ATTN: Golfers – A Weak Back Makes You Weak in the Knees

After walking 18 holes of golf, Jim’s right knee feels stiff and achy. It seems to be getting worse and he’s concerned enough that he makes an appointment with his family physician. Jim is relieved, in some ways, to learn he just has knee arthritis but is surprised when his doctor tells him that he will “have to learn to live with it. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

To Jim, “living with it” means possibly having to give up golf or at least give up walking the course. At 55, he’s looking forward to finally having the time to enjoy the game only to discover he may have to give it up.

He begins scouring the Internet and finds hundreds of thousands of web sites that discuss knee pain due to arthritis. After reading through several of them, Jim learns that weakness of the quadriceps or thigh muscles is one of the problems associated with knee arthritis. He decides that what he needs to do is strengthen his quadriceps.

But, his strategy is doomed.

He enrolls in a local gym, hires a personal trainer, and begins the quest for stronger muscles. He and his trainer work together several days per week but Jim soon becomes frustrated. His knee hurts a little more than when he started and his leg muscles never seem to tire much. His trainer seems just as frustrated trying every combination of exercise he can think of to push Jim’s muscles to fatigue. During one exercise, Jim mentions to his trainer that his lower back hurts. The trainer wisely asks if Jim has ever had lower back pain before. Jim replies that he has had lower back pain for a number of years but lately it seems to be worse.

And, here is the real problem finally emerging. Jim’s lower back pain actually inhibits or reduces the quadriceps muscle’s ability to contract. His weak back leads to weak knees. Even though he is consciously trying to make his quadriceps muscle tighten, he cannot get them to fully contract. It’s as if someone has flipped the switch and his quadriceps turned off. While Jim has ignored his lower back pain over the years, his quadriceps has been gradually losing its strength. Now, when he needs the strength more than ever, his leg muscles simply will not respond.

What to Do

Garden variety low back pain – the achy, stiff, sore kind like Jim has – generally responds well to a structured and progressive strengthening program. But, make sure the exercises you use are “spine friendly”. Exercises like sit-ups, leg raises, and  the superman create excessive internal spine pressure placing you at risk of injury.

Trying to strengthen the muscles around the knee, for knee arthritis, when the problem is inside the knee – the joint cartilage – tends to result in frustration and failure. Strengthening muscle means using enough resistance that your muscles fatigue. But, with knee arthritis, the force needed to strengthen the muscles exceeds the force the joint can tolerate. If you instead work from the inside-out, nudging your joint into better health, your knee will feel better and your muscles will gradually be able to produce more force.

I wonder how many people, like Jim, have struggled to overcome an injury, ache or pain only to feel like they lose out? They yield to the frustration and let their dreams drift away like a leaf in the wind. And, this happens not because of insufficient effort, motivation, or interest. It happens because they missed the early warning signs, let a simple problem become complex, and then attempt to solve the complex problem by focusing on the symptomatic area. Just like Jim. His knee hurts, he focuses on the knee but missed the connection with his back.

Your body tells you when it needs help. Persistent aching, stiffness, or pain are all signals that your body needs something more than a shrug of the shoulders or a quick excuse. And, if you act on those feelings, the solutions are simpler, more effective, and you can avoid many of the problems that plague people in later years.

I saw a birthday card recently that said, “Living longer means giving up the things that make you want to live longer”. I don’t think Jim would agree and I don’t either. Living longer means DOING the things that make you want to live longer.

What will you do?