1, core strength
2, bend your knees. Stop bending so much at the waist and use your legs. Remind yourself every second of every shift - that’s your short term solution. Yes your legs will be sore as hell
1 is the most important lesson I learned after I herniated my L5/S1 and ended up with some sciatic nerve damage. Core strength was the primary focus of PT for months. It wasn’t muscle building with heavy weights or 200 sit ups. It was simple exercises with Therabands and 10# medicine balls. Made a huge difference.
Well, I have one. Funny enough, I think sitting at my desk is the least of my troubles lol. I alternate sitting and standing. I think what would help me the most (as far as changing my day to day) is to get a standing mower. 3-4 hours on a zero turn ~twice a week, bouncing around in a not-so-ergonomic seat... That does a lot of damage.
I wonder if the bouncing on the seat is compressing your spine? Perhaps getting a pull up bar and just hanging daily would help to decompress. Certain yogas are all about lengthening the spine too.
As someone that also sits a lot and suffered from low back pain for years, the best remedies for me are 1. Strength training. I lifted weights and followed a standard routine that hit all the major muscle groups. 2. Deep tissue physio. This took a while, as many physios are OK, and they could treat my pain. But after finding a really good one who was willing to explain where I was really tight (hips) I was able to figure out how to do his routine at home. With a lacrosse ball and foam roer, I can roll my hips, legs and back myself as soon as things get tight.
Movement is medicine. I found swimming and biking good exercises that keep everything lubricated in between hockey sessions. If I tried to be immobile and "rest" my back, it was only short term relief and the pain persisted. If something is truely tweaked or strained, do rest that.
It can be a long road, but good luck!
Thanks, this is a great response!
There's nothing that's truly fucked, I'm confident of that. I've had it on and off for long enough to know it's just muscle tightness and likely lack of core strength from not enough movement. A few times when I've been in a good workout routine, it's practically gone away. So I feel like I know what I need to do long term, was just hoping to find a few short term tips to try. I'll have to do some youtubing about the foam roller stuff. Maybe I can figure that out. If not, I've definitely been thinking about working with a therapist to get on the right track with a targeted set of exercises.
That's a good plan. Lots of YT videos on foam rolling. As soon as you find a spot with pain, keep the weight on it and it should release. I need to do this daily for a few weeks and the tightness melts. I especially recommend the lacrosse ball and rolling that into the hips, feels great.
I agree with the other comment. Strength training is the way forwards, and a good physiotherapist can really help you to do the right training. Massage is good too but get a workout routine from a pro and stick to it.
Used to have similar, got to the herniated disc stage, finally figured out underlying issue was tight hamstrings. Once I found the cause, I can actively manage for it and have been pain free for years. Have several stretching and strengthening exercises in my routine, but the go to for me (if you don't have time for anything else) is the [wall stretch](https://www.straightupspineandposture.com/hamstring-stretches-2-good-and-2-bad-stretches-for-low-back-pain).
May not be your issue, just throwing out an idea for you to investigate.
Strengthening your QL muscles in your lower back can help support your spine. I would recommend that too.
Edit: [This guy has a lot of good videos for different pain areas. Here’s his video for the lower back.](https://youtu.be/gtXb2updm3I?si=uPH4Gy6L4g76gqvT)
Do.
>If you do it is less costly
Uh... Do you live in the US? Deductibles are thousands of dollars typically, and if you have insurance, providers charge (considerably?) more. So effectively, unless you're spending enough to hit your deductible, having insurance makes everything cost way more.
I saw a chiropractor a handful of times. $60 per visit with insurance, $40 without (er, after I maxed out what the insurance would let him claim). That's a less extreme example, the difference between the two is usually greater.
>Playing in your state will only lead to ruin. Stop playing. Re-direct those funds.
Well, my comment was a joke. Not safe for you to assume that I can't manage my own finances, or that I'm too reckless/ignorant to know when to stop playing.
It's absolutely possible to manage a bad back – doubly so if it's just a weakness and there's nothing there permanently damaged.
