Am I almost past this back spasms? Some treatment successes to pass along

So today marks the three week mark from the first really bad back spasms and three days since a minor relapse.  The relapse was shocking because I had been to the chiropractor the day before, but probably walked too much that afternoon plus moved a few pieces of furniture (fairly light ones though) that evening.

What seems to be working:

Lots of laying flat and sitting in stiff backed chairs.

Avoiding slumping and overstuffed furniture (very common now-a-days and not healthy in general!)

Lots of water

Less caffeine

Stretching-the yoga name for the stretch is Supta Padangusthasana (say that tonight with a Halloween caramel chew in your mouth!).  It's the one where you lie flat on your back, put a strap around your foot or at least big toe and pull your straight leg up toward your head.

    Oddly enough, my left leg, the asymptomatic one, is generally harder to stretch with more tightness and pain when in the stretch.  So I've eased off a little and only stretch to about 80-90% range of motion.

Hopefully this continues to resolve and light activity helps as I have to be moving around some!

The Back Spasm came back so....

Yesterday morning early on I bent over to scoop up our tiny new puppy and, uh-oh, quick twinge up the right side of the back.  It was right where I've been sore for the two and a half weeks since my last back spasm, so I knew what was coming.

Later in the day I was still sore but not really having spasms, hoping the previous day's chiropractic adjustment and light walking and stretching had helped.  Nope-around lunchtime I bumped into a chair with my right hip and felt another twinge.  Then a few minutes later I bent down to get something under the kitchen sink, moved the garbage can which wasn't even full and BAM full on, knee buckling back spasm again.

AGH.  What is going on?  I slowly breathed through the spasm, gently resumed moving around and finished the tasks I had to complete with some help from one of our daughters.  I then went and laid down on a heating pad for about 15 minutes.  When I went back to work, I was conscientious to sit in a firm backed chair or stand with good posture for a few hours.  I also took it easy the rest of the day, including more sessions sitting in straight backed chairs or laying flat with my legs either extended or bent at a 90 degree angle.  Well, all that worked-while sore this morning, it is nowhere near as bad as most days after spasms.  Hopefully I'm getting on top of this.  My activities over the past few days shouldn't have been this traumatic, so I looked for other causes.

One is likely my diet and caffeine intake.  I've probably allowed myself to be a little dehydrated while recovering from the previous spasms and kept my caffeine intake as high or higher than usual.  Caffeine can be of some value in pain treatment-many headache pills and other analgesics contain small amounts of caffeine to enhance effectiveness, but too much caffeine is widely mentioned negatively when having back spasms.  I'm going to limit my coffee and other caffeine sources for the next few days while increasing my water consumption.  The same sites mention the usual supplements too: Vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium and calcium are all likely needed too.

So to sum up, holistic, non drug treatments I'm implementing better late than never to support back spasm recovery:

Increase water consumption throughout the day
Decrease caffeine from coffee and food sources
Increase fresh fruits and vegetables and calcium sources (milk, cheese, hmm ICE CREAM?)
Continue supplementation
Increase stretching to 80-90% range of motion and relaxation exercises

Hopefully on the back side of this (no pun intended!)

Malibu CA Spartan Race coming up-Sign up here!

Are you looking for a challenge?  Are you looking to get involved with adventure racing?  Are you a Spartan and ready for the test?

If you are interested in the Malibu Sprint Spartan Race on December 6th, can you help me out and sign up through this blog?  I'll update all the banners as more info becomes available, but they should be "live" now.  Enjoy a scenic but tough course in beautiful Malibu CA!

Finally back working out

After the back spasm and follow-on tightness/pain I was able to get back into the gym today.  I did a very easy warm-up and calisthenics session first.  It wasn't much more than a modified Crossfit warm-up and some yoga to be honest.  A few twinges and tweaks but over-all ok.  I then went and rode a Lifecycle for about 20 minutes.  Again, wasn't pushing hard-mostly spinning along at what would have been my warm-up pedal a few years ago.

Will be interested to see how I feel tonight and tomorrow.  But it was great to at least be athletic if even just a little bit!

Back spasm or tight Psoas?

About a week and a half ago I had a brutal set of back spasms.  Over about 24 hours I had multiple painful jerking spasms in my back, often resulting in my knees buckling.  I also noticed tightening and spasms along my groin/thighs and inner knees.  Over the day my hips became imbalanced and I noticed a distinct "tilt" to the left when standing.  I know some of this has been caused in the past by tight psoas mucles, aka the "hip flexors" or for those who hunt, the equivalent of the "tenderloin" in other mammals.  And yes, my loins were tender!  As I rested on a heating pad on my back, I checked my hip flexors and they were tight.  So tight they felt like solid cables, not flexible muscles!

