Pool and minor back pain

2

219Dave

Pool is my therapy
Silver Member
I've seen a number of posts from players on here who unfortunately have serious back problems. Lucky for me, I'm not there yet. However, I have been noticing lately that I'm a little sore while playing, or maybe the next day. I don't have any real back problems, other than the typical "I'm 39, 20 pounds too heavy, never work out and not getting any younger" thing.

Does anyone out there stretch at all before playing? Do people take advil or something else with ibuprofen before or after playing?

My back really isn't that bad, but I'd hate to be concentrating on minor back pain while I'm shooting instead of stroke, etc.
 
do some light weight training on the back, and bend your knees more in your stance so'z you don't bend over so much. it's good to be preemptive. and don't take advil on a continuous basis.
 
drugs are the only thing i can do, its the worst, i have been down for 2.5 years, i started playing again because i couldnt go to the gym.
 
back routine, stretches, ab routine & jacuzzi

219Dave said:
I've seen a number of posts from players on here who unfortunately have serious back problems. Lucky for me, I'm not there yet. However, I have been noticing lately that I'm a little sore while playing, or maybe the next day. I don't have any real back problems, other than the typical "I'm 39, 20 pounds too heavy, never work out and not getting any younger" thing.

Does anyone out there stretch at all before playing? Do people take advil or something else with ibuprofen before or after playing?

My back really isn't that bad, but I'd hate to be concentrating on minor back pain while I'm shooting instead of stroke, etc.
Click to expand...

Its easy to get carried away on the deadlift & get into significant poundages. You want high reps & lighter weights. It is safest to use a Trap Bar rather than the usual straight bar. As a compound exercise, deadlifts send good feelings through the body.

Moving on up the back, T-Bar rows feel good & are easy to control. Include some seated rows for the lats. Again, high reps/low weight. Its tempting to pile on the plates. Finally, some shrugs for the traps.

Back problems are often a function of weak abs. There are some nice ab machines with resistance in the gym. Follow the directions carefully. Or crunchs at home. Hit the lower abs with some hanging leg raises or leg raises on the edge of the bench.

Stretch using some yoga- cobra one way & balance it with some cat stretchs. There is a salute to the sun, but you need a teacher or a tape for that one.

Jacuzzi is heavenly too. Do it before bed & you will sleep as if you took all those drugs on TV.

Other possibilities-Avoid the hype about squats. They make you feel high, but they are dangerous. Leg press or hack squat is fine & controlled.

If you get into the chest & shoulders- avoid upright rows & behind the neck presses. Dumbell presses are less sexy than bench press, but check them out.

Aerobics- 3mph walking will do everything that running will do for your heart without destroying your knees & feet.
 
Believe it or not...

219Dave said:
I've seen a number of posts from players on here who unfortunately have serious back problems. Lucky for me, I'm not there yet. However, I have been noticing lately that I'm a little sore while playing, or maybe the next day. I don't have any real back problems, other than the typical "I'm 39, 20 pounds too heavy, never work out and not getting any younger" thing.

Does anyone out there stretch at all before playing? Do people take advil or something else with ibuprofen before or after playing?

My back really isn't that bad, but I'd hate to be concentrating on minor back pain while I'm shooting instead of stroke, etc.
Click to expand...


my dad a fairly descent player in his own right would do jumping jacks, toe touches and take a quick run around the block before playing at night. This helped get him loosened up. Most at the pool room would laugh at him until he came back in the blood flowing the heart pumping sending fresh oxygen to his brain and proceed to run everyone off the table. He doesn't play much anymore but folks still talk about that from time to time. LOL:D :D


Gary
 
Two quick simple unsweaty ways to improve your back - Do them both, because you need to strengthen both sets of muscles

Lie on your back knees bent and try to touch the floor with the small of your back. Hold. Repeat 10 times

Lie on your front, and with the arms and legs straight, raise your arms and legs as high as possible. Hold. Repeat 10 times

You can increase the time of the hold.

You can flop down on the floor in from of the TV
Or in a pool room when your oponent is running out:D
 
My suggestion is to check out a book called CORE PERFORMANCE ESSENTIALS
by Mark Verstegen. It deals alot with strenghtening the core muscles and improving flexibility to avoid or recover from injury. I find it to be a simple and easy routine to follow and he also has a website that you can go to to ask specific questions www.coreperformance.com.

Mark also does alot of sport specifc training for big name baseball, soccer, hockey and football players, he has some very unique perspectives that you don't get form alot of trainers and following his routine has greatly helped my game and my body.

Hope this helps

Bern
 
Scaramouche said:
Two quick simple unsweaty ways to improve your back - Do them both, because you need to strengthen both sets of muscles

Lie on your back knees bent and try to touch the floor with the small of your back. Hold. Repeat 10 times

Lie on your front, and with the arms and legs straight, raise your arms and legs as high as possible. Hold. Repeat 10 times

You can increase the time of the hold.

You can flop down on the floor in from of the TV
Or in a pool room when your oponent is running out:D
Click to expand...

Both of those are good. I'll add stretch your ham strings. Lie on your back one leg bent and knee pointing up. Put a towel around the bottom of the other foot. With both hands pull the other foot/leg up vertical as far as you can. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat 5 times then switch legs. Do three sets.

Rod
 
After 2 back surgeries, I'm lucky to still be playing. A gentleman mentioned earlier about back problems stem from weak abs. Correct. Do 1000 situps like Earl does! Well, maybe not. Abs are very important though!
 
219Dave said:
I've seen a number of posts from players on here who unfortunately have serious back problems. Lucky for me, I'm not there yet. However, I have been noticing lately that I'm a little sore while playing, or maybe the next day. I don't have any real back problems, other than the typical "I'm 39, 20 pounds too heavy, never work out and not getting any younger" thing.

Does anyone out there stretch at all before playing? Do people take advil or something else with ibuprofen before or after playing?

My back really isn't that bad, but I'd hate to be concentrating on minor back pain while I'm shooting instead of stroke, etc.
Click to expand...

Well, I do work out and run and try to live healthy, and pool still can bother my back.

I think the position and motion of the break shot is hard on the back. I changed to a more upright stance in my break shot to get more power, and what I've noticed is when I play and break a lot, my lower back hurts. In fact, if I bend down like I'm going to make a break shot, I feel pressure exactly where my back hurts.

I think I am going to take your idea and do some mild stretching first.

Chris
 
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I'm only 28 but I developed some severe neck problems (also right shoulder blade). I started lifting weights here about a month ago and that has drastically helped me. I started out lifting light weights and then went to heavy weights. I am not advocating this as it is probably the wrong thing to do, but it helped me out for whatever reason. I didn't start lifting to help my neck out...I did it because I wanted to start lifting again.
 
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