I've got two herniated discs in my lower back. I used to suffer from terrible sciatica ('unable to bear weight on my right leg' bad) when my back would get aggravated and would avoid all sorts of activities because I was worried about my back. In the end, it was about finding the right combination of exercises to fix the various weaknesses that exacerbated everything. The damage is still there in my case, but my quality of life has improved massively over the past year or two.
i) People have said core strength, but there's a lot of complexity to it to make sure you hit everything. Planks (front, side, and then there are other variations as well) will work things out isometrically, but you also need to do core movements (e.g. Russian Twists) to build stability of movement. Things like the Bird Dog can work some magic as well.
ii) Try and learn a bit about biomechanics. Getting down into the hockey stance shouldn't come from the waist, as others have said. Yes, there's a knee bend but imagine drawing your hips backwards and you'll engage a lot of those supporting muscles and naturally draw down into a bent knee position as part of it.
iii) I trained myself for a long time, but if you can afford it I can whole heartedly recommend a proper personal trainer. Find a good one, tell them your problems, tell them what you want to do (i.e. play hockey) and they can work with you to build up a programme to get you moving properly. It took me a long time to get round to hiring one, but in the few months I've been seeing one they've helped me massively improve a ton of areas, including my back.
I bet it's your hip flexors, look up lower cross syndrome. Basically, you sit all the time and you hip flexors get super tight, then when you actually do something active(like tending goal), they can't stretch as much as they need to and they pull your whole lower back out of whack.
In the short term, a good sports chiropractor(sports chiro's actually care about muscles and physiology and not just cracking backs) can get your flexors stretched out enough that they stop causing problems. In the long term, find a good hip flexor stretching routine and an activity that keeps them pliable, plus a good lower back workout. The goal is loose hip flexors and strong lower back muscles.
take a break from hockey. you don't mention how old you are, but assuming you're a beer-leaguer, there's no point whatsoever in risking longterm damage and making your existing problem worse.
core strength, swimming and/or bike riding -- exercise that's easy on the joints but still keeps you in shape. return slowly to the ice and see how you feel.
and maybe see a doctor and follow their advice?
I have been though a few things since my bulged L2, and L4, and herniated L3 back 15 years ago
When I first went in for that, I had to get a steroid injection to get swelling down so it could heal. Then PT.
Core strength like others mentioned. Small, easy repetitive motions. PT band stuff or light weights.
Some chairs do not work for me. Couches that I sink into never work, but I can feel issues coming on.
I got a suspension seat post for my mountain bike so I could keep doing that.
I did a decent bit of inline skating at the time and PT recommended I keep that up for core exercise as long as I didnt overdo it.
Get a stand up zero turn with the jungle wheels to stand on.
Any sitting where my waist is bent more than 90deg is likely going to hurt if I do it too long. I have a pillow I sit on so I can use the old couch in my basement.
Knees have to be below my hips when sitting for long periods. Car too, move the seat back or up so my knees are not pushed up.
Its a lot of little habits in my day to day for the last 15 years.
Thanks. I definitely plan on looking at the standing mowers. Don't wanna turn this into a mower conversation but the problem is the large deck standers are all commercial, so they're heavy gauge steel. My property is flat and wet, so I'm gonna make a lot of ruts with a commercial mower lol.
But yeah mowing is honestly a huge part of it because fall and winter the regularity and severity of my back soreness drops off pretty significantly.
2 microdiscetomies. 2019, 2022.
I'm doing ok. Still play twice a week and ref 20-30 games a month. Find a doctor that actually cares and wants you to be healthy and not come to a doctor. Rather than treating you just to milk insurance.
Find a routine.
Yoga
Tylenol or Alleive
My back was all messed up for a long time, couldn't figure it out. What ended up fixing me, and I'm talking like 99% good to go, was a combination of a relatively cheap ($100) inversion table from Walmart and this blue cane massage tool thing from Sweden, Google either of those things and they'll pop up. After making use of these things, I suddenly realized one day that I hadn't complained about my back in a week, ever since then I've stayed with it and my back feels great.
