Yes, strength training for scoliosis. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be doing this. And I feel like I stumbled upon this lifestyle enhancement on accident.
Last year I experienced a great deal of weight loss and began struggling with a general sense of weakness. At the start of the new year I had the strong realization that I needed to make a change, and I began a strength training regimen. I worked with a personal trainer once a week for four weeks and continue now on my own 2-3 times a week.
Since the start of 2018, I have gotten the one thing I’ve always wanted to help with my scoliosis: a strong core.
The ‘F’ word
I was not a physically active kid. While my [gorgeous] sisters have been into sports like soccer, basketball, rugby and cheerleading, I opted for being my softball team’s manager (man I was cool). I could be at every game, but I didn’t have to play! My avoidance of physical activity increased when I started wearing back braces at night and a 24-hour brace after my scoliosis fusion surgery.
Randomly in my mid-20s I decided I was going to change my body. I had cable at the time and fell victim to a very convincing infomercial that made me fall in love with Shaun T – the main guy from Insanity. I was really excited about the chance to go from scrawny to totally jacked (in a lean feminine way of course).
It was a great month. I got muscle! I also got big and poofy. So much for lean.
I didn’t like this new version of my body better than the previous version. So I let that month be it for that effort and my body eventually went back to the skinnier version of itself. It’s hard to get motivated to work out when you already like the way you look. Isn’t that feminism gone right? Maybe not.
Fast forward a few years and I’m presented with a predicament. I changed my diet and as I mentioned above, I was skinny (super skinny!!) and weak. When it comes to how a body looks, I’d say there is a spectrum. There is skinny, fit and fat. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being fat. I think fat stores or exactly what the body needs to sustain us through times in our life as well as ongoing seasonal transitions like Winter. I would gladly take another 10-15 pounds right now, but if I put it on too fast, it will dump me into my ‘fat’ body. As I mentioned above, I like my fat body, but this is not my healthy body. While it might not be someone else’s definition of fat, I think it’s important to know what ‘fat’ means for our individual selves so we can properly identify ‘fit’ and choose where on that spectrum we would like to be. The power is right in our hands. We have the freedom to choose what we want our reality to be. I now see that I don’t want to be fat nor do I want to be skinny. What I want is the good ‘F’ word. I want to be fit.
What pushed me away from being physically active:
- An assumption that situps / crunches are how you build a strong core
- With my fusion being in my lower back, situps and crunches make me feel bad about myself because I struggle with them
- Unaddressed fear of disturbing my fusion
- Insecurity in my lack of knowledge of what I can and can’t physically do
- An assumption that my body has more limitations than a body without scoliosis
How I Got Started with Strength Training for Scoliosis
Around the time of NYE, I became one of those people. I joined the gym. Yes, yes I know, people who go to the gym regularly absolutely hate people like me. Yet, here I found myself, with the rest of the January rush. I was working my butt off three times a week and taking classes on my off days.
I was motivated in a way I’d never been before. I had different goals than I’d had in the past. I wasn’t trying to get bikini ready (which has never happened) nore was I seeking to get toned (which has also never happened). My goal was, and is, to get healthy. Building up strong lean muscle mass is a step on that path. My trainer showed me some very VERY basic moves, but let me tell you, they were hard. I would meet with him on Wednesdays at 6 PM and workout on my own on Mondays and Fridays right after work. On my off days, I would go to a yin yoga class so I could get in a restorative session and give my joints some TLC. On Tuesdays, I would do Barre, which made me feel feminine and strong. On Saturdays, I would do a beginners yoga vinyasa class. I rest on Sundays and I’ll dive more into that in a future post.
After 3 weeks I noticed a change that made all the work worth it – my posture improved. I began to notice my shoulders were lower and sat back a little bit. I began to feel comfortable with myself in a new way. And with each week I notice my core muscles getting firmer. To my surprise, basic activities like walking and standing had become easier. It’s a little funny to say this because I would never have said I had a hard time walking, but it’s, without a doubt, been a change for the better now that my core is getting the attention it has been craving.
Benefits of strength training for scoliosis:
- Builds muscles that support the spine and strengthen the core
- Improves posture
- Day-to-day activities (even walking!) feel easier
- Compliments a yoga practice nicely through increased range of motion
I’ve always sort of known that I needed to strengthen my core to take care of my back. But if I’m being completely honest, I 1) was scared to death of messing anything up back there and 2) wasn’t really sure what my core even was. Seriously, is it my abs? No… because then we’d just say abs. Is it my abs and back? Maybe, but I feel like I activate my abs to protect my back muscles, so what’s going on? I’ve come to find that my core pretty much ranges from my hip line all the way up through my lower ribcage. As I progress through exercises, I can actually feel muscles in places I didn’t realize I had muscles. I can feel them deep within my body and it’s pretty cool.
Another positive side effect has been peace of mind. I tend to carry a lot of tension in my shoulders. It’s where I keep my bad energy locked up: my stress, my worry, my fear. Now that I’ve worked with TRX bands and have strengthened the back side of my body (hello glutes!), I notice that I get into a state of relaxation that I normally only feel after a 60-minute massage. It’s amazing. Even riding into work in the morning, I notice I feel… good. I’m also more aware when I do get tense and my shoulders become raised. Now, this is a signal to me that I’m uncomfortable, either with myself or with something going on around me. And I then consciously release my shoulders and breathe.
Final Thoughts
I’ve learned a lot about my body as I’ve jumped into strength training. I’ve also gotten to the point where if I miss a session, my body craves it. I like this. I am growing in my attunement to this physical body.
What physical activities have helped you grow in your attunement? Have you avoided exercise in the past because of scoliosis or other health conditions?
