According to the CDC, more than one-third of Americans experience back pain annually, some chronically. That makes back pain one of the most frequent reasons people seek health care. This musculoskeletal condition is highly responsive to exercise over medical interven- tion for relief, so aquatic professionals can play a part in relieving this common problem. Yoga has been shown to be as effective for man- aging back pain as traditional physical therapy. One of the ways it does this is by emphasizing maintaining spinal health through the full range of motion (ROM) movements. The spinal ranges of motion are twisting (right and left in the transverse plane), lateral flex- ion (right and left in the coronal or frontal plane), and flexion and extension (bending forward and back in the sagittal plane). One of the key benefits of yoga compared to other aquatic exercise modalities is the opportunities for spinal extension. In this case, both a back bend and axial extension (the spine lengthening along its axis like you’re getting taller). Most other aquatic exer- cise regimes take place with a neutral spine (think aerobic activities like running) or result in spinal flexion (think hand-to-foot exercises). Aquatic yoga encourages both axial extension awareness and actively engaging in axial extension before other move- ments. It also includes true spinal extension in postures such as the Cobra pose. There is a relationship between back pain and the length of your hamstrings. Yoga poses that include forward folds, such as Down Dog or Pyramid, can be used to lengthen the hamstrings with or without spinal flexion or extension. One of the contributing factors to back pain is poor posture. When you sit too often or hunch over, your abdominal muscles weaken and contract. Strengthening your abdom- inals through Level III moves in aquatic exercise is more effective with a stretching component included than strengthening moves alone. Not surprisingly, the most common muscles involved in back pain support your spine, such as the iliopsoas, quadratus lumborum, and multifidus muscles in the low back. The rhomboids, trapezius, and levator scapulae can contribute to thoracic and cervical back pain. Also, the erector spinae muscles support all three regions of your spine and can be painful in any quadrant. All these muscle groups are targeted within the basic aquatic yoga poses. Finally, aquatic yoga focuses more on dynamic stretching than land yoga, which pri- oritizes static stretching. Research has shown Dynamic stretching to be more effective in increasing the range of motion in low back pain patients (being ‘stiff’ or having a limited ROM contributes to back pain). The dynamic stretching in aquatic yoga poses effectively increases the strength, sta- bility, and flexibility of your back, abdominal, and hamstring muscles to prevent and counteract both acute and chronic back pain. RESOURCES Email [email protected] for a listing of article resources. AUTHOR Christa Fairbrother is one of AEA’s amazing IAFTC 2023 Presenters. Click here to find out more about Christa and the sessions she is offering. Yoga Asanas for Back Pain By Christa Fairbrother Take Two - Benefits of HIIT & LISS By Cristina Zaghi, BS We are accustomed to hearing differ- ent ways to train our cardiovascular system, and there is always debate about the best method for weight loss. Two of the most popular methods are low-intensity steady state (LISS) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Considering LISS, we mean the clas- sic aerobic training that aims to mobi- lize and utilize fat acids. It’s import- ant to understand that this type of training leads to weight loss because it increases the overall caloric expen- diture, not because it primarily burns fat as a fuel source – although all exer- cise does utilize a mixture of energy substrates. High-intensity trainings can give us similar adaptations. HIIT has several benefits, such as increased muscular capillarization, mitochon- dria density, and plasma volume. One of the benefits of LISS is the low intensity which can be effective for lower fitness levels and as recovery training for advanced fitness levels. LISS is very helpful for recovery as it increases blood circulation and removes toxins produced by muscular 24 | Akwa | March / April / May 2023