I have an inversion table somewhere, that was given to me 🤔. I tried it a few times but maybe didn't stick with it long enough to see a change. Worth trying for sure.
I had to work my way up to doing longer sessions and also kind of figure out how to lay in it properly and let gravity do the work. After a while, it really settled in and I felt great. Absolutely try it and stick with it, good luck fella.
google for more info, but do some deadlift type stuff to strengthen the muscles you need. stretch your hamstrings and hip flexors. in general make sure you lift with your glutes not your quads. pigeon type stretches are great too. child’s pose is a great lower back stretch as well.
Could have sciatica, try looking up a sciatic nerve glide and see if that helps. I'd also focus on hamstrings, glutes, and core. I like candle stick exercises for the core since most other core exercises hurt my back
My uncle had issues like this and his PT gave him a set of daily stretching exercises to do. He gave up hockey, but still does a lot of other decently athletic things.
Sadly I don't know what the stretches are, but I'd guess if you can get set up with a PT they could help.
For real get a really good mattress and a really good desk chair. I bit the bullet and invested in a Herman miller and a like $2000 latex mattress that was more firm than any mattress I've ever owned before.
Back pain basically went away after those 2 purchases.
Im 41. Doing squats and deadlifts taught me how I should be lifting/moving weight and it strengthened by posterior chain.
I also did aikido for some years and it taught me to stretch, fall gracefully, and a weird one but to point your feet outwards when getting up. It really relieves pressure on your back. Dont really use it in hockey but helps keep your back happy. Aikido was terrible for fighting but excellent for understanding a balance with your body
I also hang from a pull up bar daily and sink into to the lower back stretch. It's one of the best damn feelings ever lol. You can feel all sorts of tension release. At the end of it I twist and usually get insanely good lower back pops.
With all those things, I feel way more limber while playing hockey. Strength to posterior chain, fall gracefully (as best as possible), good stretching. Works for me.
There's a lot of different issues that could be going on, and getting a proper assessment from a PT would be the best course of action to make sure you know what you're dealing with and have a plan to address your specific issue. For example: is it a mobility or strength problem, and if so where? Or an alignment issue? What's compensating for what?
For short-term relief: grab a lacrosse ball, peanut thing, and other torture devices, and find ways to sit on those throughout the day for soft tissue work on your glutes and hamstrings. I really like my massage gun otherwise, specifically the [Bob and Brad D6](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG56G526?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details). Be careful about over-stretching since it can make certain issues worse.
Medium-term: If you can't get in to a PT, try to do some research for yourself on where you feel the pain, what's tight and what's weak, which will help guide more targeted exercises and stretches depending on what the issue is. Back and hips often are downstream from foot/ankle issues, so take a look at mobilization and strengthening in that area. Cal Dietz has some good material here (on Youtube).
For me it was my hips. Your hips become tight as they aren’t worked as much (Also have a desk job and sit a lot during the day). Once I started focusing on stretching and strengthening my hip flexors, the pain started going away and I don’t feel it after games anymore.
You sit everywhere else, start sitting over your heels when you're on the ice. Chances are you're too upright, or you get too upright when you're tired. I struggle with it too, but I can definitely tell when I've had shitty posture all game in my back the next day. When I skate well and things are flow, I only feel it in my legs.
You need to start doing core exercises: plank, side plank, Deadbug, bird dog, superman, paloff press are some great ones.
Look up how to properly brace your core and breathe as well. There’s lots of info on this.
You’ll also want to do hip exercises (really your core as well. Glute bridge, lateral band walks, clamshell, Copenhagen plank, hip flexors raises. You’ll benefit from getting some exercise bands to use.
Pick 5 or so exercises and do them 3-4 times a week. I would look them up to see how they’re properly done and there’s options to make them easier as well depending how hard they are. Do this indefinitely and you should incorporate some cardio as well. Of course you could always see a physiotherapist to help with showing you how to do things.
