I have been using a carpenters belt with suspenders for years. Lately, my lower back aches by the end of the day. Has anyone come across a good alternative to this and still be able to carry the basic tools with you?
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Only on larger sites with climbing do I normally wear my full rig, a pair of bags, belt and suspenders.
I can say that my rig hurt my back until I started balancing the bags and adjusted the suspenders to take the weight instead of the belt taking the load. Belt is only tight enough to keep the bags from wandering away too far. I can easily slip my hand between the belt and my jeans.
Other thing is to get, stay, in shape. The back naturally gets a workout. 90% of the movement works the back. Which leaves the belly muscles weak in comparison. The backbone it like a stack of blocks. If the back muscles are stronger than the belly muscles the spine tends to bend backwards. Sometimes the damage happens when the back is bent back but more often when the back starts bending back too far the belly muscles spasm and jerk the spine forward causing it to fail the other way.
Rule of thumb is that if your back hurts work on strengthening the belly. Slow situps, slow crunches and leg lifts are what works. Situps and crunches get done with bent knees. If it starts to hurt stop. Work it until you get tired a bit and stop. Don't go for a 'burn' or until it hurts. Consistent small efforts every day or every second day will get you farther than a few brutal sessions that put you off the larger benefit.
Don't know if this will help but it helped me a lot. Interesting to see kids half my age with sore backs while I chug along. Or I do as long as I keep up with the exercises and lift consciously. Taking care to purposefully tighten the belly muscles as I lift and to bend the knees. No more devil-may-care lifting with a jerk and twisting with a load. Now I have to think about it and work at a steady, chugging along, pace. None of us are getting younger. Work with it.
I've worn suspenders[various kinds] forever. And as mentioned the belt stays a little loose around my waist. Can't say my back hurts from that or from the work itself. You wear suspenders with 'elastic' in the back...they stretch a little?
I didn't do it....the buck does NOT stop here.
You might seek out a registered, original, not as seen on tv Pilates instructor. I had one go through an exercise she thought would be good for those in the trades and it's main direction was towards the lower back. Of course I didn't follow along too closely as there's still no back pain, but you might see if it would appeal to you.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
good morning to you- i've had two back operations with success with the second(fingers crossed ). the mantra is this and every one knows it weight loss ,excercise , i've just lossed 40 lbs. and so far i'm pleased with the diffrence,and a routine of two hour workout 3-5 times a week. with that said ....if your having a problem now something is rearing an ugly head indeed... i cannot wear a tool belt for more than six hours at time , i'm better in the summer than winter......why.... who knows??? this is my point... i find with suspenders , and a weight belt (to directly support the lower back) with the regimine of exercise to build up the upper arms, shoulder, lats. the weight belt is a key component in my opinion, it takes some getting use to . but in cant emphsize how much a diffrence it makes in consort with the suspenders. i've also noticed that it helps the knees also, so with redundancy cast to the wind. this is what works for me , i'm no slouch on the pace of my work. i've restored 1/2 timber framed barn by myself last spring(with a lull, chainhoist, and bottlejack's ) any how take care of your self now and find a pace that keeps you healthy.. i've got maybe 15 yrs.(optmistic) left in me ,i'm 47 now and wish i took more care earlier..... with that said in exactly 3 hours and twenty minutes i'm out the door to go on my first caribbean cruise this is uncharted territiory for me ... the unknown is a decent goal to attain you enjoy the moment slainte'
take care......bear
."expectations are premeditated resentments"
Edited 2/11/2005 8:53 am ET by the bear
Edited 2/11/2005 8:57 am ET by the bear
Edited 2/11/2005 9:01 am ET by the bear
No joke here but spin it around so the fasteners are hanging off of your dupa. I found it works well, relieves the strain, is easier on a ladder and only take a couple of days to remember which pocket the nail set is in. Dead serious. Yea sitting down is an ordeal but you aren't supposed to sit on the job.
As for the back aches. Home remedy is to lose the gut (cut back on food), then do situps each morning. I start with 10 /day for a week then work to 50/day. Tightens the gut and balances the tension on the spine. The analogy is the big TV tower. Cables hold it up, right? In this case your back "cables" are too tight. You gotta tighten up the front ones. (that is why the nail pouches in the back help.)
Then again I had a BIL that remedied his back troubles with a hardwood floor, a bottle of jack, and a bendy straw. Lay on the floor, sip thru the straw, when you wake up the back feels better. (no mention of the head or liver.)
Shoes.
The guys are right about balancing your bags and muscles, but, different shoes can make an incredible difference in the workings of the spine.
SamT
Very true that proper footwear can make a big difference. I have seen guys spend hundreds on fancy belts and bags and hundreds more on doctors and physical therapy only to go to work each day with the cheapest and shoddiest work boots on the planet. And they can't figure out why their back is hurting.Good solid support and well designed footbeds are a big step forward in getting and keeping the back healthy. Good quality boots are a good step. Good quality insoles, orthotic if needed, make them even better. Full on orthotic boots, and possibly supports, are the heavy artillery.The other thing I see a lot of problems coming from is wallets. I have seen guys with two to three inch thick wallets stuffed into back pockets cause misalignments as they sit and ride for hours each day. Drastically thinned down, not carried in the back pocket or, in one case carried in a satchel (man purse, murse) the pain, at least that portion not associated with friendly ribbing, was largely eliminated.
Oh, yeah. Wallets and Skoal cans. I used to run the biz out of a truckers wallet. Now I carry a Portable CD Player case.
A "Murse" if you insist.
SamT
Far better to get the occasional chuckle toting a 'murse' than live with a back that pains you and ruins the quality of life, anyone with a history of a 'bad' back can testify to how profoundly it darkens a decent existence, 24/7.The laughing slows considerably when they realize you are at a remote site, holding a framing hammer, smiling in a knowing manner and there is plenty of territory to hide a body in.Besides you can always whack them upside the head with your 'murse'.
Can you or SamT direct me to a thread about the orthrapedic shoes/insoles,if any? Not wanting to hi-jack this thread,but it seems the older I'm getting the less I like wearing boots.My ankles and legs kill me at the end of the day.
I didn't do it....the buck does NOT stop here.