Day 1009 | Managing My Back Pain

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I think I can finally say my back pain is getting better. For good this time. I can feel it. This Momma Strong program is working wonders for me and I highly *highly* recommend it for any moms with aches and pains related to childbearing and child rearing. 

What's the big deal, you might ask? The trainer who runs this amazing program, Candace, really knows her stuff and does a good job of re-training moms to do exercises in a new way to target the areas that plague most of us. And it's not just the exercises that are helping to control my pain...she has these bits of wisdom that she just casually throws out there and they totally rock my world. For example, let me share a few of her pearls:

Momma strong pearls of wisdom

  1. Walking + standing with parallel feet. I had no idea I was standing and walking with my toes pointed out until Candace called me out on it (via the internet). I guess if you walk/stand like that, it means your hip flexors are doing most of the work (because that stance is more comfortable for them). You don’t want them to be taking over so forcing a more parallel stance will retrain the muscles and force your core and glutes to do the work they're supposed to be doing.
  2. Tilting the pelvis. In another stroke of wisdom, Candace suggested that standing (or walking, exercising, holding babies, etc) with your pelvis tilted back is causing a lot of back pain (and other complications in moms). Why would we tilt our pelvises, you might ask? If you’ve ever taught yourself to stand with a “better” posture to flatten your stomach, you’re probably doing this. I have! The natural curve of the spine forces you to pooch your belly out more than any of us probably want it to, so we try to retrain our pelvis to correct it. When I stated making the pelvis shift (to its natural position), I noticed improvement right away. Whoa!
  3. Rolling on a lacrosse ball. I’ve realized through my weeks of Momma Strong that the bulk of my back problems stems from my troublesome hip flexors, or iliopsoas muscles (mentioned above). Rolling on a lacrosse ball for about 45-60 seconds a day per side makes a world of difference in loosening up this overly-ambitious muscle group. I tried to find a video to share with you, but no luck. The basics, though, are to lay on your side and place a lacrosse ball (or tennis ball) on one side of your hip bone. Roll the ball about two inches below the hip bone and then lay down onto your stomach. Roll the ball back and forth in very small movements. If you feel some pretty intense sensation, you've hit the right spot. Do this for 45-60 seconds and then switch to the other side. I'm telling you...game changer.

Maybe this type of magic will only work for me, but it's worth sharing *just in case* it can help one of my mom friends who might be struggling with the same (or similar) aches and pains.