For exercise fanatics.

[locolobo]

Dr. has been telling me for years I need to exercise but because of working 12 hr shifts, Days/nights/weekends, sometimes up to 14 days in a row (you get the picture) I have not found a steady regimen feasible. Now that I'm retired I have started (almost a month ago). I do exercises, mostly core that I was given after knee replacement and some stretching for the sciatica. I also walk and am up to 2 miles/day, usually all at one time.
My situation is that after 2 miles in about 34 minutes ( a pretty good pace for me) The lower back is so tight I can hardly bend @ the waist for about an hour with a little pain involved. Is there any exercises/stretches I can do to help with this? A couple that I already do are 1-Laying on stomach, lifting each leg 30 times with 2.5# weights, which works the same lower back muscles and 2-hamstring stretches. Any others I should consider?
I already can feel the abs tightening up, the lower back muscles seem stronger and blood pressure has come down a smidge. Still got a long way to go though!

[JES]

Look at exercise for anterior pelvic tilt. Likely the source of your problem, at least it was for me. After working on this my low back pain from standing/walking went away.

Various things could be causing it, but this is a good start.

Congrats on starting to exercise, you’re headed in the right direction. Good luck.

[SmTx]

Ignore every foo foo thoughts you have about it and do some yoga

[elgato]

Ignore every foo foo thoughts you have about it and do some yoga

My wife is a yoga instructor and I approve this message

[Hardcortex]

Sounds like your back issue might be caused be tight hip flexor - I have the same issue with one hip. Stretching and using a foam roller can help. For exercises or stretches, look for things that stretch the hamstring and legs - good mornings, runners lunge, scoops. Get a small foam roller and roll the front/back of thighs, the hip that bothers you, and your back if you can roll it safely without hurting yourself. All of these things help me and I occasionally have to stop and stretch during walks.

[Hardcortex]

Ignore every foo foo thoughts you have about it and do some yoga

This is the truth!

[Who Brought'em]

Also remember to stretch your hamstrings. When they get tight it will cause your lower back to tighten up

[Smell the Glove]

Upward dog several times a day plus planks with you pelvis touching the ground. Helps a bunch.

[diamond10x]

Yoga is really good. Like you said you do core exercises which keep you core strengthened but you could be missing some certain stabilizing muscles that are considered part of your core. I had several vertebrae and disk get out of line my freshman year of college and didn’t understand why. I went to a specialist and spent about a month and a half of rehab fixing the issue strictly with stretching and certain targeted core exercises. I had a strong core at the time, or so I thought (6 pack abs, lean, great shape from baseball workouts 5 days a week). What I learned is there are stabilizer muscles along your spine, that when weak, are a the majority cause of lower back pain. I wish I could find the packet of papers I had to send you but this was a number of years ago. I still do these exercises from time to time when I feel my core getting tired or weak.

Here’s a link with a lot of the stuff I did for rehab work and still do time to time. 6-8 weeks if this doesn’t fix it then there is another issue.

https://uhs.princeton.edu/sites/uhs/files/documents/Lumbar.pdf

[riverbowman]

Friend of mine's back was very problematic when exercising. Someone recommended "foundation lower back" to him and he started doing it three or 4 times a week. He has had zero issues since then. Only takes about 12 minutes, but is pretty difficult for the first month or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch/4BOTvaRaDjI

[BernieH]

This.

https://www.egoscue.com/

[locolobo]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Lots of great info. Another question. Saw mention on a couple of the sites mentioned of doing At least (?) times per week, every so many days, whatever. I have tried to do everything every day and have achieved that for the most part, barring bad weather days and days when there has been too much family stuff to deal with. I would say I have done an average of 6.2 days/week so far. Do I need to schedule a recuperation day every once in a while?

[Easttxbowman]

Yoga and check into an inversion table

[Hardcortex]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Lots of great info. Another question. Saw mention on a couple of the sites mentioned of doing At least (?) times per week, every so many days, whatever. I have tried to do everything every day and have achieved that for the most part, barring bad weather days and days when there has been too much family stuff to deal with. I would say I have done an average of 6.2 days/week so far. Do I need to schedule a recuperation day every once in a while?

Listen to your body on this... As far as stretching and low impact exercise, I try to do that daily. If your body starts hurting, I would say rest.

For example, I am currently doing some pretty high intensity stuff M-F, and low impact stuff like walking/hiking on the weekends. In other words, I am using the weekend for rest and recovery. In the past 2 years I have had to increase rest on occasion to prevent further injury - low back (had surgery in 1990) still bothers me some, had shin splints, and right now I am rehabbing a shoulder.

Do what you are comfortable with, and slowly increase difficulty, intensity and duration. Listen to your body, we ain't spring chickens and we don't heal as fast as we once did. You want to keep moving, but not at the cost of injury.

[SaintBlaise]

Try acupuncture. These guys can help you immensely. Basically our bodies are like a circuit board with nerves, and the needles can help reconnect the nerves.