Lower back pain?

I just started riding last season and it seems that boarding puts a tremendous amount of strain on my lower back. I'm a pretty consistent runner on hard pavement and I stay in good shape. Does anyone else have this problem. Do I just need to get out more and build up my wakeboarding muscles? Bad stance? What about you guys?

you just need to build up your muscles

This might sound crazy but I have a really bad lower back and it's been been so much better ever since I started boarding.

If I don't ride for a couple weeks straight It starts getting sore again.

I've had days when I couldn't get Myself out of bed or dressed and that hasn't happened since I picked up this sport.

abbs, build up those stomach muscles, should help ALOT!

I have the same problem and I run like crazy. But of course I'm 33.

I haven't rode much in the last 2-3 years and I forgot until this post how much better my body feels in the morning then it use to. The abuse of wakeboarding on your body is crazy! My knees and back where wrecked. You might as well just go jump off the roof of your garage and get the same abuse.

Thanks for the tips. I'll continue to build up my abs. I hear you on the jump off a roof point. John, does the pain go away if you keep boarding? What can you do to help?

Caution!! Back pain can be very serious. Been there done that and will be a sufferer for the rest of my life. I slipped a disk and could not hardly move. The doctor diagnosed it as a pulled muscle. At the time I did not know better. The second time it happened I kept on the doctors until I finally had x-rays, which do not tell much, then an MRI that showed degenerative back desease. I can still ride, but have to be careful on how big and hard I land.

So building abs will definitely help, but please make sure you are not injuring yourself beyond just soreness. Age is not important, it can happen to anyone. Everyone is different, in why they have pain and how long if ever it heals. You are the only one that can decide whether it is worth it to you or not.

Next time you ride pay attention to how you land, and if you are breaking at the waist upon landing. That is what tears your back up. Try to learn to land more on your back edge and smoothly ride away from your tricks, not bent over.

I had 3 months of therapy on my back for a torn lumborum quadratus. The doctor says had I not been doing focussed core strengthening workouts my injury would have been worse even involving discs. What makes it flare up now is riding with out warming up or stretching, driving for 2 plus hours, landing way out in the flats falling forward, and RUNNING. Good soft shoes rated for you body weight can take the strain off of the low back that gets pounded when running. Pick another surface to run on and buy a swiss ball to pump up your core. Ice your back after every ride (20 minutes), especially if you're going several times in a row. Like Walt says wakeboarding will help your back if you don't over-do-it every time. Banana George started skiing/barefooting to help his back problems.

Make sure you ride switch too! Over strengthening one side can lead to more problems.

Dustin,
You may want to have a PT check the length of both your legs as well and make sure they are even. If one is shorter then the other, you may want to put a heel lift under the footbed of the binding that is shorter. (Height in Heel lift depends on how much of a gap there is between legs, but the lift shouldn't exceed 1 inch). A PT will usually do some procedures first to make sure they get an accurate reading in both legs as a starting point. My usual length difference is .5 to .75 of an inch. But there's been times when they've checked it and it's been up to 1.5 inches. If it's that bad, they perform their therapy and my length comes back to it's normal difference.

I broke my femur in 1999 and it's common that the broken leg will be shorter after the healing process is complete. However, when I started riding again it didn't take long before my lower back gave out. My problem was diagnosed and they gave me a heel lift to use in my left shoe. I started thinking about it and immediately took my left binding apart and put a half inch lift under the heel of my footbed. After that, I haven't have a serious problem since.

So now, when I get a new pair of bindings, I have to customize my left binding otherwise I immediately start getting lower back pain again. On top of that, if I don't have a heel lift in, I don't feel square on my board and my riding becomes much more inconsistent.

I've actually talked with some of the bigger wakeboard companies about the idea of custom bindings but none of them seem to think that it's a good idea, which blows my mind. In any sport where performance is essential, equipment is always customized. The way I look at it in terms of wakeboarding is not only does it maximize your performance, it can also prevent/minimize injuries.

