, but I find I get serious LB discomfort by around the 40-45min mark. I've been able to get some relief by wiggling around a bit, and shifting a bit more of the load to the arms, upping the stroke rate a bit. The form is not as good, but it has saved me from abandoning a few time trials. I've done the ½mar twice, and I was fairly satisfied with the time I achieved on the more recent one, but I came close to abandoning both around the hr mark when the pain was at its worst. I'd love to try the marathon distance at some point - I've done 49 running, so I'm not daunted by the distance - but the concern about LB (and glute) pain is too daunting at this point.

I know everyone's body is different, and it's already idiosyncratic that my cycling back pain can be relieved when running, while others experience serious back pain only when running, but... any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.

Stan

PS I tried to add the signature with my times at different distances, was 'told' I had successfully updated my profile, but it doesn't appear. Where exactly do I need to enter the link info for it to appear? More thanks.

Re: back and glute pain. I find it better when i sit as far forward on the seat as I can.
Re: signature. Make sure the disable bbcode check box is NOT checked on the page where you paste in your signature.

MarathonStan wrote:
PS I tried to add the signature with my times at different distances, was 'told' I had successfully updated my profile, but it doesn't appear. Where exactly do I need to enter the link info for it to appear? More thanks.

http://www.c2forum.com/ucp.php?i=prefs&mode=post look at the third radio button ("Attach my signature by default:") on that part of the user control panel.

Stan: My thread on this site was about back pain and my specific overuse injury. My only advice to you is to listen to your body and perhaps stop running and erging for a little while at least. We've been trained as athletes to push through pain, but that's the wrong answer. If your body hurts please stop what you're doing and do something else. I know that's easier said than done, but you really have to listen when you're body says stop. This will hopefully avert a great deal of personal agony in the future. Good luck!

Make sure that you do a little balance work for the back. Like using some bands wrapped around the back pushing away from the body to balance all the pulling work done while using the erg.

We should have a set of balance workout suggestions for the erg. The one above is one I came up with since having some nerve pinching in the back thinking that it is coming from over use of only the pulling motion.