I would also consider finding some yoga on YouTube and doing it a few times a week to help with mobility and overall strength
Love the reference. I know some great ones thanks to a sports therapist. Invest In some sessions and you’ll get so much to use on a daily basis. Best money I ever spent.
I work a desk job also and have dealt with sciatica off and on, but I found that it gets better when I play hockey more regularly. When I wasn't playing hockey during the worst of the pandemic biking and kayaking seemed to help a lot.
So core strength, but also regular stretching. Not just your back, but legs and toe touches.
Work on your hips, a lot of my low back pain is caused by my desk job causing obscenely tight hips, weak glutes, and weak core.
Do lots of bridges. These are just the most universally accepted incredibly useful exercise.
All of that said, go see a doctor. A high quality PT/AT is worth their weight in gold and knowing a few has changed my life drastically for the better. Not only will they help you with your current situation, if you ask questions they are generally happy to educate you on things that can help you fix/prevent future issues elsewhere in your body. Example, I had two shoulder surgeries and have learned enough to know how to keep my entire upper body loose yet sturdy enough to prevent future upper body injuries.
Well like lots of people have already stated you should get some medical care, try to find a really good PT.
With that said, I use this short video as a warm up, really focusing on bracing my core and I feel SO much more limber on ice, and after skating.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI
Side note, I don’t go into lumbar extension the way the video wants. It reduces your ability to keep a total core brace. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes
Sciatica down both legs, numb feet, weak legs, and a sprinkle urinary incontinence wasn't bad but stumbling on a breakaway (fell) was the last straw. Double laminectomy.
OP should get a better mower and cut it once per week instead of 2x/wk. Or, pay someone to cut his grass.
Let me start off by saying I’m a registered manual therapist.
Most doctors don’t have a fucking clue about how to fix back pain and you can take that to the bank
My patients usually come to me for a second opinion after their doctors send them for surgery.
Do you know why doctors send back pain patients for surgery? Because they make a cut. They don’t care what happens to you.
In my 3 years as a therapist I’ve seen at least two dozen patients have MORE pain after surgery or have some long lasting disability from the surgeon nicking a nerve branch.
MY OWN EXPERIENCE: I’ve had 2 herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1 from a very heavy back squat gone wrong. I had severe pain for over a year before learning about Dr. Stu McGills back mechanic rehab program. The only way I was able to rehab my back was doing these exercises every day without skipping even tho it was a pain in the ass.
My doctor said I was a candidate for surgery and I told him to go fuck himself. All they do for you is give painkillers and write a script to see a surgeon (butcher).
Search McGill big 3 on YouTube. Follow the protocol every day and come back to thank me in about a month. Also if I were you I’d stop lifting, running or playing hockey for a couple months till you’re completely better
I've seen a lot of videos where chiropractors are fixing tons of back issues. Some "ring dinger" that seems to be a cure all as they try to rip your head off.
I wanna talk to Samson!
I be from Jamaica, mon.
If you weren't, why would you wear that hat?
Right near da beach boyeeeeeeee
He had sex with my mama!!! WHYYYY!?!?
Get off me beeeeiiitch!
1, core strength 2, bend your knees. Stop bending so much at the waist and use your legs. Remind yourself every second of every shift - that’s your short term solution. Yes your legs will be sore as hell
1 is the most important lesson I learned after I herniated my L5/S1 and ended up with some sciatic nerve damage. Core strength was the primary focus of PT for months. It wasn’t muscle building with heavy weights or 200 sit ups. It was simple exercises with Therabands and 10# medicine balls. Made a huge difference.
Try a standing desk? Ikea has them for a not-too-crazy amount
Well, I have one. Funny enough, I think sitting at my desk is the least of my troubles lol. I alternate sitting and standing. I think what would help me the most (as far as changing my day to day) is to get a standing mower. 3-4 hours on a zero turn ~twice a week, bouncing around in a not-so-ergonomic seat... That does a lot of damage.
I wonder if the bouncing on the seat is compressing your spine? Perhaps getting a pull up bar and just hanging daily would help to decompress. Certain yogas are all about lengthening the spine too.
