Lifting and powder-day strains

We start with what happened: what you were lifting or shovelling, whether the pain hit at once or crept in overnight, and what makes it worse now. Coughing, standing up from a chair and bending forward are the usual culprits. Then we watch how you stand and move, feel for the spasm, and check how far you bend each way. We also check the nerves to your legs, so a nerve problem is not mistaken for a strain.

The spasm is the back guarding itself, and it eases as the strain settles. If the exam points to something else, we explain what we found and recommend that you see a doctor or nurse practitioner.

The first days matter. Keep moving: short walks several times a day, changing position often, and no more time in bed than you need to sleep. Heat or ice are for comfort only. Then, in stages:

• Easing the spasm: hands-on treatment to free stiff joints and settle the muscles. See manual therapy. A registered massage therapist carries the soft-tissue side between visits, easing tension, spasm and trigger points. See massage therapy.
• Bending and lifting again: a graded return, from hinging at the hips under a light load to the weights and range your back is ready for. Each step makes your back no more than a little worse. We coach the technique: load close to the body, feet turned toward where it is going, spine set before you pull.
• Strength: once lifting is comfortable, the plan builds strength in the trunk, hips and legs for work, study and sport. That stage can run as strength and conditioning, programmed for your sport or your job.

A day in deep powder asks far more of the legs and back than a day on groomers. Every turn is a squat, and every traverse is work against the snow. So the way back runs through groomers and shorter days first, with deep snow and bumps last. The test is how your back feels that evening and the next morning: no more than a little worse, and settling by the following day.

In the gym, the deadlift comes back at a load well below your usual, with the bar close and the spine set.

For next season, Fit for Snow is six workouts of under 20 minutes that build the strength endurance, mobility and stability a snow season asks for. Start before the lifts open, and keep your highest level going once or twice a week through the winter. Back Fundamentals teaches how to set the pelvis and spine before you load them, a stance the series calls the power position. The same stance protects your back under a shovel or a bar.

Book an assessment if the strain is not easing after the first day or two, or if it keeps you off work or the hill. A back that strains every season usually has a cause we can train. If you hurt your back lifting at work, we treat work injuries under WorkSafeBC claims: tell us when you book.

Go to the emergency department right away, or call 911, if any of these happen:

• numbness around the groin or inner thighs
• new trouble passing urine, or losing control of your bowels
• weakness or numbness in both legs
• back pain after a major fall or crash
• back pain with a fever