[pct-l] Insoles

[Melanie Clarke]

Dear Csilla,

It's probably not your shoes that is giving you back pain.  It's probably
because you slouch and have poor posture.  When you carry loads with your
vertebral discs all misaligned you are going to have problems.  Don't stand
the way the fashion industry tells you how to stand, no it's not cool.
Align and stack your discs the way mother nature intended and the loads will
be distributed properly over the strong bones and muscles of your body.

Actually, if you hike with a pack that has a waist belt, tighten it around
your waist.  This forces you to stand correctly.  With a tight waist
support, you have a harder time slouching.  The shoulder straps on your
backpack should force you to keep your shoulders back.  When you lean
forward to climb, bend at your hip, don't round your back.  Keep your
shoulders back, abdominal area elevated (Waist belt won't let you scrunch
and walk with your stomach sticking out.) and your upper back should almost
be completely flat from shoulder to shoulder.  You want your tush to curve
naturally and when you bend at the hip it will need room.  If you tighten
your waist belt too low around your hips, you may push and flatten your tush
inward causing an improper distribution of loads to your spine.

Walk properly and you will be fine.  I am tall so I used to slouch.  I also
have a curvy tush and I used to tuck it under to try to hide and minimize
it.  This resulted in 2 herniated discs and 3 bulging discs.  Even though I
permanently damaged the discs of my spine, as long as I hold my back
correctly I don't have any problems. I am very active.  When I cycle (100
miles or so), I have to keep my upper back flat and shoulders back etc.  I'm
waiting to retire before I can do the entire PCT but I've done the JMT in 11
days with only 1 resupply.  So those are 20+ mile days with lots of
elevation climbs (With less climbing I can do more miles.) and my pack was
25 lbs. fully loaded with water and food but it goes down from there of
course.  Nature and genetics gave me very powerful muscles on my leg, thigh,
tush so I try to accept the natural curvature of these areas.

Melanie

On Sat, Jan 1, 2011 at 5:49 PM, Csilla Tabor <csilla.tabor at gmail.com> wrote:

> At the ripe age of 26, I tend to have some lower back pain when I walk for
> an extended amount of time. I'm worried about this acting up when I'm
> walking for six months.....Are there any specific insoles or shoes anyone
> recommends? Thanks,
>   ~Csilla~
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