Winterize your Spine and Body | Dr. Edward

As I am writing this blog, it’s minus 14 Celsius late morning, middle of January and the Canadian winter is still here for a while. With the holiday cheer and New Year’s celebration behind us, let’s look forward to a great year ahead, health wise.

Fortunately, we can start being a little more healthy, a little more active, a little more mobile….now. Why? Not only your functional and mobility health journey starts now with reading this blog, but at the same time, by doing some of the suggestions, you can help “winterize” your spine and body.

Let’s start with the spine. There are sections of the spine that affect or be affected by your actions, activities and inactivity. The low back or lumbar spine is like a base, where sitting, standing or moving, affects your legs and knees downstream and your mid back, neck and shoulders, upstream. By having a strong (stable) and flexible (mobile) low back (core), your body can perform many tasks easily, without any compensation and without any low back pain or injury.

Winterizing your spine and body involves a stable and flexible core (eventually). Hopefully you don’t have any pre-existing or ongoing conditions that prevent you from exercising or stretching. If you are not sure, ask your family physician along with your physical therapist. Some of these conditions, such as chronic low back pain, scoliosis, lumbar stenosis, sciatica or sciatic type pain, neck pain or shoulder pain may or may not be a contraindication to perform certain activities. Again check with a health care professional before asking google.

Let’s manage some expectations. To strengthen a muscle or muscle group requires repetition and consistency. To keep the muscle in optimal performance, we need to make sure the muscle is flexible, again this requires repetition and consistency in the form of stretching. Also, as we get older (cough ,cough meaning me), recovery may be a little longer, adaptation and may take even longer. Don’t be surprised if your low back is sore or painful from just sitting and not really doing anything. This can be from overuse or strain of certain muscles. Not all low back muscle strains involve moving furniture, or hiking for hours. Straining your low back can occur simply by sitting too long or worse, sitting in a non ergonomic position. Also, deconditioning of a muscle can occur where you can only sit or stand for a period of time less than before. This may mean that the muscle is slightly weaker and cannot perform the task at hand. Good news is that consistent training or strengthening of the muscle over time can help.

One size does not fit all. Although we have many things in common, I don’t think this applies to fitness until we reach a certain level. To form a healthy habit, do something you think you can do fairly easily on a daily basis. Such activities can vary from walking, doing planks, yoga, chair stretches or lifting weights. To winterize your spine, you need to be continuing with your daily activities – ideally strengthening and stretching. If certain joints are prone to being stiff or painful, such as the hips, knees, SI joints and shoulder, you may need support and care from a physical therapist (chiropractor, physiotherapist, kinesiologist). Also, if you engage in winter sports by being more active (awesome!), you may need to balance that activity by more stretching, joint and muscle care and even pain relief. Seek relief for any acute injuries or pain so you can continue with your activity. Consequently, if you are grinding away at that assignment, new or overdue project or studying for exams, the pronged sitting needs to be balanced out with more activity (stretching for example). Don’t wait till the end to get care, by taking a hour or two for care can provide some relief and may help in productivity and possibly prevent low back and SI joint pain.

By following our consistent plan or roadmap, you may experience, may it be pain relief, support your current condition, or promote wellness.ssibly preventing future occurrences. Personally, I don’t want to be the slayer of HIIT or bootcamp, I would like to work injury and pain free, and be at my optimal musculoskeletal health for my age; ready for the SUV rim and tire deadlift, the turkey kettlebell lift and carry, and pushing of soggy slush.

By keeping suggestions simple, these can be done with minimal effort, however like the New Year’s Resolution, these need to be consistent. Visit your physical therapist for your customized roadmap for your functional and mobility focused journey.