Journal 3

Habit

For many of us students the transition from class to remote learning has been a bumpy road. Since the beginning of online classes I have noticed one specific problem, an increase in lower back pain. It was easy for me to put two and two together, coming to the conclusion that my hours of sitting in front of a computer leaning forward was the cause of my worsening lumbar discomfort. Like myself most students do not have the luxury of having a home desk with a comfortable desk chair, instead I work on my futon leaning forward towards my computer on a short coffee table. My first behavior change was finding a chair I can sit upright in with a desk I can work at.

      In addition to finding a more comfortable working environment I researched several stretches and exercises and put together a workout routine to help relieve my lower back pain. I combined various yoga stretches and back exercises to create a daily 30 minute routine all focused on relieving pressure on my lumbar spine and strengthening my back muscles to increase my backs ability to support itself. The routine goes as follows, Yoga poses hold each for 30 seconds with slow transition between pose, child’s pose -> downward facing dog -> cobra pose. After yoga poses I switch to exercises starting with 3 sets of quadruped arm and opposite leg raise, 3 sets of partial curls, 3 sets of pelvic tilt then a 1 minute side plank on both sides, at the end of each workout I touch my toes as long as I can. In conclusion my changed behavior is a new upright position to do class work in and an exercise routine.

Results

Days	Pain Level	Toe Touch	Extra Exercise
1	10	13 sec	no
2	11	10 sec	no
3	10	7 sec	no
4	8	15 sec	yes
5	7	15 sec	no
6	7	20 sec	yes
7	4	20 sec	yes
8	4	20 sec	no
9	4	25 sec	no
10	2	20 sec	yes
11	2	23 sec	yes
12	2	25 sec	yes

Result Description

To record my progress I took a daily log of the pain level of my lower back (10 being the starting pain, 0 being no pain), How long I can comfortably hold a toe touch and I logged if I had any extra exercise that day (playing a sport, going for a walk, etc). I found my new workout habit greatly improved my lumbar pain. I can move my back more easily and comfortably compared to how it was before the addition of the exercise habit. For the first few days my lower back started to hurt worse but as I pushed though it plateaued quickly. Once I hit day four I was feeling better each day and was even able to hold my toe touches longer. Neither of my behavior changes interfered with any prior commitments, I usually did my exercises in the morning when I woke up or after my last class of the day. I used to never stretch unless it was before going to the gym or playing a sport but I have learned that daily stretching can loosen  muscle groups causing discomfort. Not only does my back feel better but doing stretches in the morning would help wake me up and get ready for the day.

Conclusion 

My advice for everyone is to start daily stretching. We do not realize how much tension we hold in our muscles and stretching helps loosen your ligaments and relaxes your muscles. Although I would also say to not go as hard the first few days, I tried to do too much the first time and my back hurt more the morning after. It is always best to slowly pick up new exercises and stretches, stretching is a lot like working out, if you want to be able to lift the 40 pound dumbbells you have to work your way up to it.