It happened!
For the first time in something like eight years I hurt my lower back. (Methinks that’s a pretty good run.)
Was it from kettlebell juggling?
Was it bent pressing a heavy weight?
Was it doing arched back handstand pushups?
None of the above.
It was simply cleaning a 106 lb. kettlebell. In all fairness it was from an awkward position as I was setting up to do the extended double windmill that I shared recently.
I often talk about Beyond Biofeedback and using intuition to guide your training. One of the biggest reasons for this is that it dramatically lessens the chance of injuring yourself.
Alas, it doesn’t make it zero chance!
I’d say that many people who don’t even exercise end up hurting their back more often than once every eight years.
In fact, I know many people that live with back pain on a near constant basis.
Which brings me to the other side of biofeedback training and intuition. These skills help you to rehab the body.
First, I took some time off. This is helpful. But most people take too much time off!
While there is a time and place for immobilization…there’s also a time for mobilization. If possible, I seek to get to the latter as fast as possible.
While I took a week off from any serious training, I didn’t stop moving. The very next day after the incident I was doing Intuitive Mobility work to make the area better.
The following days it was much the same just expanding on what I can do comfortably and safely. Larger movements. Faster movements. Movements from different, more difficult positions.
Then I started doing some loaded mobility too. My back quickly improved.
A week later I got back to lifting, specifically starting today. Taking it slow and smart, of course.
But, with how things are going so far, I expect to be back to 100% by next week, setting new PR’s if not later this week.
Both Beyond Biofeedback and Intuitive Mobility are still on Quarantine Sale here.
And here’s another important angle. I also like to look at the psychological implications of an injury, a much neglected aspect. Turns out I needed some down-time work-wise…the physical injury just being added incentive to do so.
So I took some extra time off.
While I have many methods, one easy one that I often use for injuries to good effect being EFT, this time around I didn’t feel that was necessary. The use of psychotechnologies such as this becomes internalized the more you use them.
In other words your mind, your body, your energies, have the flexibility to “go there” without needing to do too much.
I framed or reframed what the accident was about. Therefore, there was no mental or emotional trauma that got locked inside the body to prevent it from healing. (Because in my experience that very often happens!)
If you have an injury, most notably a long-term chronic one, there almost assuredly is some mental and emotional aspects to it. If you’re not experienced in this, it can be quite difficult to deal with yourself.
If you want my help on this trickier stuff, check out my Virtuous Vitality Coaching.