my workout

Okay, I've decided to start working out again since my back surgery. I plan to start slowly. The doctors said not to go back 100% untill mid October so I'm starting easy. Heres what I plan to do:

Bike riding - 6 miles every day after I get off from work
VERY LIGHT punching on my punching bag (I'm holding off on the kicking for right now)
Stretching - straddle stretch, left & right leg stretch, butterfly stretch, etc...
Forms - go over one form a day like 4 or 5 times

Any other suggestions what I could do for now? I had my back surgery to have my L3 & L4 vertibrae fused on May 19th. I don't want to do anything that will jar my lower back such as kicking a bag. Any suggestions for cardio or martial art wise would be appreciated.

__________________
Mark R. (student of Master John Dufresne)

I did some light work with weights as well after my knee problems earlier this year

and I believe that did a lot to get the body ready again so I could start working out on my fighting skills again

at first i feld really stupid doing squats with only a couple of KG's
but after 3 months I lifted almost twice my own weight

and my knee doesn't hurt anymore

__________________

“	Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.	”

all hail Martyr Fakka

Keep an eye on the bike riding - it can target the lower back. Look into swimming.

Consider finding a good yoga class (a bad one will just destroy your back) or trying pilates (machines) or gyrotronics.

__________________
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me

I would stick with walking and heavy stretching at first maybe a few pushups (like sets of 5) but be careful back injuries are tricky because of how the body works

Jade_Dragon,

I think that sounds pretty good. Did you run that past your doc ?

__________________
"To alcohol ! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" - Homer Simpson

Static stretch last, dynamic stretch before. I'd also stick to open chain movements, something where your core is supported by an outside force (like say a bench in a dumbbell bench press).

__________________
"When you see a good move wait - look for a better one."
- Emanuel Lasker

for the stretching consider supported stretching. Depending on your flexibility and technique straddle for example can put pressure on the lumbar. If you do it lying on your back on the floor with your legs on a wall then your lower back is supported by the floor and under less pressure. You can adapt most other stretches you will be doing in similar ways with a bit of imagination. Most people find that being forced into correct technique by support intesifies the stretch. Even if you are flexible enough/have good enough technique not to find that you can hold supported stretches for longer and they do not need to be passive - in the supported stradle you can work your legs correctly - flex the feet evenly so the arch lifts, the toes press away without any collapse in the ankle, the legs are straight and extending but with a microscopic bend in the knee, the muscles are drawn in tight to the bone around the insertion and origin but stretched and long in the belly of the muscle, the legs are simultaneously extending out of the hips and being pulled into them by the muscles, the inner thigh muscles are rotating out and the calf muscles are rotating in and the in breath opens a gap between every bone in the legs - all static apart from the expansion and contraction of the legs with the breath. If you stretch like that supported stretching can be a warm up.

If you go for dynamic stretching take it very steady. The transition is where a lot of injuries happen. Most people see the end point of the movement as the stretch rather than a single smooth movement as a continuous stretch.

__________________
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me