So all weekend activities were canceled, lots of rest, NSAIDs, heating pad (heat is better than ice for muscle spasms btw) and gentle stretching.  Standing up felt better than anything except laying flat, so I mainly stood around and walked or laid flat.  Ugh.  Over the next week everything slowly resolved and now I'm back to slowly increasing range of motion and confidence in loading my back muscles.  So here's some tips-mainly for me for next time, but if they help you that would be good too:

-Stretch.  Daily.  Stay ahead of problems

-Heat as soon as spasms start.  No ice for muscle spasms-save RICE for injuries/overuse problems

-Stay ahead of anti-inflammation with NSAIDs and lots of water.

-Understand your limitations as you age.  When workouts become irregular, be extra careful with lifting/bending.

-Alignment care is a must!  I'm ok with chiropractors but others use other methods.

I hope this one is just about over, and you don't suffer from muscle spasms.  This was a bad one!

Quick post-tried a new variety of sweet potato today

Today Poway had its weekly farmer's market and I had the chance to walk through it.  There are some favorite booths-the hummus stands, the "Bitchin' Sauce" made with almonds, the coffee stand and lots of others.  One place specialized in sweet potatoes!  Oh yeah.  Well, he advertised a white sweet potato I had heard of but had forgotten about and never have tried.  The variety is called O'Henry.  While they look like a light regular potato, they are sweet potatoes, just not the usual dark skin and orange flesh.

So I had to get one, and microwaved it as part of my supper.  I also had some English peas and left over chicken skewer.  Let me tell you-the O'Henry potato was great with some real butter on it!  I'll be picking more up next week if I can't find them at local groceries this week.

One more update on the "new" diet

Yesterday I gave blood and today I had a paramed exam done for a life insurance policy.  My blood pressure numbers are lower than they have been in years, maybe decades.  I'm pretty sure this is due to the better diet since June-much less fried food, way less french fries, not as much salty snacks like chips and crackers, and the 15 pound or so weight loss.  I'm still drinking lots of coffee and didn't really pick up the aerobic exercise, so it's got to be diet related.

Again-Eat it as close to how God made it as possible!  Stay to the outside of the grocery store, and avoid fast food!

Blog maintenance and goals

Just a quick post checking my blog hits overnight.  My usual handful of crawlers and maybe one or two readers, but still not much.  I know I need to post more frequently, so I'm thinking of topics and links I can share.

So as a start, here's a link to Mehdi's Stronglifts 5x5 page: Stronglifts 5x5: A Simple Workout....

While there may be some sort of reciprocal marketing scheme he runs as I think SL 5x5 is Mehdi's livelihood, I don't sell anything via him.  I guess you could say I market him though, as I've turned some friends into 5x5 workout fans too.

Well, that's it for this post!  Three days in a row atleast.

Real food is more filling without bloating

Returned from yet another week on the road this weekend.  While I enjoy my job and some travel I find my diet is pretty hit and miss on the road, especially the shorter trips.  On longer trips I stock the hotel room fridge and have eaten very well.  But sometimes.....yeah, restaurant meals for lunch and supper, appetizers split among the team, maybe a drink or two some nights.  Next thing I know, I feel fairly full 24/7 but keep eating the hotel breakfast, quick lunches and big suppers.


Today I ate a fairly high carb snack for breakfast (oops) and mainly coffee the rest of the day.  So I went to the grocery, picked up a whole roaster chicken and headed home to cut it up and grill it.  After longer than I expected hacking it apart (out of practice!) I had five or so skewers, the wings and the lower quarters seasoned and in the fridge.  Out to the grill, open a can of sweet peas and pop two pieces of bread into the toaster.  Chicken on the grill, peas in the microwave-yes, not fresh, but at least some veggies, and the bread in the toaster.  Once the bread popped, I spread some cheese spread on them, keep turning the chicken and heat the peas.  Supper was a serving of peas, two pieces of toast and spread, a chicken skewer plus a few pieces and a wing.  Well I also had a Foster's Ale Oil can over the evening including cooking to now nearly 5 hours later.


I'm still full and "A lert", unlike when I fill up on fast food or too big a starchy restaurant meal and end up lethargic all night.  Another reason to "Eat It Like God Made It!"

If I provide a link, is this "stolen"? (no, we're not discussing plagiarism on the web)

Looking at T-Nation and other workout sites to get motivated, as I've been slacking in the gym of late.  So I come across a pretty good article on training concepts that do more harm than good.  Here's one of the "pearls" about resting and recovery workouts for those that have to do something:

A1. Eat – 3 sets of AMPAP (as much protein as possible)
A2. Take a nap – 3 sets of AMMAP (as many minutes as possible)

He continues quite tongue in check, even giving the WOD a name and saying pee breaks are allowed, but you have to sit down!  Here's a link to the rest of the article.

For the sake of full disclosure, T-Nation is oriented toward the bodybuilder/powerlifter side of exercise and even the competition level athlete.  Still a good resource, just giving you a head's up.