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Gym types!

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham

Slightly random question, but there's an awful lot of big muscley types on here who might know a thing or two.

So, a bit of background to start with. Bear with me, I'm going to get to the point eventually; So, I do a bit of gymming because a fat belly and skinny arms was a bit of a weird dynamic (fat belly and bigger arms is a minor improvement, one day I may stick to a diet too...) but don't tend to do much for my legs. Partly because I have very sexy toned legs from all the years working on my feet, but mainly because I just really hate it. But I've recently developed a pretty nasty bad knee, to the extent I can't really walk down more than one flight of stairs without quite bad pain. The advice on the matter seems to be that strengthening my thighs (quads? I'm very much an amateur exerciser) is the best remedy, to support the knee better and take the pressure off the joint.

I can't do squats because they REALLY hurt the knee in question, and deadlifts have started to aggravate it too. As such I took ten minutes out of my session this morning to mess around with some of the leg machines, without weights, to see if there's anything that I can use to work my pins that don't aggravate the knee. (Getting to the point now)

So, I had a go on the leg machine where you're sitting pretty much on the floor pressing a plate upwards at 45 degrees. This seemed promising so I did a couple of sets (again, no plates loaded onto it) with my feet in different stances to figure out if it looked like a winner. It did, but when I tried to hoist myself up I got an excruciating sharp pain in my lower back. After some very undignified flailing I managed to get to my feet, and some stretching and a bit of foam roller loosened up my back so I could go back to my exercise, but obviously back pain isn't something to muck about with so I'm a little cautious now. The big question then, is; was that just a case of my old bones protesting about having to get up off the floor, or can that machine actually damage your back?! I'll take a bum knee over a knackered back any day.

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham

As an aside, I have no idea why there's a sunglasses "cool" emoji at the end of that post...

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

If your not sitting correctly or with your back fully straight and butt on the chair, but the pressure could hurt your lower back from the weight flowing down your legs to your lower lumbar. Maybe someone can give a more in depth explanation

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Sound like a GP question not a FAB question.

Failing that physio may have better idea..

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham


"Sound like a GP question not a FAB question.

Failing that physio may have better idea..

"

Yeah, it's okay now so there's no point going to a doctor or physio. I just wanted to know whether it was likely to have been the machine that caused the pain (as opposed to it just being a coincidence that my old back kicked up a fuss at that particular moment) so I know whether I need to steer clear of it!

I know that a lot of people on here are pretty serious about exercise and will know about using gym gear properly, it made sense to me to get some input from the hivemind in the first instance.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Seating position can be an issue. As can simply being stiff as a board.

Where was the pain? Middle? One side? More butt than back or above your butt?

The squatting/leg press movement elongates the hamstrings/glues/spinal erector muscles and tendons so if there’s a weakness or toghness there it’s possible to pull one of those.

Ideally on those machines you want to keep your hips down and arse flat. As your lower the sled, especially if you’re not very flexible, you’ll have a tendency to let you pelvis tilt which is not good.

I’d agree with the above though. Docs or physio

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham


"If your not sitting correctly or with your back fully straight and butt on the chair, but the pressure could hurt your lower back from the weight flowing down your legs to your lower lumbar. Maybe someone can give a more in depth explanation "

Ok I think that kinda makes sense to me. I suppose I kind of took it for granted that if you're in a seat with your back supported you're going to be alright. So I could have been slack with my form, hurt myself because I wasn't sitting quite right?

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By *axo25Man
over a year ago

lightwater

I didn’t start until late in my 30’s and I was too headstrong to ask for assistance at the start. So I basically went in blind for six months and I kept getting these pains etc.

Whilst I think seeing a physio would be a good idea, a couple of sessions with the PT on form would be really beneficial.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

it can damage your back any of the machines in the gym can course serious damage if not used correctly

from a qualified personal trainer

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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago

There and to the left a bit

Maybe have a word with the gym staff and ask them to make sure you're using it correctly?

Complete novice here (first ever gym session this morning) but that to me would seem the logical thing to do - most PTs these days are fairly aware of physical impacts of different machines I would have thought

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"If your not sitting correctly or with your back fully straight and butt on the chair, but the pressure could hurt your lower back from the weight flowing down your legs to your lower lumbar. Maybe someone can give a more in depth explanation

Ok I think that kinda makes sense to me. I suppose I kind of took it for granted that if you're in a seat with your back supported you're going to be alright. So I could have been slack with my form, hurt myself because I wasn't sitting quite right?"

Possibly, but like most things there can be other factors like if you got up too quickly etc or just a coincidence! It is rather hard to pinpoint an exact injury unless your right in the moment ! But don’t let it put you off training once you heal

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By *hampagne_Supernova_91Man
over a year ago

Manchester

Sounds like a posture problem. Could be worth getting a second opinion off your GP

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By *orenzoVonMatterhornMan
over a year ago

Lincoln

The leg press is a good start and you can work slightly different areas of your legs by shifting your foot position.

As for your back pain, are you warming up and stretching before you start training? If not that'll be step one. Step two may be to look at your technique; drop the weight and concentrate more on slow, controlled movement of the weight.

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham


"The leg press is a good start and you can work slightly different areas of your legs by shifting your foot position.

As for your back pain, are you warming up and stretching before you start training? If not that'll be step one. Step two may be to look at your technique; drop the weight and concentrate more on slow, controlled movement of the weight."

Ah, there's the thing. I had no wait on it at all, I was just trying it out to see if the movement put pressure on my gammy knee. Felt absolutely fine when I was using it too, it's just when I went to get back up my lower back (both sides radiating from just above my pelvis, to answer the earlier question) my back screamed at me.

It's sounding a lot like I should steer well clear of this particular machine until I can get someone to show me how to use it properly, regardless!

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By *orenzoVonMatterhornMan
over a year ago

Lincoln


"The leg press is a good start and you can work slightly different areas of your legs by shifting your foot position.

As for your back pain, are you warming up and stretching before you start training? If not that'll be step one. Step two may be to look at your technique; drop the weight and concentrate more on slow, controlled movement of the weight.

Ah, there's the thing. I had no wait on it at all, I was just trying it out to see if the movement put pressure on my gammy knee. Felt absolutely fine when I was using it too, it's just when I went to get back up my lower back (both sides radiating from just above my pelvis, to answer the earlier question) my back screamed at me.

It's sounding a lot like I should steer well clear of this particular machine until I can get someone to show me how to use it properly, regardless!"

Sounds like the issue is with your back more than the machine then. As someone suggested earlier, try getting it checked out by a GP/ physio.

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By *elvet RopeMan
over a year ago

by the big field

Slight detour to the original question, but try and work your adductor and abductor muscles too (the rather saucy looking leg speading machine and its opposite- the squash in machine).

I'd also suggest doing some cycling to boost your leg muscles- if your knee is OK with it?

less impack on your body than weights- you can slowly add those in to the mix as you build and tone

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By *atcherwanker OP   Man
over a year ago

Birmingham


"Slight detour to the original question, but try and work your adductor and abductor muscles too (the rather saucy looking leg speading machine and its opposite- the squash in machine).

I'd also suggest doing some cycling to boost your leg muscles- if your knee is OK with it?

less impack on your body than weights- you can slowly add those in to the mix as you build and tone"

I don't know that my knee is going to approve tbh, but if it is cycling is actually a good shout. I dislike cardio as much as I dislike leg day, so I tend to turn a blind eye to that area.

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