Trucking and back pain, tips for easing it.

I’d also recommend the Titan Fitness squat rack. Solid construction and not as pricey as the Rogue version.

 

Long walks are the best in my experience

 

10-4 on the walks. If my hips, knees and ankles would allow I would get a little jogging in with the walking, but no. If I have to stand in one place very long my lower back really starts giving me pain. So I can't go shopping with the better half since it involves a lot of standing around while she looks at everything in the store and 2 hrs. later we go out the door with nothing.......

 

I've started doing that recently as well. I want a little more mass on the forearms. I can walk 300-400 steps like nothing with a 40 lb dumbbell in each hand now. Recently tried it with a 35lb plate in each hand. I'm lucky to make it 70 steps with those.

Edit: I'm finding it gives a really good upper forearm burn if I slightly bend my elbows a bit to lift the weight up.

 

I used to have real bad back pain constantly starting when I was a teenager. I mostly blame wearing Chuck Taylor shoes for years, and their lack of support. I also have two bad discs, my spine is twisted a bit, and two fractured vertebrae (no idea why). It was probably my lack of muscle though due to not being an active child due to severe heart problems that required two open heart surgeries at the ages of 10, and 17. Finally one day I got tired of being the guy with a bad back, and started lifting weights to strengthen it. Strait leg deadlifts helped a lot, and today I rarely have back pain. Hip stretches also helped a ton. Strangely I also grew from 5’11” to 6’1” even at a then 25 years old. Eventually I got into lifting “heavy” rather than the higher rep stuff. Been into that for 5 years consistently, or up until I started the O/O thing which keeps me away from my home gym a lot. Was hitting my weights 4 days a week using various Wendler programs. My genetics suck even with all of that, and I unfortunately have been stuck at this strength level for awhile regardless of what I do. Either way it has made a huge difference in my life both physically, and mentally. Everyone should have some sort of physical fitness program.

 

Less is more. I’d recommend abbreviated training and reading up on authors such as Brooks Kubik. Gray Hair, Black Iron is a great book geared towards lifters age 35 and up. I turn 35 next year but have been into abbreviated workouts for 10 years since my recovery ability sucks and working 60-70 hours a week doesn’t help. Pick one compound exercise a day and hammer it. 3 days a week works for me. I’ll pick 6 compound lifts and do them over a 2 week period. Seems to keep my back fresh and I’m not so worn down.

 

That's exactly how I was. Finally had MRI. Doc says "oh its really bad"
Fixed me 3 years ago with 6 screws and a couple rods and then 10' tall and bullet proof again. Might be time for you to have your chassis overhauled

 

Walking gives you 80% of the benefit of jogging with about 20% of the impact on joints. The calorie burn difference between walking and jogging is much smaller than many think. Walking everyday is better than jogging 2-3 per week.

 

If you have side bolsters on the bottom of your seat use them. Takes pressure off your syatic nerve

 

I have to agree. I put in a lot of miles and developed back / sciatic pain not too long ago. After some research I narrowed it down to weak muscles. (I had hoped that's all it was). Anyways started walking then went on to free-weight rows, good mornings and deadlifts. Didn't take long to clear up and have been pain free since.