Any other thoughts?

i have the same prob with lower back pains but it tends to be on my lower right side and runs down the side of my legs sometimes if i ride to long but when im out of the water i can barely feel my toes in my right foot... is that just the from lack of streching or building in those parts..? or could it be something else..?

im a fairly new rider i just started about 3 months ago ...

hey dustin, i think that just comes with the sport. i'm 25 years young,plus i workout a lot and race motocross. i still wake up sore the next morning from wakeboarding(knees and lower back). i guess you could all ways load up on pain killers. good luck.

jay 23, I appreciate the input. From what you are saying, it seems to just come with the sport. Racing motocross is about the toughest thing I can imagine. I'll keep at it and try to take care of my back before and after.

Go to a good chiropractor, there are many studies showing the effectiveness of chiropractic care in treating low back pain. Along with everyone else, strenghthen your core, but don't just do static sit ups, work on an ab ball and balance board also.

Dr. Sarno!!

http://www.healingbackpain.com/

It worked for me!

I've had chronic lower back pain for 15 years. I've always been in top shape, seen numerous doctors and chiropractors over the years, and finally learned to manage it effectively after reading "Treat Your Own Back" by Robin A. McKenzie. Ten bucks on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0959774661/ref=cm_bg_d_4/102-3737861-3176149?v=glance&n=283155

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By Eric Knight (amon) on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 9:12 pm:

i have the same prob with lower back pains but it tends to be on my lower right side and runs down the side of my legs sometimes if i ride to long but when im out of the water i can barely feel my toes in my right foot... is that just the from lack of streching or building in those parts..? or could it be something else..?
--quote--

Eric, My symptoms are very similar to yours, check out that book, hopefully it'll help you too..

dustin, i have the same type of pain. comes and goes depending on how much i ride or workout. my left leg will get pretty numb at times when the disc pushes on my siatic nerve. chiropractor helps, along with stretching. doesnt stop me from wakeboarding or snowboarding only thing that i cant do alot of is running. pavement is out of the question, tredmill is bearable every now and then. try cutting back on the running a bit, its harder than you think on your back and knees. maybe substitute with the stairmaster or some type of eliptical machine

A majority of lower back pain in wakeboarding, (NOT ALL) comes from bad body position either in your normal riding, edging (commonly toeside edge), or landing. If you let your hips drop back and you bend at the waist it creates tension on your lower back. A good body position should be the same type of position you would be in doing free weight sqauts. My dad used to always tell me lift with your knees and not your back

Good point brinks. Thanks for the advice bro. I'll try to transfer the tension to my legs.

Dustin;

If this persists and doesn't diminsh after you do the regular P.T. and conditioning routines, see a doctor. Like Peter said, back pain is nothing to mess with.
I started down a similiar path about 20 years ago when a nasty fall during a fight (I was a cop for 25 years)shattered my tailbone. The doc back then told me I might have further problems with my spine as I got older. About 3 years ago, I started having major low back pain for no apparent reason. This pain would transfer down the back of my left leg to the kneee, and consist of numbness, tingling, a burning sensation, etc, and finally, the pain flared up in my scrotum. That, as you can imagine, was intolerable without heavy medication.
To make a very long story short, last January I had two artificial discs implanted in my spine at L4-5 and L5-S1. the surgery was done in San Francisco, Ca. I was diagnosed with advanced degenerative disc disease.
I am doing better after the surgery, I'm still recovering from it. I'll never be able to engage in any kind of watersports or my first love, High-per. off roading, again. If I screw this up, I might wind up in a wheelchair.
This kind of problem doesn't go away, it gets worse with time. Mine was to the point that the remains of the two discs that were removed, would not, according to the surgeon, have "filled a thimble" There were wear patterns forming on the vertabre indicating bone-to-bone contact was taking place on a regular basis, and had almost rendered the vertabre so dessicated that I would not have been a candidate for the surgery.
The moral of the story is don't ignore this kind of shiznit if it doesn't go away.

I can tell you that I have road almost every board on teh market for the last 10 years and rocker lines and amoutn of rocker can make a HUGE difference on your back. If I ride a board that is over-rockered it kills my back with 10-15 minutes. Just another thought....

I also have experienced lower back pain, but I don't think it is only due to riding. There is a tremendous amount of lifting involved with loading the boat and truck, hooking up the trailer, and all the other physical activity involved with the sport we love. I have felt much better since I got back to the gym and lost some weight.
You can releive the stress on your back by building up your stomach muscles. Drink less (!?) and remember: always proper technique instead of trying to muscle through it.