Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Easy on the hips

After most workouts these days, my lower back (sacral area) and hips stiffen up and make it uncomfortable to walk for the rest of the day. I'm seeing a chiropractor twice a week (pre-emptive treatment to prep for labour), and it doesn't help. So, I'm going to experiment with adjusting weight and exercises to take the strain off my lower body, to see if it helps.

In today's workout, I opted for rowing instead of walking, bodyweight instead of barbells, and sitting instead of standing.

3 rounds:
500 m row (sub 2:30 min each)
40 squats (BW)

Weights:
Incline chest flies - 20 lb dbs x 12, 10, 9 (+3 chest press to finish each set)
Seated rows - 75 lb x 10, 9, 7

Extra-long stretch. I'm also now avoiding the toe-touch stretch (hanging from the hips), because that seems to cause an achy back too. And I'm not really getting any closer to touching my toes, even with the help of relaxin. Grr.

And what do you know?! My back hasn't been sore all afternoon/night. I shall continue with this strategy. It may also help my chiro adjustments hold. We'll see.

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