low back pain during circle drillz

[Ahava_Melantha]

I don't know why, but whenever I do dancing drilllz for hip circles, and vertical figure 8s, my lower back aches quite a bit.

Should I be bending my knees more, or what am I doing.

If i do them regularly, I'm good, but the SUPER S-L-O-W speed just killz my lower back.


I geuss I should also mention that I suffer from chronic low back pain anyways and keep it in check with exercises.

 

[Kashmir]

Orientale hip circles (ie the non-tilting type) should be done with little or no lower back extension and with the postuarl muscles engaged. Check out the four extremes of the circle - forward, each side and back - the lower back should be long the whole time. Common mistake is for people to extend their lower back/tilt their pelvis at the back. In this case bending your knees may help in the short term - but long term it is control that is needed.

The postural muscles - both the TAs and the little ones in the back also protect the spine.

Finally try and use your abs and glutes rather than pushing your hips about with your legs.

Non-Orientale circles should be drilled for very short periods of time and only if you have automatic ab engagement. They are back killers.

Much the same advice for vertical eights. Keep the back long, don't extend the lower back, engage postural muscles - and don't over do it. Personally, although downwards eights are fine, I always get lower back pain with long sessions of Mayas - so I avoid drilling them.

 

[Darshiva]

The thing about circles & 8s is that they take you out of neutral spine. So if you are drilling them for extended periods, keep the moves small and work on technique (engaging the core muscles as Kashmir said) rather than making them bigger. Remember that you can always take a small move and make it bigger, but it's a lot harder to add in that control and precision over a larger move if you don't already have it.

Small moves are a thing of beauty.

 

[Yame]

Keep your lower abs engaged the whole time during the 8s, in order to keep your pelvis neutral. Don't allow it to release.

As for the circle, the release to the back should be very slight. During the "abdominal tuck" part of the circle, the abs should be more engaged and the pelvis more tucked than usual. During the release, you should release back to a practically neutral position... perhaps a tad more released than your neutral position naturally would be, but no big, forced release to the back.

Talk to your doctor about the chronic back pain and how those moves could affect it. If you have lower back problems, even doing the moves in a way that is technically correct could cause problems.

 

[Ahava_Melantha]

yeah talking to my dr about pain - never been successful AT ALL. I recently told her about my knee pain, she just told me to get a foam roller. yeah i've been having pain on and off since 21. GREAT advice.

I find that Classical Stretch workouts keep my back really loose and free. And I do plenty of rehabilitative exercises for my low back pain. If I don't do them, my back hurts, my psciatica hurts, etc. So I try to do them daily and I'm fine.

I will retry the drillz but making them much smaller. thank you so much.

 

[BeatriceC]

Can you ask her for a referral to a physiotherapist? I suspect you'd get more practical help, in terms of exercises and recommendations, and possibly diagnostically too.

 

[Ahava_Melantha]

thanx. I will look into it. I appreciate it a lot.