TAKING IT BACK TO THE BARE BONES BASICS

I'm fortunate to work in a government department that invests well into its employees' health and wellbeing. I can have a free flu vaccine every year (I dont because I'm not in the high risk category), discounted massages are available fortnightly (or perhaps monthly) and some of our OHS training is pretty good. I did a personal wellbeing for managers seminar a little while ago but today I did the bees knees of all these seminars. It was called 'The Crook Back Clinic' and it was run by an ex PE teacher, now qualified trainer. He was knowledgeable, dry and straight down the line with a really simple message. After asking who in the room had - and he rattled off a list of ailments a mile long - he then went on to explain some really back to basics stuff.

 

 

1. If your problem was not the result of a trauma (eg an acute injury) then  in 80% of cases, 80% of your recovery, healing, fixing of the problem comes down to things you can and should do.

 

 

2. He talked at length about muscles being tight and what affect they have on your overall posture and how you feel in terms of aches and pains.

 

 

3. He sang the praises of actively strengthening your muscles again in order to reduce and eventually eliminate those aches and pains we were all complaining of.

None of this was rocket science but in all honesty, how many people do it regularly and properly to manage their conditions. I was the only person in the room who had a regular strength training program and one or two of the other ladies did pilates but overall the group totally bombed out in these areas. Shamefully I have been a total slack-arse when it comes to flexibility. Its been ages since I did Bikram yoga and now I just do a 10-15 minute dabble in back stretches and ITB releases a couple of times a week.

We did a whole range of exercises to determine which of our muscles were tight, how bad they were and then were shown some basic but effective stretches. We also did a general fitness test for strength and flexibility and answered lots of health/lifestyle questions for him to review and provide us with an individual stretching and strengthening program.

 

 

It was really interactive with us on the floor in all sorts of wierd and wonderful positions, often squealing or moaning in pain LOL. But my colleague and I were both of the opinion that it was very worthwhile and very informative. The presenter's opinion of chiros and physios was an interesting one. He remained diplomatic and wasnt at all derogatory but the point he made was that we can usually manage  and fix our own problems by diligently stretching and strengthening our problem areas. He did make one (well deserved) dig at the public service spending mega bucks on 'ergonomic chairs'. His point was" nobody needs those fancy, expensive chairs. They just need to sit properly at their desk" and he went on the describe the correct sitting position for us all.

 

 

Over the months and years of my own back problems I have spent countless hours trying to understand what my problem was and honestly believing that my injury was 'special or unique'. I always thought there was no cure and that I'd be resigned to a lifetime of chiro visits just to manage it. I can tell you, I chronically overthought and over-agonised my whole situation. So for me to be told in basic and simple terms that I can help myself and to be given clear instructions on how to do it was - well it was priceless.

Thanks SA government

:-) M