Lead Adventure Forum

Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Harry Faversham on 19 October 2020, 08:37:07 AM

Title: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Harry Faversham on 19 October 2020, 08:37:07 AM
Anybody else suffer with it? Recently after a battle lasting, maybe a couple of hours, I've had a bad back for the rest of the day. I don't think it's the height of the table, as that's been a constant for years. Could it be because we like to fight stood up, no chairs. Or worst case scenario, the inevitable creep of old fartdom?

:-[
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Von Trinkenessen on 19 October 2020, 04:58:43 PM
It's all that daring do at the bridge 'arry it's caught up with you lol.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Spinal Tap on 19 October 2020, 05:28:44 PM
I suffer too.

Most seems to b as a result of leaning over with straight legs to eyeball line of sight and reach minis across rather than moving around to get them.

Remaining conscious of what I'm doing helps but can be difficult when I get lost in the game.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Inkpaduta on 19 October 2020, 06:53:42 PM
height of the table does make a difference.
My table is just right for stands or sitting on a
bar stool. So no backaches.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: levied troop on 20 October 2020, 07:23:47 AM
Height of table is the first thing I’d look at if you are standing around the average dining table height.  I elevate my boards on those collapsible plastic crates (light and easy to store). it does depend on personal elevation, I am over 6’, but raising the game makes a hell of a difference.

Second thing I’d look at is old fartdom, but basic yoga or physio exercises will take care of that (in the short term) :)
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Mad Lord Snapcase on 20 October 2020, 08:05:31 AM
It's definitely approaching senility!

If you would like to join an elite group of LAFers, have a look at this page about half-way down.

The Spinal Nerves (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=125159.30) would be very happy to have you swell the ranks of sufferers!

Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Eric the Shed on 20 October 2020, 08:13:48 AM
echo heights of table - standard table height far too low if standing up to play a game
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Harry Faversham on 20 October 2020, 10:46:51 AM
It's definitely approaching senility!

If you would like to join an elite group of LAFers, have a look at this page about half-way down.

The Spinal Nerves (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=125159.30) would be very happy to have you swell the ranks of sufferers!

Oh, just marvelous. I always said wargaming would be the death of me!

:'(  :-[  :'(






Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Ray Rivers on 20 October 2020, 01:52:24 PM
I am somewhat of an expert on this topic...  :D

First, I suffer not only from old fartdom but also from a back and neck injury incurred after ejecting out of a broken jet. Those pains will be with me for the rest of my life.

But more importantly!!!!

I also run a cafe and have plenty of experience serving folks at their tables. Like most wargamers, waiters have a tendency of bending straight forward over the table to move their troops. This inevitable leads to back strain. The proper way to serve/move your troops is not to bend over frontally, but to turn sideways keeping the back erect, bend at the knee or leaning forward on one leg and use one hand to do the moving.

To recap:

WRONG!
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.kkQ0-llziNgKclRYiuXRVAHaE6%26pid%3DApi&f=1)  o_o

RIGHT!
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.V4eipTkRvJEBgs2UOZmTYAHaFc%26pid%3DApi&f=1)

Mind you, balancing to keep the back erect to reach long distances can also be a problem for old farts, but it sure beats the hell out of back pain... and it just takes a little practice.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Ray Rivers on 20 October 2020, 02:24:46 PM
echo heights of table - standard table height far too low if standing up to play a game

Height of the table does make a huge difference and a dining room table is not too low. I mean if you bend over frontally it will cause you all kinds of grief, but if you turn sideways and bend at the hip, you will be able to reach just about any part of the table without bending your back.

Keep your back erect. It takes some training, but one day you will thank me for it. (The exact words I use with a new waiter.)
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Norm on 21 October 2020, 03:16:43 PM
Backache is my constant companion!

height of the table is everything. Mine (a set of pasting tables) are on extendable legs and then they sit on a pair of skids (those square plastic drainpipes for lightness and strength). This gets my table to 40" height. The degree of 'tilt' of the back is reduced by this.

I also stand to game, 2 hours is actually a long time to do this. You might try breaking the session down into 30 - 40 mins  sections with short breaks between.

I find 4' too wide to comfortable reach the centre and have cut my table boards down by 4" which also helps more than you would think.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Shahbahraz on 21 October 2020, 06:48:15 PM
I'm definitely going to the 'wrong' bar.

I found that I spent too much time standing up during a game, so I am now conscious of this and try to sit down more while playing. This also goes to table heigt.

In the circles I moved in, there was a notable complaint called 'Norman Back' - so called because impetuous knights could be relied upon to be in the opponents half of the table almost immediately, and you spent the rest of the game bending right over. Walk around the table as required.   
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: DS615 on 21 October 2020, 07:27:32 PM
Anybody else suffer with it? Recently after a battle lasting, maybe a couple of hours, I've had a bad back for the rest of the day. I don't think it's the height of the table, as that's been a constant for years. Could it be because we like to fight stood up, no chairs. Or worst case scenario, the inevitable creep of old fartdom?

:-[
We suffered from the same thing for years, so it's not just age related.
My brother was the first to suggest dehydration as a cause.  So we started drinking water, lots of it.  You lose track of time easily while playing, so it makes sense.
Once we started with the water, it has helped significantly.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: pancakeonions on 21 October 2020, 08:22:20 PM
I am somewhat of an expert on this topic...  :D

First, I suffer not only from old fartdom but also from a back and neck injury incurred after ejecting out of a broken jet. Those pains will be with me for the rest of my life.

