Enjoy Summer Activities without the Back Pain!

Summer is here and with the warmer weather people often resume a more active lifestyle. During the winter many of us can get a little out of shape and even put on a few extra pounds. It is important that we do not jump back into our  summer activities without first preparing our bodies. Often times without prior conditioning some of our favorite summer activities can cause low back pain. To help prevent low back pain and injuries, here are a few tips:

GOLF– Start by stretching, place a golf club behind the neck and shoulders and rotate the torso. Pulling your knees into the chest and then bending over to touch your toes. Take a few gentle warm up swings. Finally, carry the golf clubs using dual straps to evenly distribute the weight.

BIKING - See an experienced professional to adjust the bicycle to properly fit your body, use shock absorbing accessories to prevent jarring to the spine, and use proper form when biking by distributing part of the body weight to the arms and keep the chest up.

RUNNING - Wear good quality running shoes, do abdominal exercises to help stabilize the lower back, do shorter more frequent runs, while running focus on forward motion by leading with the chest and the head balanced over the chest.

TENNIS - Be fitted for a proper tennis racket as they can have different tensions that may require more trunk rotation, use a kick serve to reduce the degree of back arch, and when playing remember to bend the knees and hold the abdominals in.

GARDENING - When lifting objects out in the garden have your feet at least shoulder width apart with one foot slightly in front of the other, hold the object close to the body, bend from the knees while keeping the back straight, tighten the abdominal muscles, lift with the legs. If the object is too heavy ask for help. Also , for long weeding sessions bring a bucket to sit on to take the weight off from the feet, legs, and back. This is done by sitting on the upside down bucket and spreading legs apart so that the elbows can rest on the knees while reaching and pulling weeds.

With these helpful tips you should be able to get back to the great summer activities that we all enjoy. For more health tips and info on back pain you can visit www.spine-health.com

back to top