I'd had the occasional sore lower back from time to time but always put it down to swinging around in huge steep caves and having sore, tired muscles. That was until when working on our house I lifted up a rather large boulder and felt something pull in my lower back, thinking it was just a tweaked muscle I went back to climbing a few days later trying seleccio natural 9a I could still climb but falling off and the pressure of my harness on my lower back was horrible! This continued for two months until I thought I need to go and see someone about this. I thought maybe I just needed a massage to work out the knot in my back. I saw a physio and then an osteopath and with no resolve, I went to the osteopath for 2 weeks until she said I better get an MRI done to see what exactly was wrong. So went for the MRI and it turns out I have a herniated disc or disc bulge. SO basically need to take it very steady and no climbing at the mo...going to get started with some physio and work towards getting fit and healthy again. It has really brought home that you have to look after yourself well and also has really made me look to and appreciate that I want to climb for a LONG time and that to be able to do that I need to respect stretching and general care and not just about trying as hard as I can every time I go to the crag.
A positive in all this rest time is that I'm working on my general flexibility and especially upperbody working to see if I can straighten out my right arm fully for the first time in the last four years!!!!! Reading Jerry's book is definitely keeping the psyche up...