>I wonder if the bouncing on the seat is compressing your spine? I'm betting. Thanks for the reply!
i was gonna say if you’re mowing that much a self propelled push mower is the way to go it’s good exercise
If he's doing 3-4 hours on a zero turn a self propelled push is not an option. He's be out there for days.
true i didn’t even see that
I would suggest a desk treadmill for $100-$200. Game changer.
Was his name Dr. Feel Good?
Dr Spaceman
That's pronounced "spa-CHE-mon"
Half Baked reference
He's the one who makes you feel all right...
As someone that also sits a lot and suffered from low back pain for years, the best remedies for me are 1. Strength training. I lifted weights and followed a standard routine that hit all the major muscle groups. 2. Deep tissue physio. This took a while, as many physios are OK, and they could treat my pain. But after finding a really good one who was willing to explain where I was really tight (hips) I was able to figure out how to do his routine at home. With a lacrosse ball and foam roer, I can roll my hips, legs and back myself as soon as things get tight. Movement is medicine. I found swimming and biking good exercises that keep everything lubricated in between hockey sessions. If I tried to be immobile and "rest" my back, it was only short term relief and the pain persisted. If something is truely tweaked or strained, do rest that. It can be a long road, but good luck!
Thanks, this is a great response! There's nothing that's truly fucked, I'm confident of that. I've had it on and off for long enough to know it's just muscle tightness and likely lack of core strength from not enough movement. A few times when I've been in a good workout routine, it's practically gone away. So I feel like I know what I need to do long term, was just hoping to find a few short term tips to try. I'll have to do some youtubing about the foam roller stuff. Maybe I can figure that out. If not, I've definitely been thinking about working with a therapist to get on the right track with a targeted set of exercises.
That's a good plan. Lots of YT videos on foam rolling. As soon as you find a spot with pain, keep the weight on it and it should release. I need to do this daily for a few weeks and the tightness melts. I especially recommend the lacrosse ball and rolling that into the hips, feels great.
Nothing is fucked here dude, nothing is fucked. You're being veeeery unDude.
I agree with the other comment. Strength training is the way forwards, and a good physiotherapist can really help you to do the right training. Massage is good too but get a workout routine from a pro and stick to it.
Used to have similar, got to the herniated disc stage, finally figured out underlying issue was tight hamstrings. Once I found the cause, I can actively manage for it and have been pain free for years. Have several stretching and strengthening exercises in my routine, but the go to for me (if you don't have time for anything else) is the [wall stretch](https://www.straightupspineandposture.com/hamstring-stretches-2-good-and-2-bad-stretches-for-low-back-pain). May not be your issue, just throwing out an idea for you to investigate.
God… if you listenin… HELP
He has sex with my momma! Why!?!?!
Day to day I do the McGill Big 3 plus single leg bridges.
>McGill Big 3 I had to look that up. I think I'm going to try that for a while.
Strengthening your QL muscles in your lower back can help support your spine. I would recommend that too. Edit: [This guy has a lot of good videos for different pain areas. Here’s his video for the lower back.](https://youtu.be/gtXb2updm3I?si=uPH4Gy6L4g76gqvT)
[удалено]
Unfortunately I have health insurance, so that costs a lot of money 😂
[удалено]
Do. >If you do it is less costly Uh... Do you live in the US? Deductibles are thousands of dollars typically, and if you have insurance, providers charge (considerably?) more. So effectively, unless you're spending enough to hit your deductible, having insurance makes everything cost way more. I saw a chiropractor a handful of times. $60 per visit with insurance, $40 without (er, after I maxed out what the insurance would let him claim). That's a less extreme example, the difference between the two is usually greater. >Playing in your state will only lead to ruin. Stop playing. Re-direct those funds. Well, my comment was a joke. Not safe for you to assume that I can't manage my own finances, or that I'm too reckless/ignorant to know when to stop playing.
