Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lower

lower back pain after lifting legs in the gym.

l2yangop — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:50:14 -0800

lower back pain after lifting legs in the gym. I lifted legs (squats, lunges, etc) about 2 weeks ago at the gym and ever since then I have been experiencing persistent lower back pain. it is not sharp, just constant. It gets worse when i bend sown or get up from sitting. I didnt notice anything at the time of my workout that i can point to, and perhaps its even just a coincidence. but i am wondering if need to see a doctor or will it eventually go away? i cant really afford to be seen.

also, do i need to quit working out all muscle groups for the time being or is upper body still ok?

Lowering Blood Pressure in the short-term

ilovehistory — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:46:15 -0800

What are immediate methods to lower my blood pressure? I find that my blood pressure fluctuates several points, as does everyone's. What are methods I can use 24 hours before having my blood pressure measured to make sure it's as low as possible?

Methods I'm already aware of: refrain from ANY caffeine / salt, sit down for as long as possible, do breathing exercises in the morning.

Questions remain like would it be a good idea to do an intense workout the night before? Is it good to do it shortly after I wake up or later in the day?

What am I missing?

I am 27 yo with an average BP of 100/72. In very good health.

(The reason I am asking is because I have a fitness test coming up and I want to do everything in my power to pass. I am already doing long term solutions.)

Bend Over Beethoven

Christ, what an asshole — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:28:39 -0800

Hoping someone can help diagnose what my lower back pain is. A month ago, I was at the gym, doing lower back exercises, and I probably pushed myself a little too hard and didn't use the best form. I didn't feel any pain, and continued on to play some basketball. It's when I got home and got up from my car seat that I felt a slight twinge of discomfort. It's not chronic, and while subsiding in degree of discomfort over time, it only appears when I get up from a seat or am bending over too long. I gave myself a week before resuming activity (as well as when I didn't notice any more discomfort), and while working out is fine (I won't dare test my lower back in that respect), it's when I go running or play basketball that the discomfort is reaggravated. I decided to hold out on any cardio for a couple weeks, but this morning, it came back after an hour of basketball.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether it's a muscle, tendon, or ligament, and how I can best go about rehabilitating it.

The focus of the pain sits distinctly above the iliac crests. Along with when I'm bent over, I can feel the pain when I massage the area.

I'll be taking care of further cardio by using a stationary bike and taking as much stress off the lower back as I can, but the freedom of mobility is paramount to my sanity. Any prospective ideas?

/uninsured

Help with my lower back pain issue

huxley — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:25:56 -0800

Intense lower back pain on the left side. It's also painful down the side of my left leg. After being stiff and mostly inactive this winter I was doing some deep knee beds and intense hamstring stretches, now I'm in a huge amount of pain. My health insurance has a hefty deductible and am hoping to avoid the doctor's office. Any ideas on what to do to relieve the pain?

The Pit of Despair claims to really work on back pain

sociolibrarian — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:17:13 -0800

What are your experiences with non-surgical alternatives to a herniated lower back disc? I'm wondering about various non-surgical alternatives to relieving a herniated lower back disc. I'm personally okay back-wise but I have a friend with some real issues. I ran across this therapy (http://www.spineamericaonline.com/faq.html), which honestly seems a bit quackish (and expensive), but claims to have helped thousands. Has anybody used this and had success? I get the idea behind IDD - basically the rack. The quackish part seems to be high prices for that treatment and touted rates of eighty-five percent success (which all link back to one article from 1997 with a trial of like 30 people and "preliminary" results)

If you've had successful non-surgical treatment for your herniated disc, what was it?

Any research you previously viewed, that you found helpful is great. Here's a thread from 2 & 1/2 years ago on AskMe. (If you commented in that thread, I'd love to hear how you're doing today. Or, for some of you, I'd love to hear how high your StepFather currently is.)

Help me help my body!

damiano99 — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:19:46 -0800

Workout Filter: I've hit the end of my 8 week cycle. Help me layout a new routine. The gym trainer gave me one, but I'm looking for second opinions/other ideas. (More inside) This year, I've finally gotten my physical (i.e. workout) routine down and am making progress. I started out doing a 3 day split with a partner and it worked fine, but now I'm ready to change into a different routine and my workout buddy is gone. I want to do a 2 day split (upper one day, lower the next) spaced out with cardio and doing abs and calves everyday. The reasons for this are that I've got the time for a full upper/lower each day and so I can work the different muscle groups multiple times over the week. I'm not wanting to look like a ultra-pretty boy, my goal is simply to add some good muscle to help eat up the fat on my gut and to particularly do some good work on my shoulders and chest.

The gym trainer gave me the following "basic" schedule. I'm hoping some good mefi's can help me flesh it out and tell me if its good. He seems knowledgable but some people in the gym told me they don't think he knows what he thinks he knows ... you know?

Day 1: Upper, ended with 20 min light cardio
Day 2: Lower, ended with 20 min body bag
Day 3: HIIT Cardio, 30 min
Day 4: Upper, ended with 20 min light cardio
Day 5: Lower, ended with 20 min body bag
Day 6: HIIT Cardio, 30 min
Day 7: Off

Since I'm now working out alone, he suggested that instead of doing pyramid with the weight, to instead take about 60%-70% of what I can do in each exercise and simply do it to failure in reps of 12 slowly concentrating on form. Then after I've done all my groups, start over and do it again with 80%-90% until failure again. Everything is done with no more than 30 seconds rest between sets and/or exercises. Everything except a squats and lower leg is done with dumbells. Is that crap or is it good theory? I'm in a good place mentally to handle all this and am psyched about changing routines and whatnot, I'd really like to know if this is a good routine to follow.

Any ideas, comments, suggestions are welcome! He didn't give me a list of exercises, he just gave me the basic outline and theory. I'd deeply appreciate it if anyone had a good basic 2 day split routine I could copy that focuses on the "musts" excercises and not all the pretty boy things. I should add at the end, that when I wake up each morning I do about 30 minutes of Yoga, to stretch everything out.

Many thanks!

What's the best way to lower my resting heart rate?

Geoffh — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:19:38 -0800

What's the best way to lower my resting heart rate? I'm slightly overweight, and exersice just a few times a week. I've read a ton of literature that says a lower heart rate leads to a longer life. Any tips? Exercises that'll help? I'm slightly overweight, and exersice just a few times a week. I've read a ton of literature that says a lower heart rate leads to a longer life. Any tips? Exercises that'll help?

Brokeback: Why does it go numb when I ride?

|n$eCur3 — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 13:23:54 -0800

When I ride my bike for extended periods of time (30 minutes or more) the left side of my lower back goes numb. When I dismount, I regain feeling within 5 seconds and there is never any associated pain. Is this bad? Back when I was riding competitively I still had the same problem, but my handlebars were quite a bit lower for aerodynamics (plus I always figured that discomfort was just a natural part of racing).

Since I quit racing, I talked to a trainer who suggested that I shell out the cash to have my bike erognomically fit. I did that and my bike is quite a bit more comfortable (though not terribly aerodynamic) but the numbness still happens.

What is causing this? And will this affect anything in the long run? I know that you are not doctors and that I should see one, but have any Mefites had experience dealing with similar numbness? Why is it unilateral?

Herniated Discs--Lower Back Problems

Maishe — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 18:48:39 -0800

Wondering if anyone has herniated a disc in the lower lumbar spine. If so, how long did it take to heal? What did you do to alleviate the pain? I have had pain for 2 years now and am wondering if I should have surgery, or what other routes I should take to get rid of the pain. Any suggestions?