I agree; I've abandoned the backpack-loaded-with-groceries idea for now. I
have plenty of other opportunities for walking, and I can always strengthen
my arms by carrying loaded cloth grocery bags (properly balanced) back from
the nearer store.
On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 12:10 PM jack loudon wrote:
One final thought on bad backs and backpacks; I would think twice about
carrying heavy loads in a backpack if my back was already ailing.When
mine was acting up, lifting a heavy pack onto and off exacerbated my back
problems, even though things felt okay once the pack was in place. Years
Thanks to all the people who responded since my last thank you. Much useful
information, particularly the suggestions for everyday, practical ways of
getting exercise by doing things around house and yard, which I ought to do
anyway. And I'm glad to see that my preliminary bias toward walking as a
P.S. A grocery sack is probably 20 liters, which is within the range of
a "Day Pack", but you want haul 40lbs so you need a at minimum a "heavy"
daypack. For a load like that with out a wide fitted hip belt I like the
Dana Design with the plastic torso adjustable frame. For smaller heavy
While strictly in the "take my advise, I'm not using it anyway" category, I
find single blade Canadian style canoe paddling to be an excellent balance
to cycling. It takes a bit to get ambidextrous, but at least for me has
been great conditioning and therapy for back, shoulders elbows and
And grip strength, having a rope attached to something heavy, like the tire
and pulling it hand over hand.
Honestly, I think a heavy tire or two could serve as some of my favorite
exercise equipment.
I think about it often.
Ray
On Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 4:20:10 AM UTC-8 Jesse
Walking is great, moving around in any way is really good for you.
Moving heavy objects at full exertion a few times per week will keep your
core really strong.
Exercises that isolate muscle groups might make you look good but they
won’t strengthen your core the way “functional training”
For heavier loads you definitely want the majority of the weight directed
into your lower body. External frame packs haven't been surpassed in terms
of weight transfer; see if you can find a nice example on the secondhand
market. Dana Designs are commonly held as the pinnacle of external pack
I'm all for having a few more things with me for short trips afoot. but a
bag with straps simply hangs on your shoulders and moves your center of
gravity causing you to adopt an increasingly affected posture as the weight
goes up. Neither your spine or your shoulders are columnar structures.
Patrick, not sure if you are an app guy or not, but I found the Nike
Training Club app to be helpful to get me motivate to maintain my body. It
helps to motivate by breaking down the barriers I perceive and removing
most excuses. (Only excuse left now is me being a lazy, lazy man)
I was
Patrick,
there's gotta be others here with lower disc issues, L5-6 for me. It seems
like once you start feeling those twinges, it "suggests" other issues are
going on. Stretching moves every day keeps the discs flexible, it helps get
fluids into the discs, and minor benefit it helps the core
Hi Patrick,
Late to the party here. I do a short intense work out of pushups, squats,
and planks. 10 minutes maximum. Start with pushups by doing as many as I
can, switch to squats, usually about 20, do a 30 second plank, back to
squats 20 or as many as I can, pushups again, and rotate. The key
Patrick, I have also avoided 'exercise' my whole life, and haven't set foot
in a gym since my college days more than 45 years ago. I don't do much
besides bicycling, walking (often hiking, sometimes jogging), and building
construction. My main back problems were before retirement, working
I like to ride really steep hills, and in the middle of the steepest part,
I get off and push my bike. A hundred yards or so of steep pushing is a
great way to break up the bike ride. Call it whatever you’d like -
exertion, excretion, exercise, core, or whatever else you like, but it is
all
Since the COVID lockdown I’ve been skipping the gym so I bought some
kettlebells and use them for arm and shoulder exercises as well as doing some
kettlebell swings with them. Those swings are a pretty good workout. I also do
sit ups and push ups.
This is just a couple days per week but I
I forgot to mention that bike fit is not the cause of the problem. The stem
on the new-to-me Monocog is about 2-3 cm too far forward, but even that
bike isn't too bad.
On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 3:18 PM Patrick Moore wrote:
> Thanks for all the replies. Much to enlighten and of interest.
>
> To be
Thanks for all the replies. Much to enlighten and of interest.
To be clear, my back has been largely trouble free, thank God, and it's in
the last 2 weeks or so that it's twinging.
I know I should buckle down and do some exercises to strengthen my core
(well, pushups do that, but also my
This post is much like your post about needing to eat so you don't bonk
while riding but that you don't like to eat before you ride...
FWIW, I cracked 3 vertebrae while sledding with my kids in 2008. Back pain
entered my life afterward and like you, I didn't "like" to exercise. I
rode my
I really like that post from shovelglove. I walk. More than I bike
actually. Especially now that I work from home because riding to and from
work was a big part of my riding. I have come to really love it. I get up
and go walking first thing in the morning and then spend the rest of the
>From a "Shovelglove" post.
*Exertion vs. Exercise*
*It's idiotic. We've invented one class of machine to spare us physical
exertion, and another class of machine to inflict it back on us again, but
in an infinitely more boring, painful, and useless manner. We view it as
the triumph of our age
Patrick, I walk all winter once/if the snow and ice arrive and it's too
cold for riding for myself. That's mid 20's. I'm fortunate to have a
wondrous variety of places to venture, either on the local rods or off.
It's also totally hilly, not at all like where you are.
Once the leaves have
The first thing that comes to mind is the fit of the new bike. If this
issue doesn't manifest on your other bikes, a look at adjusting fit would
be valuable.
In terms of overall strength and flexibility, I have found Ashtanga based
yoga very beneficial. Deacon Patrick's floor living seems to
My first suggestion for lower back pain is a foam roller. Yes, it's kind of
like stretching, but has REALLY helped me with lower back pain (especially
hitting the glutes and hips with it). But...like I said, that's maybe too
close to stretching for you.
I endorse walking, but I prefer to run
To put this in context: I read that the British Marines "yomped" 80 lb over
3 days to get to the battle zone in the Falklands; that applicants to
British Gurkha regiments must still run up hillsides carrying 80 lb baskets
of stones; and that 18th and 19th century coureurs des bois humped 200 lb
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