Strickland Fitness

Back Pain and Tight Muscles

This is definitely not a diagnosis; however, lower back pain can be caused by tight muscle in the legs, hips or abdominals. I have many new clients that come to me with one of their goals being to eliminate lower back pain. If this pain is not caused by soft tissue, nerve or spinal damage (which is out of my range to treat), the first thing I look for is tightness. Many times this is the problem. After a specific and persistent stretching routine, their back pain is slowly eliminated. Besides the upper leg muscles, abdominals, and muscles in the hips attaching to the pelvis, so do all the lower back muscles. If the any of the upper leg, abdominal or hip muscles are tight, that causes constant tugging on the pelvis. If the pelvis is being tugged on, then so are all the lower back muscles which are attached to it. This tugging on the pelvis is called a pelvic tilt. If the pelvis is tilted either way of the neutral position, this can cause extreme stress on your lower back. The purpose of stretching your legs, hips, and abdominals is to release the tight muscles and get your pelvis into a neutral position at all times. What are some things that can cause tight muscles? The first and most common thing is sitting down for long periods of time. Sitting causes the abs and hip flexors to be in a shortened position. The shortening causes an anterior pelvic tilt (the pelvis tilts forward). This puts your lower back muscles into a compressed state when standing. If you have a sit-down job, stretching the hip flexors and working on strengthening the abdominals will help to release your pelvis. Running is also a common reason for back pain. Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t run (it is a great cardio workout and stress reliever), however, what you do before and after your run can help to relieve back pain. Besides impact on the spine, running will cause a lot of your leg and hip muscles to tighten up. If you are a runner, be sure to do a good warm up of active stretching (see warming up post) and an immediate post run stretch and another one before bed. It is a good idea to stretch the morning after a run as well. I will post another article about specific stretches to do to release your pelvis and help eliminate back pain. If you have any specific questions, you can email me.

I had many requests to post more about working the butt. The key is to make mind-muscle connection. If you are trying to work your butt, you have to be focused on working it. For example, when you do a bicep curl, your focus should be on contracting the bicep to raise the weight. It makes a huge difference to the muscle when you consciously think about what’s happening rather than letting the body go into auto-pilot. Do the same for your gluts.

Let’s put this concept to work. When doing a squat, try concentrating more on your behind rather than your quads. Imagine you are being pushed up from the squatting position to the standing position while squeezing your gluts. Activating the muscle with the mind will activate the muscle in exercise.

Here is a great butt exercise. Stand on a 12 inch high box with one leg. One foot should be on the box and the other should be hanging off the side right next to the box. If the right leg is on the box, lower your left foot (bending your right knee) until it touches the ground and then push through the right foot to raise to the staring position. Try not to let your left hip drop below your right. Keep your pelvis square the whole time. Really focus on lowering with the muscle and rising with the muscle. Don’t bounce the left foot off the ground. The most important aspect of the exercise is making sure your knee that is bending stays in line with your foot. Look down or in a mirror to be sure the knee is not collapsing inward. Go up and down 20 times focusing on the right glut. Do 20 on the other side with your left foot on the box and the right hanging off. Do 3 sets of 20 on each side. This a great exercise to activate the butt before moving on to other exercises.

I will post some more specific exercises for getting the perfect pair of buns.

I had the pleasure of working with Ultimate Fighting Championship star Lyoto Machida. His manager contacted me last Monday asking if I could help him do a last training session before heading off to Vegas to fight. I obviously accepted. We did a few exercises to warm up his muscles and keep the blood flowing and then some stretching. By the way, 880 pounds on the leg press is his way of keeping the blood flowing. He won his fight with a first round knockout.

I received a call from his manager the day after his fight asking me to train him again on Monday. That’s 2 days after his highly anticipated match. I was expecting him to rest for a longer time, but he was back to it. This time we got to work out hard. The dedication of professional athletes is mind blowing.  

Why am I writing about this? Besides the fact that it was a great experience and I can add a mixed martial artist to my resume, it confirms that dedication, persistence, and hard work are the keys to success….no matter your sport, goals, or fitness level.

It’s amazing how many people I see at the gym reading the paper, watching TV, or talking to others while working out and doing cardio. I ask myself what are their goals? What are they looking to accomplish during their time at the gym? The concept of “doing something is better than doing nothing” will not get you to where you want to be. What will? Intensity!

The concept of “you get out what you put in” does apply. If you are looking to lose weight, get fit, or be healthier, go to the gym and go for it. If you only have an hour a day to dedicate to cardio or resistance training, suck every minute from it. Start intensifying your workouts. If you are new to fitness, you should start slow and progress to higher intensity workouts. Once your body has adjusted to the demands you are placing on it, step it up.

When I work with a client, I make sure they get everything possible out of the time I spend with them. Ask yourself, do you give everything you got when you work out? At work, you work hard to move up the ranks and be successful. Do the same for your body. The next time you workout, keep your goals in mind and put the effort in that equals how bad you want to meet your goals!

When is the best time to weigh myself?

The best time is in the morning. More importantly, try weighing yourself at the same time of day.

I am trying to put on weight. How do I do that without adding more fat?

Putting on muscle weight can take time and commitment. You have to up your calorie intake with low-fat, high protein foods and raise the intensity of your resistance workouts. Adding more weight and fewer repetitions to your sets helps to build muscle. Don’t forget to rest a little longer between sets to help the muscles get ready for the next hard set.

My knees hurt when I run. Why is that?

Running creates a lot of impact on your joints. Pain can be caused from tissue or bone damage, instability of the joint, or muscle weakness and tightness. If you don’t have the muscle strength to support this impact, the joint takes the hit. If your leg muscles are tight, they can pull on the knee joint causing instability and pain. First, make sure you don’t have an injury to the knee. Next, focus on flexibility and strengthening of the muscles that support the knee. These muscles are the adductors, abductors, gluts, quads, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, and peroneals. Also, try running on surfaces that offer the least amount of impact.

What is the biggest factor in weight loss?

Nutrition!!!!