Taking care of the back?

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[Eric Hood]

Hello,
What are some good practices to try to avoid back or spine injuries? I only have one session a week, alas. I am almost 51 and went to keep practicing Aikido(Tomiki) as long as I can.
I thank all in advance,
Eric:)

[SeiserL]

Learn to relax and practice good form.

I like yoga, lumbar stabilization exercises, and working the core.

At 60, with a bad back, I am on the mat many times during the week.

Hang in there youngster.

[Jauch]

Hello,
What are some good practices to try to avoid back or spine injuries? I only have one session a week, alas. I am almost 51 and went to keep practicing Aikido(Tomiki) as long as I can.
I thank all in advance,
Eric:)

First and most important: Pay attention :)

You must attain your focus on what you're doing.
Daydream while training, not paying attention to what you're doing is a high risk.

Then, I think the most common way to hurt the back is while taking ukemi.

It's for this that the rollings are. For your safety. So, know how to proper roll is extremely important. Mae Kaiten, Ushiro kaiten and Ushiro Hanten are the most common and "needed" rollings. Yoko ukemi is hardly needed in fact (but sometimes it is). If you need any other ukemi, than probably you are in the wrong place (my opinion).

And when doing ukemi (except yoko ukemi), trying to be like a ball is the best way to avoid hurt the back.

I think is it :) rsrs

See you!

[Eric Hood]

Thank you! I always try to do the falls to the best of my ability. My sensei sort of takes it easy on me. His philosophy is, we all have to go to work the next day. He wouldn't let me do any of the techniques, until I had a handle on the falls.
Muchos Gracias!
Eric::)

[Eric Hood]

Hi Lynn,
Thanks. What are lumbar stabilization exercises?
Working the core. This means making the abdomen strong , correct? If you are doing it at 60, you must know a few tricks.
Thanks again,
Eric

[Walter Martindale]

Hello,
What are some good practices to try to avoid back or spine injuries? I only have one session a week, alas. I am almost 51 and went to keep practicing Aikido(Tomiki) as long as I can.
I thank all in advance,
Eric:)

I've usually found that practicing a lot of aikido and taking lots of ukemi gave me a pretty good core/abs stability.

Bad back since 1969.

However - if you're interested.... Stronger Abs and Back: 165 exercises to build your center of power. Brittenham and Brittenham, 1997, Human Kinetics publishers.
Not sure if it's still in print - but there are myriad similar...
Cheers,
Walter

[Eric Hood]

Hi Walter,
I would like to check that out. I have been only doing sit-ups, that seems to help. I will look on the web as well.
Yours,
Eric:)

[Eric Hood]

Hi, again, Walter!
Amazon has it for 001 cent used.

[SeiserL]

Thanks. What are lumbar stabilization exercises?
Go to the physical therapy sites. They are filled with excellent information and exercises.

[Eric Hood]

Hi Lynn,
will do. I ordered a book from amazon last night. I want to keep practicing. A great sport.
Eric
PS- Youtube has a bunch of stuff.

[jester]

Keep your hands centered! Once you lose correct form, you put your back muscles at risk of pulling!

Same thing with basketball!! It's the time you're all twisted up and reach for the ball that you get a muscle spasm in your back!

On the plus side, ukemi also strengthens your core.

-

[Larry Cuvin]

Hi Eric,
I'm 51 with a herniated disc. Last year, my work had me traveling at different parts of the globe and I was not able to practice for months. Last December, I aggravated my lower back condition during stretching this was probably due to my wanting to get back to the training groove. Since then, I stopped going to aikido and been since concentrating on strengthening my core. My core has improved a lot so I may return to my aikido training next month.
While doing the core exercise, I realized that because of by condition, I should have been doing core exercises along with my Aikido training. Long story short: I vote for good core conditioning.

[Eric Hood]

Thanks Larry and all. I got the book, Stronger Abs and Back. I take falls and feel ok. It must help, that I am not overweight.