You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've been getting somewhere recently but was still prone to hip pain, which felt like S.I. joint although a trusted physio explained to me how a lot of thinking about S.I. joint is flawed and it was more likely to be muscular.
I've always tried to do stuff for the piriformis and hip abductors but quite often it felt like it was aggravating things rather than making them better (single leg squats in particular could bring on symptoms of sciatica).
After an ill advised but very enjoyable 100km on the singlespeed a few days ago I was in more hip pain than usual so I went back to square one and started doing some isometric stuff which is acknowledged to bring on a pain relief affect as well as rehab benefits.
There's two or three isometric moves you can do for hips and piriformis, one is lying on back with feet soles together, knees open wide, push feet together and hips up slightly, hold. Work towards 5x45s. The other is to stand in a slight squat next to a door and use the working knee to squeeze a gym ball or something into the door.
I've also been doing side plank holds to work on the QL as well, just on general principles.
Point of the post is that I'm more pain free right now than I've been in months or even years. Early days yet but the good thing about isometrics is they're relatively safe, so I'll just be working these in to a daily routine.
Hope this is useful for someone.
@13thfloormonk I've found certain yogo moves with my hips helps with my back too. I used to ignore my hips and concentrate on back stretches. I didn't realise it was yogo until my wife asked who taught me. (YouTube)
I've also found if I keep up with my climbing and stretching my back is OK. It's when I stop moving or I just cycle that I get issues.
I think an old basketball injury to my right ankle puts my left hip out which curves my spine and causes all my issues. After some physio I am a little straighter.
Slowly approaching 50 doesn't help either.
There’s two or three isometric moves you can do for hips and piriformis, one is lying on back with feet soles together, knees open wide, push feet together and hips up slightly, hold. Work towards 5x45s. The other is to stand in a slight squat next to a door and use the working knee to squeeze a gym ball or something into the door.
You got videos of these by any chance please? I can't picture the first, and I assume the second is one-legged, but not sure quite how.
I'm always on the hunt for miracle cures for hip pain...
You got videos of these by any chance please?
They're exclusive to his OnlyFans
They’re exclusive to his OnlyFans
Lol! 😆
Finbar will look up some links shortly
Interested in any videos showing this as well. Had a massive flare up in the hips, glutes and quads following 5 consecutive dig days. All feels very sciaticaish.
Link here, I've been doing the lying frog variation.
https://damienhowellpt.com/butt-pain-isometric-exercises/
Below is the sideways ball squeeze, holding for 30-60 seconds for up to 5 reps. I might have to go easy with this as it seems to be aggravating the pain around my trochanter, which I think is due to the TFL being tight (which in turn is probably due to the weak piriformis, it's a vicious circle!). Need to focus on driving the squeezing hip forward to try and disengage TFL a bit.
I don't want to sound negative but I'm very wary of recommendations for back mobility exercises without a proper diagnosis first.
Partly this stems from a few years ago when I was pushing to get X-rays and MRI scans of my spine. Nasty back pain and sciatica. As part of the pathway to getting a surgeon to examine it I had to have a session with an NHS Physio. He brushed me off with a dismissive "you need to strengthen your core muscles" and gave me a set of exercises to do at home. No flipping way am I doing those back leans, I thought. 2 days later I showed them to the neurosurgeon who called me in after reviewing my MRI and was prepping me for surgery. I asked what would have happened if I did those exercises. "You'd be wearing a nappy for the rest of your life" he told me.
Aye very true, it's amazing how much out-dated advice is still doing the rounds, I didn't even attempt half of the stuff I was prescribed when I had a legitimate herniated disc (back bends in particular!).
My enthusiasm for the isometrics was because I know my issues are muscular, and isometrics seem to be the 'Z2' of rehab work, i.e. relatively safe and you can do lots of them. The analgesic effect is a happy bonus.
Definitely err on the side of caution without proper diagnosis.
I too was suffering with lower back, saw a physio, got told off for sitting too much and given some stretches including back extension and excercises, had another bout, saw a chiropractor, hip imbalances, had some adjustments and excercises.
Did all the googling, symptom best aligned with piriformis syndrome or si joint issues.
However much I stretched and strengthened, it wasn't going away, turns out I've an old stress fracture of the pars (pars defect), this caused vertebrae misalignment (spondylolisthesis), compression on the nerve and a tear in the disc. Turns out back extension isn't great for it and was one of the things I was repeatedly told to do.
The great difficulty in this (said as someone with lower back problems - like half the middle aged Western world that drive computers at a desk for a living) is getting a proper diagnosis in a time frame that's not geological.
How are folks accessing that ? Going private for MRI ? Does your GP have a fast route in? Or something else ?
Asking for a friend...
MRI will highlight any disc issues etc, well worth pushing for. Took forever on the NHS to get one - if you can go private it’s much quicker usually - but need a doctor referral. If your doctor is being a pain then see a private gp for it.
I found that tight glutes really kicked my back pain off - I’d had a couple of bulged discs
The pigeon stretch has been a game changer for me in the last year. So much better than anything else.
I guess I was lucky getting my MRI so quickly. Our local NHS trust was rolling out a new "pathway". I'm a persistent bugger and kept phoning departments immediately after each step and getting them to search for my results and pass them on. Basically, I was capitalising on their unfamiliarity and cheated my way through.