Protecting my back

[hedgerow pete]

what you need to do is to improve the stregh of the muscles that hold the spine in place and give it its strengh.

i will find out the name of my beloved streatching book later today but heres a couple of quick fixes to start you off,

dont do any abdominal exercises as we need to work on the other side the stomach muscles pull at the back rather than help it.

lie on the floor face down,
relax,
dont try to do any more than say ten in total to start with,
when face down a relaxed try to lift you one leg in a straight line up of the floor by about an inch and hold it for 5 secs.
remember we are streaching not exerciseing here, if it becomes painfull or tight lower said leg quickly. try the other leg. for 5 secs, change legs and keep going untill its easy then do it for longer each time its gets easier, dont forget its a slight inch off not a behind the ear jobbie

lie on floor face up,
bend knees and bring feet towards bum

rember if its painfull you are doing it wrong!!

relax tension and allow legs to open away from each other. as you relax and breath let the legs open up as far as the tension will allow

dont hold but relax into a position hold for as long as you like i normaly do 60 secs at a time and about 5 times

 

[Cazza]

Thanks Pete
I will try these.
In the meantime I'm using a back support belt which is really good for weeding the garden and hefting supers.
The trolley is helping too.

Cazza

 

[Cazza]

Following Pete's back exercises, use of a mattress topper (fantastic), a trolley, a lifting belt and raised height hives........ I have had the first pain free sleeps for months. Yippee!!!

Thanks for all/any good ideas.
Cazza

 

[beeboybee]

at 6'3" the best thing i did was make sure my hive stands where nice and high and also made sure they where wide enough to put roof and supers on when inspecting so not bending down all the time.

 

[hedgerow pete]

i would normaly have mine very high as well but the bee shed ones have to be low for smaller peple to use them.

the thing with backs is that there is so much dribble writen and advice given, i can rember once being told to sleep on a sheet of ply as its good for the back, yours maybe but it crippled me.

the biggest thing i have found with my back after all these years after my spine collapsed was that the stomach muscles were working against my back muscles so where i have a 38 pack front( chocy bickie pack) the muscles around the spine that hold every thing together was very very week which is my biggest fault, i always know what my back is doing as if i dont do my daily exercises it stiffens up and getts sore, and lastly try to know your limitations, as a nipper a 200 lb weight was nothing for me to carry at work but now its more like 20lb, as my dad you to say work smarter not harder, the biggest and strongest muscle you can ever use is your brain not your arm, i wish i had listened to him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alabamaeee]

Two import exercises if you have a sore back.

Before you get out of bed, draw your knees up to your chest, hold for a few seconds and slowly let them straighten.

Use you hands to pull your knees up if you need to.

Repeat 10 times

Second Ex. When you get up, stand upright and lean gently backwards as far as you can, hold for a few seconds,then straighten up

Repeat 10 times.

Having had a bad back injury some years ago I can tell you that the two exercises were the first thing to really help me on the road to recovery. Even now if I have not done them for some time I can feel the stiffness building up in my back.

Don't forget that the bees also limber up before making a swarming flight!

 

[GregBeekeeper]

Hi all
I am beginning to develop back problems after years of heavy duty gardening and beekeeping.
Does anyone have any back saving tips in terms of the bee bit?
I have raised the height of my hives and have found a handy trolley which I can place next to the hives with an empty super on it to avoid lifting up and down much as possible.
I don't need half size supers yet. Any other tips?

Whilst on the back subject, my mattress is too hard and I wake up in pain. Do those memory foam mattress topper jobs work?

TA
Cazza

Use young people and introduce them to beekeeping