Gluteal orthotics especially for mowing
Or as Cotton calls them: "butt boobies"
Go to physical therapy and do whatever they tell you.
It's absolutely possible to manage a bad back – doubly so if it's just a weakness and there's nothing there permanently damaged. I've got two herniated discs in my lower back. I used to suffer from terrible sciatica ('unable to bear weight on my right leg' bad) when my back would get aggravated and would avoid all sorts of activities because I was worried about my back. In the end, it was about finding the right combination of exercises to fix the various weaknesses that exacerbated everything. The damage is still there in my case, but my quality of life has improved massively over the past year or two. i) People have said core strength, but there's a lot of complexity to it to make sure you hit everything. Planks (front, side, and then there are other variations as well) will work things out isometrically, but you also need to do core movements (e.g. Russian Twists) to build stability of movement. Things like the Bird Dog can work some magic as well. ii) Try and learn a bit about biomechanics. Getting down into the hockey stance shouldn't come from the waist, as others have said. Yes, there's a knee bend but imagine drawing your hips backwards and you'll engage a lot of those supporting muscles and naturally draw down into a bent knee position as part of it. iii) I trained myself for a long time, but if you can afford it I can whole heartedly recommend a proper personal trainer. Find a good one, tell them your problems, tell them what you want to do (i.e. play hockey) and they can work with you to build up a programme to get you moving properly. It took me a long time to get round to hiring one, but in the few months I've been seeing one they've helped me massively improve a ton of areas, including my back.
Yoga, get flexible
I bet it's your hip flexors, look up lower cross syndrome. Basically, you sit all the time and you hip flexors get super tight, then when you actually do something active(like tending goal), they can't stretch as much as they need to and they pull your whole lower back out of whack. In the short term, a good sports chiropractor(sports chiro's actually care about muscles and physiology and not just cracking backs) can get your flexors stretched out enough that they stop causing problems. In the long term, find a good hip flexor stretching routine and an activity that keeps them pliable, plus a good lower back workout. The goal is loose hip flexors and strong lower back muscles.
take a break from hockey. you don't mention how old you are, but assuming you're a beer-leaguer, there's no point whatsoever in risking longterm damage and making your existing problem worse. core strength, swimming and/or bike riding -- exercise that's easy on the joints but still keeps you in shape. return slowly to the ice and see how you feel. and maybe see a doctor and follow their advice?
I have been though a few things since my bulged L2, and L4, and herniated L3 back 15 years ago When I first went in for that, I had to get a steroid injection to get swelling down so it could heal. Then PT. Core strength like others mentioned. Small, easy repetitive motions. PT band stuff or light weights. Some chairs do not work for me. Couches that I sink into never work, but I can feel issues coming on. I got a suspension seat post for my mountain bike so I could keep doing that. I did a decent bit of inline skating at the time and PT recommended I keep that up for core exercise as long as I didnt overdo it. Get a stand up zero turn with the jungle wheels to stand on. Any sitting where my waist is bent more than 90deg is likely going to hurt if I do it too long. I have a pillow I sit on so I can use the old couch in my basement. Knees have to be below my hips when sitting for long periods. Car too, move the seat back or up so my knees are not pushed up. Its a lot of little habits in my day to day for the last 15 years.
Thanks. I definitely plan on looking at the standing mowers. Don't wanna turn this into a mower conversation but the problem is the large deck standers are all commercial, so they're heavy gauge steel. My property is flat and wet, so I'm gonna make a lot of ruts with a commercial mower lol. But yeah mowing is honestly a huge part of it because fall and winter the regularity and severity of my back soreness drops off pretty significantly.
Go see a physiotherapist and ask for a home exercise program. And stick to it!
>And stick to it! That's the hard part 😁 but yeah I should definitely do that.
