Hi everyone, first post here. I know it doesn’t have nothing to do with the Xert platform, but do any of you do any type of pilates work or similar?
I started doing it recently due to constant lower back pain in the hope I can get better?
And for those who do, for how long do your sessions usually last and how do you divide the work for the week?
So many things that can cause low back pain. I once had chronic low back pain and sciatica for 7 years, and pretty much lived in pain 24x7. By chance I one day took up foam rolling my IT band and thighs, and using a tennis ball on my hamstrings and glutes. 3 months later I had no back pain or sciatica. It flared up occasionally, but only when I stopped that regimen.
Lately I’ve traced the cause of an episode of acute low back pain to weak gluteus medius. Doing exercises to target the glute medius cleared up the back pain and also made me a stronger cyclist. Now I pretty much just do that one exercise 3 or 4 times a week (which only takes a few minutes) plus 1 - 2 sessions of general resistance training. No back pain and no fear of lifting heavy objects like my son.
You’re probably on the right track with Pilates, but I’m not an expert, and to reiterate, low back pain can have many different causes.
First of all, thank you very much for your reply.
I tried rollers before (textured rubber cylinder variation). I don’t know if it was because I didn’t use them for long enough, but I didn’t see much improvement. The package I bought also included a textured plastic rolling stick and a textured rubber ball (I guess similar to the tennis ball), which I think are designed, respectively, for the quads (and maybe chest) and trigger point, like feet or other specific body parts, but I just tried out the roller and didn’t feel better, so I returned the whole thing back to the store.
I have read that low back pain can be related to weak hamstrings, glutes and abs, so my plan is to strengthen those parts. How did you know your episode of acute low back pain had to specifically do with weak gluteus medius, did you visit a sports doctor?
I also have had chronic back pain for a while, which in my case I presume comes from too much bad sitting while gaming as a kid and had ridden bikes for a lot of time, but never with the right saddle, as my sitbone area is as picky as they come. I also have a big lordosis and just recently discovered people with such a condition may require a more specific type of seat, namely a flat one. The fit I use on my bike might also not be ideal for my body, so I want to get a bike fit on the near future, but at the moment I am stuck with other alternatives.
I will see how I go with pilates first and if I don’t see any improvements, I’ll consider trying roller stretching again.
I don’t remember how long it was before the foam roll and tennis ball started to work their magic, but by three months I was all better. I also don’t know if it was the foam roll (hitting the IT band and calves mostly) or the tennis ball (working on glutes and hamstrings) or a combination of both that helped, but if pressed I would say it was more the glutes and hamstrings.
YouTube. 
I wasn’t looking for information, it was a lucky coincidence. Or was it? 
Anyway, the video I watched said, “Try this, and if it helps then your low back pain is related to glute medius weakness.”
The Pilates route seems like a good one. I did Pilates for 6 or 8 months one year (years after the chronic back pain was alleviated) when I had the opportunity and it helped keep any acute episodes at bay, and gave me an enjoyable feeling of increased strength and durability.
I have, longstanding bilateral unhealed pars defects at L5 and a grade I L5/S1 spondylolisthesis, doctor’s words not mine.
Above caused by swimming lots of butterfly as a kid.
I’ve done Pilates and yoga classes of various levels but as mentioned above using a foam roller on my legs and lacrosse ball on my butt solves way more issues to the point you can feel tightness dissolving away and feel better in minutes.
I also add in a few core, glute and leg exercises every week, I just have a 10kg kettle bell for step ups and single leg deadlifts, good to add a twisting element to some of the core work for me anyway.
I was actually looking at doing some pilates earlier this week. Plan on trying some from the Garmin app on my watch.