Workout program “Question Mark” for immediate treatment of the lower back.
When you wake up in the morning feeling intense back pain, before you rush to get a cortisone shot, remember – there’s something else you can do!
In this article we will talk a little about the “Question Mark” symptom, give you a “Default training program” to treat lower back pain, and mainly understand how to get rid of such pain, should it ever occur again. This program will allow you to release the lower back and the skeleton as a whole even before the episode.
Why do we sometimes throw our back, and why do we then stand like a question mark?
The lower back is the balance and equilibrium center of the body. Most people who come to be treated in Water World (thousands of people each month) do so for a herniated disc, bulging in the L-4 L-5 vertebrae and stress in the lower back in general.
In 90% of the cases a lower back that is thrown doesn’t happen in a moment. It’s a process. When we don’t pay attention to the signs like dragging a leg, radiating pain and so on, the simple things like air conditioning, sleeping on a bad mattress or coming back from a holiday, can make us throw our back pretty badly.
It’s important to know that even a good change is change, and it gets us off balance. When that happens our lower back more often than not pays the price.
Why is lower back pain a good thing?
How can pain be a good thing? You must be asking.
We spoke about the fact that the lower back is the balance center of the body. In fact’ it can be our “warning light” and tell us that we have gone too far, and if we don’t listen to it and carry on as we were, if we don’t stop for a moment and re-evaluate and we keep on putting more and more load on our body instead of swimming WEST and unloading it, our body will react by dealing us blow after blow like Facialis Paresis (numbness or paralysis in the face), a coronary, accidents, a stroke or even cancer.
So next time your back hurts say “thank you” for the sign.
Genetic inheritance is of no consequence
It’s a very dangerous notion that because our parents had back pain we are doomed to suffer from it all our life. It’s true we inherit a certain body built, but the real question is not what we inherited but what we do with it.
Take for example a car you get from someone without a shock absorber and groan every time there’s a stone on the road, instead of installing a new shock absorber and enjoying the car.
The shock absorber for your body you can build by swimming WEST, tailoring your style to fit your body built, keeping the muscles off the vertebrae and enabling your body to deal with whatever stress you encounter in your life and live better.
Your genetic inheritance is not important. You can live a happy, painless life, without surgery, even with herniated discs and a narrowing in the spinal canal. You just have to start doing!
How many times should you repeat every practice?
The workout is like a contingency plan, like a pill you take when you’re in pain. Sometimes it’s enough to do it once, and other times you will have to repeat it every day for 10 days.
The workout does work. There’s no need to see a specialist first. Water World trainers treat thousands of people with back pain every month.
Here are 10 recommended stretches for each swimming practice:
https://swim-west.com/10-stretching-exercises-for-swimmers/
Workout program “Question Mark” for lower back pain and skeleton pain in general
The program fits trained swimmers, who can swim over 500m freestyle. You must have elastic fins and it’s recommended to have a swimmers’ snorkel.
If you can’t swim freestyle you can have a free online WEST swimming course here:
https://www.udemy.com/basic-freestyle-west-swimming-technique/
| No.
|
Drill
|
Time
|
Special Emphasis
|
| 1 | 12m freestyle without breathing | 10 min | If you have more air you can swim a longer distance but keep your swimming slow and accurate. When you run out of air bring your knees to your belly slowly, and only when your feet touch the bottom lift your head to breath. This is important in order not to cause stress to the lower back. |
| 2 | Arm stretches | 3 min | Repeat stretches 1, 8 and 10, each for exactly 10 seconds for a minute???? |
| 3 | 25m freestyle with fins without breathing or with snorkel | 10 min | After each 25m do stretch no.4 (fin stretch), twice for each foot, 10 seconds each time. In fact, instead of using the 40 seconds to rest, we use it to elongate the muscles and elasticize the lower back.
If you run out of air, don’t lift your head forward but breathe WEST style, with no neck-work. Its’ recommendable to watch the video on how to breath without neck and lower back work: |
| 4 | 12m freestyle without breathing – the three points | 5 min | Swim freestyle slowly, thinking of the three points to preserve the lower back:
1. Stretch depth according to your flexibility level: 2. Neutral head – Look down. If you really sink lower your head a little further, like a slight nod. Just make sure you don’t move it while you swim. 3. Dragging the legs – Try to move them only as much as you need to keep them afloat. |
| 5 | Laying on the water for 5 seconds and standing slowly | 4 min | Lay on the water with your arms spread out at shoulder level, approximately 35cm below water level, stretch a little for 5 seconds and then slowly, releasing air through your nose, take your hands back and your knees to your belly. Stand up only when your feet touch the bottom.
The objective of this drill is to round the body in order to release and stretch the lower back. We will do this drill for a distance of 10-12m, back and forth, for 4 minutes. |
| 6 | 25m slow freestyle without breathing while dragging the legs | 15 min | Swim very slowly, without breathing. When you run out of air don’t try to finish the lap but breathe and try to let the stretch get your head out of the water without neck-work.
The objective of this drill, in addition to the hypoxic work, is to drag the legs while swimming to release the two most important areas of the body: the neck (stress center) and the lower back (balance center) |
| 7 | Stretches | 3 min | Stretches 5, 9, 2 – in this order. Each stretch is done exactly for a minute, in 10 second segments.
***Ankle stretch against the wall, groin stretch, hand stretch on the wall behind the back. It’s very important to do the stretches gently, without causing pain to the lower back. If a specific stretch hurts you – stop doing it and consult the professional WEST team at Water World. |
In conclusion:
During your life you will go through many changes, and that is a good thing, but any change, such as moving, changing jobs, having children and so on, can cause you to get out of balance. Sometimes the change or trauma is too hard on us and it affects our neck and lower back.
Our goal is to always have that “magic pill” that not only takes the pain away but elongates our body, releases the whole skeleton and helps our mind relax and focus.
We in Water World, and top WEST trainers around the world, believe not in rest or medication, but in doing something positive for your body. Energetically, if you show that you act on behalf of your body, your body will lower the pain on its own.
It’s important to note that this program was done by thousands of people, exactly the same workout that opens up your breathing, releases stress, balances out the body and eventually puts you back on your feet.
The workout takes an hour, but if you only have half an hour, that’s fine. Just do half the time of each drill.
How many times should you repeat the workout?
Every day until your lower back pain disappears, and when that happens, don’t stop completely. It’s vital to keep on exercising to live a healthier, painless, happy life.
