Huge weight gain and unable to exercise due to back pain

[maycontaintracesofnuts]

As the title says, I have had a huge weight gain and now unable to exercise due to back pain. Definitely muscular.

When I do go out I need a walking stick and use the trolley in a supermarket even when I just need a basket full of stuff.

My weight gain occurred due to really bad mental health, we lost my partners mum in difficult circumstances, my sister had a stroke and I had major gynae problems, all at the same time. My world fell apart, I stopped caring about myself for a while.

I am slowly recovering, brain is better (Sertraline and HRT) is helping but I can't walk far without my lower back hating me.

I have bought nordic walking sticks, but are there good lower back strengthening exercises I should consider?

I am addressing the calorie intake by following a SW plan...

Sorry for the waffle (ADHD/Aut)

Thanks in advance x

I'd try pilates to build core strength and help support your back.

Thanks @MiddleAgedDread I think there are classes nearby

Defo Pilates, see if you can find a good physio too.

Also losing weight is mostly what you eat, so you’ll lose weight even you can’t exercise too vigorously.

Don't worry about exercise- it's good for you, but not necessary for weight loss. I lost 9.5 stones with very little exercise doing low carb, low calorie, intermittent fasting. I do exercise now, I started when I'd lost most of the weight because then I felt up to it. So, take home message is don't let inability to exercise be a mental barrier. It's not essential.

It might be worth seeing a physiotherapist who specialises in this area. Your back pain may be a result of excess weight and lack of exercise. But there could be other things going on as well.

But generally, probably the worst thing you can do for back pain is to stop moving.

Our bodies are made to move and you should try to get mobile - walking is excellent for this and if you need to use poles then go for it. Keep a record and try to increase average steps per week each month. Take it slowly but steadily.

And as you walk try to visualise your core muscles holding your back like a corset. Pilates can help with this but just Pilates is probably not enough.

Try to add a mobility routine into your daily life and see how you can increase the number of steps you walk each day in simple ways. If you drive, stop and think - how many journeys could you walk instead? Ordinary stuff like getting off the bus a stop earlier and so on.

I agree with the Pilates recommendation, it’s great for strengthening your core.

You can find plenty of videos online if you want to try some basic exercises at home before committing to a class.

Swimming is another gentle exercise.

just to add: think about posture. Think about the way that holding your lower abdominal muscles holds your back. That’s where Pilates will help, but once you get the feeling of activating your deep core to hold your back, you can do this while you’re walking. And you should also remember lateral movements - twisting your torso (gently!) will be good to loosen up back spasms and eventually get your back mobile.

You could get an exercise ball to sit on. They're about 6.99 in home bargains and just sitting will help your core.

Before you start doing anything land based, I'd really recommend using a pool - the warmest one possible (you can usually phone and check what temperature they keep the water at) and with steps or a slope entry, rather than ladders to haul yourself up - as the feeling of your back suddenly decompressing when gravity hits your arse can be a little, um, intense.

You need one that isn't full of the 'I swam at County level and beat all of the men and it's perfectly reasonable to grab somebody's foot to make them move the Hell out of my way' people in lanes, though. Usually late evening or very early mornings are quiet enough to do that if the daytime/afternoon sessions are full of school children and swimming clubs.

Then you could move on to Aqua Fit type classes as you build up your strength and stamina beyond just existing and moving in the water.

Make sure you use as much hot water as possible to relax and warm up your muscles before and afterwards, definitely easy to remove and put on warm clothes and footwear, too.

After you're comfortable moving and exercising in water, then you could look at Pilates or resistance training using the machines (as you're less likely to overdo it or have the wrong technique, what with them controlling the movement and range - the rower/erg is good for regaining the ability to flex at the hips and keep a good back position, the pec deck and flye machine also encourages you to strengthen the muscles that keep you upright, for example).

What is more likely to hurt, though, tends to be the treadmill, stairs, the cycles - even the recumbent, depending upon your leg length and hip mobility - and the elliptical. They might become feasible after you've increased your stability through other exercises, but if not, you're already making massive improvements.

Which are good exercises at the gym that won’t make back issues worse? Swimming is terrible for me and last attempt at using the gym had me crippled for months afterwards .

I'm the same although due to cancer treatment, which on the plus side means I've had a lovely macmillan physio. She would definitely echo what others have said about swimming, even if that is just bobbing around in water. Also Pilates or physio, gentle core exercises, the most important thing being that you do things you enjoy so you're more likely to do them. I found the Apple fitness app with lots of short videos was fun, I'm sure there are many others depending on what subscriptions you've got, or free ones on YouTube.

The other thing that's really helped me is taking paracetamol twice a day consistently, regardless of pain levels. Anti-inflammatories would be better but I can't take than. I take paracetamol for other reasons, but I've found if I take it consistently then even though my back still hurts when I walk, it's more manageable and I recover quicker.

My physio was very eager for me to go on HRT, thinking it would help my joint pain, but I didn't find it made any difference and I put on 4 stone so I've given up for now. Others have had great success with it though so I think that's a very individual thing

Look at chair based exercises, OP. There are a lot of them, look on Youtube. If they start to get too easy then you could do them several times a day or do several cycles in one session. These can happen while you watch tv, for instance. Is a good transition between pure sedentary & getting some fitness back for yourself.