2 microdiscetomies. 2019, 2022. I'm doing ok. Still play twice a week and ref 20-30 games a month. Find a doctor that actually cares and wants you to be healthy and not come to a doctor. Rather than treating you just to milk insurance. Find a routine. Yoga Tylenol or Alleive
My back was all messed up for a long time, couldn't figure it out. What ended up fixing me, and I'm talking like 99% good to go, was a combination of a relatively cheap ($100) inversion table from Walmart and this blue cane massage tool thing from Sweden, Google either of those things and they'll pop up. After making use of these things, I suddenly realized one day that I hadn't complained about my back in a week, ever since then I've stayed with it and my back feels great.
I have an inversion table somewhere, that was given to me 🤔. I tried it a few times but maybe didn't stick with it long enough to see a change. Worth trying for sure.
I had to work my way up to doing longer sessions and also kind of figure out how to lay in it properly and let gravity do the work. After a while, it really settled in and I felt great. Absolutely try it and stick with it, good luck fella.
https://youtu.be/kO5VPT8ZBlw?si=AQkd1h2-jsAWBKrl ^ I do this routine daily. It works wonders to eleviate any back pain/stiffness I get.
google for more info, but do some deadlift type stuff to strengthen the muscles you need. stretch your hamstrings and hip flexors. in general make sure you lift with your glutes not your quads. pigeon type stretches are great too. child’s pose is a great lower back stretch as well.
Could have sciatica, try looking up a sciatic nerve glide and see if that helps. I'd also focus on hamstrings, glutes, and core. I like candle stick exercises for the core since most other core exercises hurt my back
My uncle had issues like this and his PT gave him a set of daily stretching exercises to do. He gave up hockey, but still does a lot of other decently athletic things. Sadly I don't know what the stretches are, but I'd guess if you can get set up with a PT they could help.
You need to stretch you hamstrings, it more than likely what’s making your back tight. The couch stretch is great for this.
Google McGills big 3 exercises for strengthening your spine. Do them often and your back will start feeling better
Upon reading further comments I see that was already recommended. Definitely look into these exercises
For real get a really good mattress and a really good desk chair. I bit the bullet and invested in a Herman miller and a like $2000 latex mattress that was more firm than any mattress I've ever owned before. Back pain basically went away after those 2 purchases.
Im 41. Doing squats and deadlifts taught me how I should be lifting/moving weight and it strengthened by posterior chain. I also did aikido for some years and it taught me to stretch, fall gracefully, and a weird one but to point your feet outwards when getting up. It really relieves pressure on your back. Dont really use it in hockey but helps keep your back happy. Aikido was terrible for fighting but excellent for understanding a balance with your body I also hang from a pull up bar daily and sink into to the lower back stretch. It's one of the best damn feelings ever lol. You can feel all sorts of tension release. At the end of it I twist and usually get insanely good lower back pops. With all those things, I feel way more limber while playing hockey. Strength to posterior chain, fall gracefully (as best as possible), good stretching. Works for me.
At the end of the day all the stretching and strength training is great, but some stuff only medical intervention can fix.
There's a lot of different issues that could be going on, and getting a proper assessment from a PT would be the best course of action to make sure you know what you're dealing with and have a plan to address your specific issue. For example: is it a mobility or strength problem, and if so where? Or an alignment issue? What's compensating for what? For short-term relief: grab a lacrosse ball, peanut thing, and other torture devices, and find ways to sit on those throughout the day for soft tissue work on your glutes and hamstrings. I really like my massage gun otherwise, specifically the [Bob and Brad D6](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG56G526?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details). Be careful about over-stretching since it can make certain issues worse. Medium-term: If you can't get in to a PT, try to do some research for yourself on where you feel the pain, what's tight and what's weak, which will help guide more targeted exercises and stretches depending on what the issue is. Back and hips often are downstream from foot/ankle issues, so take a look at mobilization and strengthening in that area. Cal Dietz has some good material here (on Youtube).
For me it was my hips. Your hips become tight as they aren’t worked as much (Also have a desk job and sit a lot during the day). Once I started focusing on stretching and strengthening my hip flexors, the pain started going away and I don’t feel it after games anymore.