...

OK.  We're drifting off topic here, but MORE INFORMATION PLEASE!  I can only assume that you were playing at a wargaming table so large, it required a jet to traverse.  Naturally, those are a bit expensive, so perhaps you skimped on the maintenance?  Or bought one second hand from Chad?  Either way, I presume that you were under the hood, mid-flight, addressing something likely to do with the fuel pump when suddenly a wheel came off and whoops!  You had to take the parachute down?

OK, perhaps not, but it's rare when the potential for a rather thrilling ancillary tale gets left untold...  I mean, if you don't mind.

(and I too suffer from backache issues, starting from an old ultimate frisbee injury from High School, decades ago.  I still get sciatica [rarely] and play with a stool or highchair nearby.  And as much as I don't like it, I stretch, do situps, etc, to try to maintain some semblance of readiness for table top wargaming, among other things) 
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Ray Rivers on 21 October 2020, 08:32:00 PM
OK.  We're drifting off topic here, but MORE INFORMATION PLEASE!

Look here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVXpmmoWu-U

Here I am relaxing afterward:

(https://i.imgur.com/8swLS2P.png)

 ;)
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Captain Blood on 21 October 2020, 10:44:22 PM
Ray, that was very careless  ;)
But looks like you were very lucky to escape worse injury. Running a bar seems a safer occupation on balance  lol
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: pancakeonions on 22 October 2020, 04:38:00 PM
Egads....  That's terrifying...  Glad you ejected quick enough, that would have presumably been quite a bummer to go in the drink (while in a jet), though I can imagine flying dozens of feet in the air and hitting the side of an aircraft carrier on the way down would be something you'd like to put behind you.   Looks like the chutes opened so you didn't hit quite as hard as maybe you might otherwise have.

Holy moly. 
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Grumpy Gnome on 22 October 2020, 09:35:13 PM
Wow Ray, that was quite the close call. And captured so well for posterity. Glad you survived that and thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Calimero on 22 October 2020, 09:59:48 PM

Glad you're OK Ray… I wonder though, did they deduct the price of the jet from your pay? ;D
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Historiker on 22 October 2020, 10:43:09 PM
Never expected to see such a, for lack of a better word, fascinating video clip on a wargaming site!

Thank you for sharing and although we are strangers to each other I am very glad you have survived that!
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Ray Rivers on 23 October 2020, 03:44:23 PM
Egads....  That's terrifying... 

Had a couple other close calls, but couldn't save this one. It's just part of the job. A job I really loved.

Wow Ray, that was quite the close call.

We had about 2 seconds to make a decision. I called the ejection as the other guy was a newbie on his first carrier qualification.

I wonder though, did they deduct the price of the jet from your pay?

The tail hook broke off, so mechanical failure. They have been paying me for injuries ever since.

Never expected to see such a, for lack of a better word, fascinating video clip on a wargaming site!

Thank you for sharing and although we are strangers to each other I am very glad you have survived that!

Not something I share too often. A number of friends of mine had accidents they didn't survive.

Ray, that was very careless  ;)
But looks like you were very lucky to escape worse injury. Running a bar seems a safer occupation on balance  lol

Indeed, running a cafe is a hell'va lot safer. But in contrast it is incredibly boring to say the least.  ;)

Still, I'm here to tell the tale and thanks to all for your comments!
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Blackwolf on 23 October 2020, 10:29:07 PM
Fascinating story Ray.
I’m off on Tuesday to have nerve blockers injected into T9 to T11 under CT scan,hope it works,for a little while at least.
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: syrinx0 on 24 October 2020, 02:00:41 AM
Life on a carrier deck was never boring from what I heard.  I did civilian maintenance on A6, EA6-B among other aircraft and was always amazed at the stories I heard.  Glad your still here.

Good luck BlackWolf on your treatment.  I was really lucky and my earlier back/neck issue are under control with post therapy exercise.   
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Harry Faversham on 24 October 2020, 12:26:41 PM
Thanks for that Ray, only on the LAF can you get this kind of thing. A thread dedicated to sniveling about yer bad back, leads to a lucky escape from a watery grave!
Life now, in the slow lane might be boring, but they can't take away your memories.

:)
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Ray Rivers on 24 October 2020, 12:35:07 PM
Sorry for taking the thread off topic..
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Harry Faversham on 24 October 2020, 03:41:09 PM
You haven't, a great tale of derring-do, ans some practical tips on bending over a table!

:)
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: Blackwolf on 27 October 2020, 09:18:56 PM
Just for reference sake of my above post; if you do at all suffer from chronic back pain,get it checked out. I’ve since discovered that I have two fractures in my thoracic spine :o

Guy
Title: Re: Backache and wargaming...
Post by: RichyBee on 03 November 2020, 11:01:10 PM
i have been diagnosed with spinal decease a couple of weeks ago, me forefinger and thumb right hand is very poor ,all fingers/thumbs are hyper sensitive and a little numb. Painting armies is thing of the past. Today i put on 4 latex gloves to play on my xbox. This is cos of painting figs !!!! Im 47
Cos of all the horrible/ nasty /idiot gamers i have met over the years i wish i never done this hobby . This is virtually every opponant ive met....ive just been very unlucky that's all . now im suffering for it.