Pilates/Yoga/Core Strenghtening

Due to persistent irritating problems with my sciatic nerve, I'm going to spend the winter strengthening my back and core area.

I'd appreciate any advise from anyone who has done pilates and/or yoga before. I'm a complete beginner as far as that goes, but I'm fairly physically fit.

Go to a class? Do it one my own? Any good websites?

My gym offers a free yoga pilates class with my membership. I've been meaning to try it out.......







......for about three years now.

This combination is excellent for back and joint problems (or prevention thereof), but get clearance from your doctor first, because spinal nerves are not something you want to make worse. Also, if you do start a class, let the instructor know, and he/she may be able to recommend specific exercises for you.

Best bet? Take a beginner class to get the exact positioning, because yoga in particular is counterintuitive. Most exercise regimens tell you to relax your knees, for example, but many yoga poses, such as tadasana or Mountain Pose require you to lock your knees for stability.

Once you've got the hang of it, if you're really busy and can't make classes - honestly - invest in Wii Fit. You can work out at home at your own pace, and work against your own scores for improvement. That little balance board can tell you if your posture's out of whack. There are yoga and strength training exercises from super-easy to challenging.

I've also recently discovered this: http://www.yogaglo.com/

Interactive yoga on your computer that you can do anytime, anywhere, from five minutes at a time up to two hours. Not sure if the schedule will fit your needs, though, since it's based in California.

(Besides, live yoga classes tend to contain a high female-to-male ratio, so there may be other benefits besides just being fit. )

I started yoga about three years ago. Family history dictates a choice of osteos (-porosis and/or -arthritis), and I'm at the computer all day. Thought biking and free weights would do the trick, but the knees were starting to creak. Yoga's given me a lot more flexibility. Energy, too.

Physical therapy.

1. Get clearance to do deadlifts.
2. Do Deadlifts
3. Do Yoga
4. ????
5. Profit!!!

You and your fucking deadlifts, man. You're like the polar opposite of a marathon runner with no upper body development.

I had sciatica nerve trouble for the best part of a year due to prolapsed lumbar discs.
As soon as it was alleviated I took a few yoga lessons at my gym. I've integrated them into the end of my routine with Swiss ball work and, touch wood, haven't had much trouble since about October last year.
Thoroughly recommended.
And the women in the class were hot too.

Whatever you do, if you find it seems to aggravate your pain don't try to work through the pain unless you're acting on doctor's orders and your doctor told you that some initial increased pain was not something to worry about. Working through pain without knowing whether they're doing more damage is a big mistake that people make all the time.

Two more thoughts:

1) Don't work through pain? BAH! I ain't bleeding.

2) Hot chicks in yoga class. Sure, and I bet their all into sweaty dudes with geriatric-style skeletal pain.

They are when he drives a Porsche.

If you imply that I have chicken legs....you would be completely wrong.

I love squats almost as much as I love deadlifts....I just think its easier to hurt yourself doing squats.

No, I imply that the kind of "fitness" you build is very narrow in application, to the point that I question the utility.

I do Crossfit too.

I flip tires, push prowlers around, jog, bike, do power cleans, shrugs, presses, pulls, rows, pushups, chinups, pullups and some good ol' walking as well.

The deadlift is just a personal goal.

Ah, well in that case I'll bless your routine with my approval.

If you do yoga, take a class. Signing up and paying will actually give you a reason to go. It's great stuff! You get stronger and more flexible, you relax completely, and feel great for about 3-4 days after each session.

If you do pilates, buy a beginner's DVD and try it out at home. They do very few reps so there's little chance of damage to anything.

Rick, how is your training going?

Making progress. A typical session as follows:

Leg Extensions (for abs): 10 x 3
Bird-Dog: 10 x 3
Side Plank: 10 secs x 4
Back & Side Holds (not sure of the proper name): 10secs x 3 x 3
Squats (holding 10kg in each hand): 20 x 2
Deadlifts: 40kg x 10 x 3
Chest Press: 40kg x 15 x 3
Hamstring Curls: 25kg x 12 x 2
Arm Curls: 40kg x 15 x 3
Tricep press: 30kg x 15 x 3
Shoulder Press: 40kg x 15 x 3

Interspresed with lots of stretching and finished off with a 15 minute run, currently at just over 3km, but hoping to get that closer to 4km.

My problem at the minute is that when I train, the adrenaline goes to my head and I push it a little too far, but that in between sessions I'm too sedentary leading to the muscles getting stiff. I need to train more frequently but a little more moderately.

Well, several months down the line and I'm fucked again. Going to one more physio this week who says he'll do an MRI scan on my back and if his program doesn't work, I'll have to quit playing football.

http://www.yogasite.com/postures.html

So... how is it going?

To expand this thread, I have awful tension and aches in my back and would be interested in any advised weights, cardio or whatever else may potentially strengthen the lower and mid back to try and deal with tension issues.

Deadlifts benefit your upper body too.

Yoga. Yoga will leave you feeling like a wet noodle AND it will strengthen everything.

I REALLY need to do Yoga.

Slow progress. Frustrating at times, but I'm able to do interval running a couple of times per week by now. I've changed my posture when I run quite drastically, so that I'm not running on my heels.

Just repeating my endorsement of yoga. It's something just about anyone can benefit from, you can do it at any age, and there are always new poses to challenge you and keep you from getting bored.

I have to add my endorsement of yoga. They started a weekly class at the climbing gym in town last fall, but because of scheduling I wasn't able to make it until January. It's totally different than anything I've ever tried before. It's very, very good to have an instructor who will help you get all the poses right, which is why I would probably stay away from following online instructions--having someone watch you could save you hours of time wasted focusing on the wrong aspects of the poses.

We're focusing on the 15- and 30-minute short form right now to work on strength for climbing--lots of vinyasas. Well, I was until I broke myself

http://www.exercisetv.tv/

Another update...

I'd progressed to doing a lot of work on my glutes and hamstings...and this seems to have speeded things up. Last night I returned to training normally with the rest of my team. I'm not expecting to be able to do every session that they do (at least not yet) since I still need a lot of recovery time between training, but I'm well on the way. Some game time before the end of May is not out of the question.

Almost a year of this shit now.

"What is Gaelic Football", for anyone who's interested.

I'm not amongst the elite - the intercounty players - although at Under 18 and Under 21 Level I played for the county teams, but I play at fairly near the top level of club football.

And now I'm back playing full matches and doing most of the team training in between.
I still have to be careful what I'm doing to an extent and not push things too far. And I need regular massgaes from the physio, but this is good. I'm not back at my peak, but I am back at a level that I feared I would never again reach.