Back/posture stretches/exercises

Jack_

As per the title, has anyone engaged in stretches or exercises to improve their posture/strengthen their back? Did it help improve stamina in longer practice sessions or during longer gigs?

If so, what did you do? Was there a little program you can recommend or some specific stretches?

Thanks.

octatonic

Look into Pilates. 
It has made a big difference to my life.

DulcetJones

I do a set of yoga stretches almost every morning, helps a lot.  Google "cat pose yoga" and  "bird  dog pose yoga" (really).  These two were recommended by a physiotherapist.  He said to take up yoga in general, good advice.

Humbucked

Alexander Technique will identify any problems with your posture/gait. The trick is to re-learn how your body could/should move through space. Tai Chi is also good for your spacial awareness. Relaxing too. Good luck finding what feels comfortable for you. I've injured my back a few times and the above helped much. Also, a consultation with an Osteopath or Chiropractor may prove useful.

sev112

Popcorn...

took Pilates last summer; took it easy, did none of the hard stuff in a beginners class, just basically laid down and did deep breathing for 3 sessions.
cue 6 months of back agony and 2 physio sessions a week thereafter.

no magic solutions.  
I tend to find walking, simple stretching a few times a day, and occasional bobbing about in a swimming pool to get the weight off my spine works for me.  
Had to give up golf and cycling however

HAL9000

Hang a Les Paul round your neck for a two hour set. If that doesn’t strengthen your back then nothing will.

ArchtopDave

+1 for Pilates.

thomasross20

Pilates is popular at my work bit I don't do it. I do slouch and find my shoulders rounding. My back definitely gets sore but only since I got my Skoda Octavia. It's been less than a year but I'm going to trade in for a ford again! 

menamestom

Jack_ said:

As per the title, has anyone engaged in stretches or exercises to improve their posture/strengthen their back? Did it help improve stamina in longer practice sessions or during longer gigs?

If so, what did you do? Was there a little program you can recommend or some specific stretches?

Thanks.

Yoga Studio is good.  I have it on the ipad.  There are a few back specific routines which are great.  One I use a bit is almost ‘pre yoga’, just introducing some gentle ‘range of movement’ stretches to your back, around 15 minutes.  It has gentle twists and gets rid of stiffness and just ensures your back has had a tour of it’s own movement range.  I also find it’s good to do in the morning so that your back starts the day warm and supple. 

I try to do this one as a minimum daily, but do feel the worse for it if I miss it.  I’ve also noticed the benefit of the twists when reversing the car, I can spin round like an owl now.

Core strenght is important too, yoga is one way to strenghen it, as are the methods mentioned above.  It’s worth testing your core strenght, see how long you can hold the plank position for, it should be at least 30 seconds, but try and get to 2-3 mins (with a perfectly straight back, I’ve seen people in gyms sticking their bum in the air, that’s not a plank!)

One thing to note, the kind of excercises you need to do once you start to get back pain need to be done regularily and indefinitely, there’s no quick fix, even if you feel benefits straight away - don’t stop.

CarpeDiem

I've found Pilates has helped to strengthen my back, core, and improve flexibility. This, in turn, has improved some of my gym work. If you are interested in trying Pilates, I'd recommend getting lessons as it's easy to either get the technique wrong or, more importantly, risk hurting yourself. Some specific exercises I've found useful for back and core are; the bridge, hyperextensions, the hundreds, and sit-ups. There are demos of these exercises on YouTube but, as usual, they vary in terms of how good they are (hence the need for lessons by a qualified instructor) but they should give you an idea as to what is involved.

stimpsonslostson

I herniated two discs (doing martial arts) a couple of years ago. 

Firstly, if it's bad seek professional advice. 
Secondly do what they suggest!- you likely need to correct posture and increase core strength.

I saw an excellent physio who had me do "the 4 Cs- cat, cow, cobra and child" poses to get some mobility back & lose the sciatica I also developed. 
Then I moved on to a "30 day yoga challenge" using YouTube. 
I recommend "Lesley Fightmaster"- very gentle & builds you up .
"Yoga with Adrienne" really bubbly, fun and energising .
"Yoga with Tim" much more demanding, but really gets results if you're fit enough to do it. 

Lastly, look at the way you hold your guitar. Is it high enough? Is your strap wide enough etc?

Good luck. It's terrible having chronic pain. 

SunDevil

It really depends where in your back the problem is and if long guitar sessions are an aggravating factor then no amount of other exercises is going to fix it - they can play a supporting role (literally) but you need to think about your playing posture.

I had a cervical fusion done recently and could not look down for 6 weeks under any circumstances (with collar to prevent just that)

My normal ‘hunch over and look at the fretboard’ approach had to go

I first played looking at the guitar in the mirror and then graduated to just playing be touch and ear 

Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say

ToneControl

After decades of back problems, my most effective exercises for preventing back pain are Lat Pull downs on a machine, and hyper extensions on a Roman Chair
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperextension_(exercise)

 When I have not exercised for a while, and get lower back pain, I go and do some lat pull downs, or if I can't get to any gym kit, I stretch my back a little bit by holding the top of a door frame and letting the weight of my legs stretch my back a little

axisus

I had decades of intermittent but very painful back episodes. I took up swimming abut 6 years ago, 50 lengths of mostly front crawl 5 days a week. My back has been in great shape ever since.

lefunk

I almost always have a certain level of back ache from lugging PA equipment about from gig to gig. However, I started to get a neck ache that wouldn't go away over the last few weeks. I play classical as well as electric so postures (particularly with classical) can involve a bit of bent neck. I assumed that it was playing guitar that was doing it. However - it also corresponded with a long period of time where I'd been doing admin every day for several hours on my PC. I wondered if the height of the screen being quite low was the problem. I didn't think it was but I raised it up by 2.5 inches on some books anyway and hey presto two days later the neck ache has gone! I've ordered a monitor stand now.

http://www.lefunk.co.uk/
http://www.lefunk.co.uk/lelounge-acoustic-duo.html