How Twitter, Facebook and, oh yes, Exercise have helped my back pain

Interesting title, huh?


I'll start this by saying that this will not be a post with earth shattering workout secrets, or a new, revolutionary eating program guaranteed to strip 30 pounds off of you in 6 days. What this will be is a few thoughts on my back pain, it's practically gone, and why I believe that's happened.


Exercise, help with back pain, sure. Twitter? Facebook? how can they help with back pain? I'll get to that in a paragraph or two.


To begin with, my back isn't exactly right. Nothing debilitating, but I used to have a lot of tightness in it, with some occasional soreness and tweaks. If I had a long day of whatever, being on my feet, standing all day, it would really stiffen up. It has a curve and a little twist to it. Judging from my back X-rays, I'm lucky that a bit of minor pain and stiffness is all I have from it. It could be a lot worse. I first noticed it in 1995, a few years after I got out of Xray school. I was in pretty good shape, a result of going to the gym when I should have been studying. But, at that time, I hadn't been exercising like I should had been and put on about 15 pounds. I had a student shoot my lower back and thought wow, that shouldn't look like that. Some trips to the chiropractor helped a lot, but it still would always be tight. It didn't matter if I exercised, or how I exercised, it never was completely right. Not terribly painful, but not loose.

Fast forward a couple of more years and I'm trying to launch a medical sales career. That usually involves travel, and a lot of fancy dinners. Again, I had success, at times, in getting a good workout regimen and making good food choices. It didn't last and I blew up to about 248 pounds, not good, I'm 5'7" - 5'8"ish. I was 185 pounds when I got out of X-ray school, that fit well, but 248 was too much. I may have seen 250 on the scale, but I won't admit it. My back was tired, a LOT. They say that every pound on your front is equal to at least 4 pounds of pressure on your back. Tack on 20 or 60 pounds and that equals an easily tired back and Michael. Let's throw a child into the equation and I don't have near the energy to be the Husband and Dad that I want to and need to be.

January of 2008 I was done with being in the shape I was in. My dad had some health issues over the past two years and with that family history, it was time to make a permanent change. The biggest problem I had with getting back into a routine was mental. I couldn't take all of those years off, then go back and try and work out like I used to. I didn't start that way, how could I jump back into it that way? Finally I just started doing a little bit in the mornings, 10-15 minutes of bodyweight squats and pushups, several days a week. I built on that, started walking some, then I finally dusted off my bike last October. I ended up dropping up about 30pounds in 2008 and was feeling a LOT better.

I noticed something last month when we were on vacation in San Antonio. We went to Sea World and the first day there, we did the entire park. Walking everywhere, chasing Kenny down. Usually something that would kill my back and make it really stiffen up. When we got back to the hotel, we hit the pool on the roof of the place. I found this jet in the pool that would probably take paint off of a car hood. My first thought, put that on your back and loosen it up. I turned around and realized that my back wasn't stiff at all. I was astounded, couldn't believe it. A six hour drive the previous day, followed by the Sea World day should have had me beat. It didn't.

Pain is something you recognize immediately when it first hits you. If it is a frequent visitor, you don't always realize when it leaves because you get used to it. I started thinking, I haven't had a tired back in a long while. And when I thought about it, my flexibility had increased, a lot. Picking things up off of the floor was easier (of course the wedge between my chest and thighs is a lot smaller now). Toting Kenny around is still easy and he's not getting any smaller... I attribute it to exercise. I'm not living in the gym, but I'm getting some form of exercise done as much as I can. It's not a big secret. I cycle, I have some nifty dumbells that I'll use sometimes, but they've almost been replaced by Kettlebells, and I'll do some bodyweight exercises. It's varied in what I do, but I'm doing something most every day. I can't stress enough, how much I believe that it's exercise that's help my back. The cycling and Kettlebells have strengthened by legs and back. Something I've always believed - the stronger your legs are, the easier they will make things on your back. You can pick out 10 different fitness experts, and you'll probably find 10different views on fitness and nutrition. They're all fit, but they have different views. How can this be? That answer is easy, they're all doing something and that's the key DO SOMETHING!!!

How does Twitter and Facebook factor into this. Easy, you can find just about any thing, person, group on those social sites. I was lucky enough to catch up with some people, and I'll name a few here, who really know their stuff and love helping people get fit almost as much as they love being fit. They will share info, tips, the occasional workout, motivational quips and much more. They're truly special people who are willing to help and love to share their knowledge. They're also blessed enough to be working in an industry that they're passionate about. People like that are hard to find. I want to send out a personal thanks to Joe Gigantino (@joegigantino on twitter) . He owns a few fitness clubs in Northern Ca and is one of the most positive people I've chatted with, a fountain of motivational thoughts and ideas. Sandy Sommer (@sandysommer on twitter). He owns a Kettlebell gym in Baltimore. He's a wealth of information and comes up with some KILLER workouts. Last, but not least, Craig Ballantyne (@craigballantyne on twitter). He's got a great system called Turbulence Training that I'll be using after I complete the Hotter N Hell 100 this August, or at least after cycling season is over. Thanks again guys for all of your help, motivation and knowledge sharing.

If you need or want help with your fitness, it's out there and it's not that hard to find.

I'll close this by saying, I'm not where I want to be, fitnesswise, yet. But, I'm on the road there and I feel much better than I did this time last year. I didn't hit 248 overnight and I won't get back to 185 overnight either. I still have a lot of work left. All I know is I gained zero weight over the holidays, which I am thankful for, and I've dropped a couple of more pounds this year. (I'm flirting with 214-215) I'm getting faster on the road, the hills are getting smaller and my clothes are getting larger. I'm taking that as a good sign.