Since around October 2019 I’ve struggled with back pain.
I hasn’t affected me much during the daytime, but it has caused me considerable discomfort at night.
Until the start of this year, it would be a very rare occurrence for me to sleep through the night. Typically I would wake several times – often for significant amounts of time. I could never get comfortable. I tried lots of different pillows and sleeping positions, but nothing made a lasting difference.
Though the pain started not long after a nasty fall from a ladder, I never felt like it was directly associated with that. When I eventually went to the doctor and had an x-ray, they did discover that I’d fractured my back from that fall. But, no, that wasn’t the cause of my back pain!
So I started seeing a physio. And his initial assessment highlighted that my movement and flexibility with my back was about 50 to 60 percent of what it should be for someone my age. Ouch.
And so began regular stretching exercises prescribed by my physio.
That helped. To a degree. But the progress wasn’t dramatic. It was marginal gains at best.
It was around November time though that my Apple Watch generously pointed out that my overall fitness levels were poor. And so began a new motivation to begin exercising regularly.
Since then I’ve been doing one of either HIIT workouts, Yoga, and running on a daily basis, five times a week.
Remarkably, this, more than the specific physio exercises, has led to the biggest progress with addressing my back pain.
I’ve realised that the main reason I was having back pain was because I was unfit and not active! Other than walking my daughter’s to school, I hadn’t done any exercise for years.
Getting back into regularly physical activity has made a huge difference. My back is not perfect but I am back to sleeping through the night most nights. And that’s good enough for me.
And I’m feeling so much healthier and fitter in general.
Who knew: health and fitness is good for you?!
I hasn’t affected me much during the daytime, but it has caused me considerable discomfort at night.
Until the start of this year, it would be a very rare occurrence for me to sleep through the night. Typically I would wake several times – often for significant amounts of time. I could never get comfortable. I tried lots of different pillows and sleeping positions, but nothing made a lasting difference.
Though the pain started not long after a nasty fall from a ladder, I never felt like it was directly associated with that. When I eventually went to the doctor and had an x-ray, they did discover that I’d fractured my back from that fall. But, no, that wasn’t the cause of my back pain!
So I started seeing a physio. And his initial assessment highlighted that my movement and flexibility with my back was about 50 to 60 percent of what it should be for someone my age. Ouch.
And so began regular stretching exercises prescribed by my physio.
That helped. To a degree. But the progress wasn’t dramatic. It was marginal gains at best.
It was around November time though that my Apple Watch generously pointed out that my overall fitness levels were poor. And so began a new motivation to begin exercising regularly.
Since then I’ve been doing one of either HIIT workouts, Yoga, and running on a daily basis, five times a week.
Remarkably, this, more than the specific physio exercises, has led to the biggest progress with addressing my back pain.
I’ve realised that the main reason I was having back pain was because I was unfit and not active! Other than walking my daughter’s to school, I hadn’t done any exercise for years.
Getting back into regularly physical activity has made a huge difference. My back is not perfect but I am back to sleeping through the night most nights. And that’s good enough for me.
And I’m feeling so much healthier and fitter in general.
Who knew: health and fitness is good for you?!
–Sam
Got some thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you – do hit reply or drop me a note.
@samradford | samradford.com
Got some thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you – do hit reply or drop me a note.
@samradford | samradford.com