Having sciatica is much more common than we think. In fact, we take the opportunity to recommend a back check if we ever have low back pain and sciatica pain. This pain is characteristic because it enters suddenly and pulls from the back to one of the legs, reaching the pain even up to the knee or more, to the foot. As a general rule, it is related by a vertebra without a pad, that is, a impingement or herniated disc, but sometimes it is due to other causes.
We like to train, and we like much more that our readers have a healthy life and that they train, but not every day is perfect. When there are muscle or bone pain, it is best to stop and rest. The body also needs a breather and we have to give it to it.
Sciatica is a moderate to intense pain that crosses the hip and can even reach the foot. A pain that sometimes does not go away even with inflammatory. It depends on each person, some tricks or others work, for example, here a servant, when she suffered from sciatica, she was better moving than still.
I started to get into the routine of walking every day between 5 and 10 kilometers and not a trace of sciatica. It must be said that it has been a long time since I have had it, nor do I notice it, nor do I have lumbago or anything similar. I have changed that walking routine for a weekly workout at the gym, but I keep walking instead of taking a car or bus.
The question is to stay active and if the pain breaks our routine, irritates us and makes it impossible for us to do what we have planned, that is when we should consult a specialist. Since, if it is a temporary pain, it can be due to poor posture when sleeping, a blow, many hours sitting, a tug on the dog’s leash, etc.
With sciatica, these exercises are forbidden
Back pain, sciatica or lumbago are signs that something is not quite right. This is why we recommend visiting an orthopedist and ordering a complete back, shoulder and hip plate . Do not stay alone in a lumbar X-ray or something like that, we say it from experience of an ineffective diagnosis where apparently everything was perfect until 4 months later I returned for lumbago and sciatica, and there they discovered the impingement.
Classic abs
The worst thing for an injured back, or sciatica days, is straining your back, flexing it, applying pressure and effort. Classic abdominals are almost the worst exercise we can do , whether we are healthy or not, but, above all, they are prohibited if we have or suffer from sciatica.
The best thing is to rest that day, walk, lie down, take a relaxing bath, etc. But no effort, no legs, no arms, much less your back. Sciatica and lumbago are pain that can be mild or moderate, but can quickly become complicated and end up admitted to a hospital.
Stretch until we touch the balls of our feet
A very common and popular stretch that we have seen our entire lives, but that few people do today precisely because it is not entirely advisable to stretch and flex the back to that point. Flexibility is something that is worked on very little by little and that develops, although there are those who train a lot and have little flexibility, and nothing happens. No one here is better than anyone.
Therefore, opening the legs and lowering the trunk until our hands touch the tips of the feet (without bending the knees) is another of the prohibited exercises if we suffer from sciatica. The alternative would be to lie on our back and bring our knees to our chest for a few seconds.
Dorsal
Its name may not be very common to us, but it consists of an exercise where we put pressure on the back. It consists of lying face down with the legs stretched out and the arms stretched out in front of the head and trying to raise the limbs. What we do is arch our back with impulses that can damage our back , instead of doing a smooth and relaxed arch.
Another of those prohibited exercises if we have sciatica, lower back pain or a disc problem. Maybe if we do these exercises it won’t hurt at all, but the pressure builds up until one day we say “Why does it hurt?” Well, we already know the answer.
Stretch the hamstrings
As its own word says, it refers to the muscles found in the calf, specifically in the tibia. Stretching these muscles is difficult at times, because we don’t even know what position to take to do it. Well, we already know that it is one of the prohibited exercises for those who have back injuries or sciatica.
Anything that is exerting force on the pelvis and twisting the back is negative if we have sciatica and injuries in the lumbar area. This is why we have an alternative and we need a towel or cloth. We lie straight on a flat surface, lift one leg and pass the cloth or towel over the sole of the foot, pull down and thus stretch the entire leg without damaging the back.
High-impact exercises prohibited for disc injuries
There are a series of exercises and sports that we do not recommend if we have a herniated disc, suffer back injuries, usually have lumbago or even today. We are going to say some of those high impact exercises and also some low impact exercises that could become the alternative if we want to continue training.
High impact exercises are pretty obvious to begin with, but we’re still going to refresh them. For example, jumping, running, rope jumping, CrossFit, wrestling, burpees , plyometric exercises (fast and agile movements), soccer, dancing, tennis, basketball, paddle tennis, skateboarding, climbing, karate, horseback riding, Trail running, mountain bike, etc.
On the other hand and as alternatives, we have low-impact exercises that are dancing (with light movements), yoga, Pilates, swimming, walking, elliptical, riding a bike (on flat terrain and without potholes at a slow pace), etc.