By Troy Lindner
y
ou talk to ten fisherman at any
tournament, and ask them how many are
dealing with or getting over back pain. You
will probably have at least nine people say yes. Then maybe half of them might be dealing with
some elbow or forearm problems too. And I could be
one of them in either case. Of all the muscle groups,
the back takes the most punishment in fishing.
It needs to be strong for big hook sets and have
endurance in the smaller supportive muscles to
keep you going for the long hours on the water.
I threw out my lower back really badly in late February of 2010. It took 6 months to get to 90 percent of the strength and flexibility of my old healthy back. First, I rested it as much as I could and drank plenty of water. I can’t stress enough the importance of hydration for the joints of the body, especially after an injury. Think of this for a second, there’s a reason that hospitals hook you up to those water bags, no matter what you are coming in for. The body needs a healthy supply of water and sodium at all times to function and heal properly. Now back to the next step in my recovery. I did a lot of simple exercises to strengthen the small muscles and tendons of the back and hips, like the 4-Point Reach and One Leg Squat. If I had taken better care of these supportive muscles, I wouldn’t have hurt it so bad. These muscles are the little cables of the spine that keep you upright and moving and fishing. Mess with these ‘cables’, and the ‘bridge’ can collapse at anytime. Ever hear of someone hurting their back while sneezing or picking up a fishing rod or tackle box? It’s the little extra movement that
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finally puts too much stress on the cables which have been supporting the weak spine for years and years. It wasn’t the sneeze; it was the years of not taking proper care of the back muscles.
The way we hold our rods, the elbow and forearm muscles and tendons take a beating. That