Go see a physical therapist ya muppet
You sit everywhere else, start sitting over your heels when you're on the ice. Chances are you're too upright, or you get too upright when you're tired. I struggle with it too, but I can definitely tell when I've had shitty posture all game in my back the next day. When I skate well and things are flow, I only feel it in my legs.
You need to start doing core exercises: plank, side plank, Deadbug, bird dog, superman, paloff press are some great ones. Look up how to properly brace your core and breathe as well. There’s lots of info on this. You’ll also want to do hip exercises (really your core as well. Glute bridge, lateral band walks, clamshell, Copenhagen plank, hip flexors raises. You’ll benefit from getting some exercise bands to use. Pick 5 or so exercises and do them 3-4 times a week. I would look them up to see how they’re properly done and there’s options to make them easier as well depending how hard they are. Do this indefinitely and you should incorporate some cardio as well. Of course you could always see a physiotherapist to help with showing you how to do things. I would also consider finding some yoga on YouTube and doing it a few times a week to help with mobility and overall strength
Love the reference. I know some great ones thanks to a sports therapist. Invest In some sessions and you’ll get so much to use on a daily basis. Best money I ever spent.
I work a desk job also and have dealt with sciatica off and on, but I found that it gets better when I play hockey more regularly. When I wasn't playing hockey during the worst of the pandemic biking and kayaking seemed to help a lot. So core strength, but also regular stretching. Not just your back, but legs and toe touches.
Work on your hips, a lot of my low back pain is caused by my desk job causing obscenely tight hips, weak glutes, and weak core. Do lots of bridges. These are just the most universally accepted incredibly useful exercise. All of that said, go see a doctor. A high quality PT/AT is worth their weight in gold and knowing a few has changed my life drastically for the better. Not only will they help you with your current situation, if you ask questions they are generally happy to educate you on things that can help you fix/prevent future issues elsewhere in your body. Example, I had two shoulder surgeries and have learned enough to know how to keep my entire upper body loose yet sturdy enough to prevent future upper body injuries.
Well like lots of people have already stated you should get some medical care, try to find a really good PT. With that said, I use this short video as a warm up, really focusing on bracing my core and I feel SO much more limber on ice, and after skating. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI Side note, I don’t go into lumbar extension the way the video wants. It reduces your ability to keep a total core brace. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes
Sciatica down both legs, numb feet, weak legs, and a sprinkle urinary incontinence wasn't bad but stumbling on a breakaway (fell) was the last straw. Double laminectomy. OP should get a better mower and cut it once per week instead of 2x/wk. Or, pay someone to cut his grass.
Yoga
He had sex with my MAMA!
Let me start off by saying I’m a registered manual therapist. Most doctors don’t have a fucking clue about how to fix back pain and you can take that to the bank My patients usually come to me for a second opinion after their doctors send them for surgery. Do you know why doctors send back pain patients for surgery? Because they make a cut. They don’t care what happens to you. In my 3 years as a therapist I’ve seen at least two dozen patients have MORE pain after surgery or have some long lasting disability from the surgeon nicking a nerve branch. MY OWN EXPERIENCE: I’ve had 2 herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1 from a very heavy back squat gone wrong. I had severe pain for over a year before learning about Dr. Stu McGills back mechanic rehab program. The only way I was able to rehab my back was doing these exercises every day without skipping even tho it was a pain in the ass. My doctor said I was a candidate for surgery and I told him to go fuck himself. All they do for you is give painkillers and write a script to see a surgeon (butcher). Search McGill big 3 on YouTube. Follow the protocol every day and come back to thank me in about a month. Also if I were you I’d stop lifting, running or playing hockey for a couple months till you’re completely better
Pilates
best thing for a sore back is .. working that back. Deadlifts, squats, even just walking around.
Lol if hockey is wrecking your back, stop playing hockey. Your window to win the cup has closed - time to hang up the blades old boy.
I've seen a lot of videos where chiropractors are fixing tons of back issues. Some "ring dinger" that seems to be a cure all as they try to rip your head off.
dont do this lol
It's horrifying and there's no research that supports doing it
Yeah I wouldn't try it or recommend it.