Back Pain: A Walker’s Speed Bump

By DeeAnn Nelson

Have you ever had this experience? You are traveling to work with the intention of making it on time, when you encounter heavy traffic. It can be distressing and annoying. You might not have any idea why you are waiting, and it might seem as if traffic may never clear. However, as it turns out, there is road construction up ahead that is stopping the flow of traffic: a necessary evil to help prolong the quality of our roads. Ultimately, you decide to take an alternate route, one you had never known about. Your new route makes your commute better, and you even have a great view of Mount Hood.

This is a very similar situation to back pain. A road block. However, just as you learned a new route to work, this pain can also be an opportunity for increased awareness of your body. Many times we approach back pain as a sign to stop moving. True, rest is sometimes our best option. On the other hand, pain can also be an opportunity to get to know ourselves better, take an alternate route, and ultimately end up with an improved awareness of the way our body moves.

In this day and age, back pain can come from a variety of sources. A main source is the typical sedentary lifestyle requiring hours at a desk or behind the wheel of a car. Often there is little we can do to eliminate this source from our lives. Another source of back pain is repetitive movement, associated with activities such as endurance walking, done without attention to proper body mechanics. This source of pain provides an opportunity to grow and learn new ways of avoiding back pain.

Ways to Seek an Alternate Route
1 Breathe. It seems simple, but often our awareness of breathing is underdeveloped. If you consider how many muscles are responsible for breath, it becomes clear that they could create discomfort in our bodies. Taking a few moments out of your day to sit and observe your breath can bring a greater sense of calm and often brings pain relief. One way to try this out is to sit or lie down in a comfortable position and observe your inhale, your exhale, and the moments of pause on either end of the breath. While you make this observation, notice which parts of your body move. Practicing awareness of your breath will give your body a reminder to breathe more efficiently on a regular basis.

2 Pay attention to body mechanics. Another important observation to make is of the way your body is moving through space. Many times, back pain results from improper movement in the joints at your hips, knees, or feet. When we develop improper body mechanics, our body has an amazing way of making those patterns permanent. Consider your car once again. If you do not take it in for a periodic alignment and tire rotation, your car will eventually shake when it gets up to high speeds. These permanent changes can create wear and tear on your car. Improper body mechanics also create wear and tear in your body. For this reason, it is important to try to create new movement patterns by practicing alternative ways of moving. In my Pilates and Gyrotonic® practice, I find it is helpful to track how my bones and muscles are working. An inefficient movement pattern provides a great opportunity to create a new pattern that I can practice throughout the day whether I am walking to the store, riding my bicycle, or watching television.

3 Develop core strength and flexibility. Finally, once you have improved your body mechanics, you are in a position to develop core strength and flexibility. Strength and flexibility are best developed from a balanced place. For example, if you walk a lot you might have overdeveloped some of the muscles in your legs and torso. This overdevelopment may leave your body imbalanced and uncomfortable. Core strength includes more than just your belly. Our understanding of core strength has definitely evolved since we thought sit-ups were our best way to strengthen our core. Now, we realize how important it is to explore balance, strength, and flexibility in your neck, shoulders, trunk, pelvis, and thighs. This type of balanced strength will give you better movement potential as you approach your next walk.

The wonderful thing about back pain is that if you take the time to make observations regarding your breath, body mechanics, strength, and flexibility, you will have a greater awareness of how your body works. This awareness will help you develop a greater repertory of choices for the next time something uncomfortable creeps up in your body. Through this increased knowledge you will not be a victim of back pain, and it will not have the same power to slow you down or block your path. It might just give you a heads-up to pay better attention to what is going on so you can make changes before anything detrimental emerges.

DeeAnn Nelson, MFA, is a certified personal trainer, Pilates instructor, Gyrotonic® instructor. She has been exploring movement through dance since 1986. She is happy to say that pain has not gotten her down, nor should it you! For more information visit www.deeannnelson.com.