does your back hurt?

Trunkmonkey · Jun 22, 2004

Ever since blowing out my back a few years ago my back doesn't hurt during a long ride...my thumbs do. But only when I'm sitting down...when I stand up on the pedals, the mild pain goes away.

Serial Midget · Jun 22, 2004

No - I've been lucky enough to avoid back injury so far.

MMike · Jun 22, 2004

Serial Midget said:
No - I've been lucky enough to avoid back injury so far.

Does your face hurt? No? Well it's killing me!

AHAHAHAHAHAAA.....whew....

LordOpie · Jun 22, 2004

pnj said:
like most people, I have messed up my back at some point in my life. It doesn't hurt on a daily basis really anymore, unless I abuse it.

but when riding, sitting down and leaning forward for awhile, my back starts to hurt. I actually had to stop riding yesterday to stretch it out.
it didn't hurt once I got off my bike though.

does this happen to you and what do you do about it?

I'm assuming you're on the road, cuz if mtb, then you should be on a full-suspension, right?

On the road, I stretch often. But since I made some minor adjustments and bought a new saddle, the problems are reduced. If I'm in a situation where I can let go of the handlebars, I'll get a real good stretch in. If I can't do that, then I'll put one palm on the outer lower back and twist in that direction, then the other side.

Try stretching while riding, it works.

MMike said:
Does your face hurt? No? Well it's killing me!

AHAHAHAHAHAAA.....whew....

MMike... aiming to destroy brain cells in every thread.

MMike · Jun 22, 2004

LordOpie said:
MMike... aiming to destroy brain cells in every thread.

Sorry. A little too "thinky" for you?

Here, this might be more your speed: "Kill the rag-heads!!"

Better?

LordOpie · Jun 22, 2004

pnj said:
hardtail for life!

what about a suspension seatpost, like a Cane Creek Thudbuster?

Or just abuse yourself and pop 2-4 ibuprofen before hand.

Kornphlake · Jun 22, 2004

I find that my neck hurts especially when riding XC bikes where the toptube is stretched out. I think it comes from craning my neck to see where I'm going when my body is all hunched over. I can't imagine roadies riding 100's of miles in that position. Getting a shorter stem with more rise and riser bars helped but it also made my bike more like a trail bike, from there I got a new frame and now I have a freeride bike. I think the real key is strengthening the muscles in your back so that they aren't strained when holding your body in the riding position, so the best way to keep your back from hurting when you ride is to keep riding. After a few months of riding erbon on my way to and from school and work every day (I'd take the longest route between two points

) my back stopped hurting, since graduation I've been working a lot more and riding a lot less and I find my back/neck does hurt when I ride.

Serial Midget · Jun 22, 2004

MMike said:
Does your face hurt? No? Well it's killing me!

AHAHAHAHAHAAA.....whew....

Lay off the ritalin for a while, eh? :eek:

Skookum · Jun 22, 2004

Start stretching before rides, strong stomach/abdominal muscles mean a strong back, do some sit-ups....

grimm · Jun 22, 2004

a strong back will not hurt (significantly), so do some weights do strenghten the back, dont have to look like a muscle package, but it will help you with your back aches. but then again you might already be doing this.

im too lazy myself and get a bad back coz of it

:

jamesjbigler · Jun 23, 2004

I have very similar symptoms to you pnj. I went to a bunch of doctors and a physical therapist, but they were not able to help me. Then I went to chiropractor. He thinks it is my psoas muscle in my hip. When it gets tight, it pulls on my back and makes my back hurt. I have found doing some stretches for this muscle before I ride allows me to ride longer. I still get pain and back spasms though after doing strenous things like trail maintenance. Here is a link with some exercises for this muscle.

http://www.lwcoaching.com/library/strengtheningpsoasmuscle.htm

dh girlie · Jun 23, 2004

pnj said:
well, my back really hurt the most when I was pedaling up a gravel road. so I don't see how suspension would help. when the trail gets rough, I stand up....

don't ride on gravel roads...

Tenchiro · Jun 23, 2004

I had a problem for about a year and a half where my bak was so out of whack I could barely walk or even out on a pair of socks.

I went to a chiropractor, and found my hips were tilted funny and was causing one sode of my body to pull funny. He gave me some stretches to do and now it rarely bothers me.

Snacks · Jun 23, 2004

pnj said:
like most people, I have messed up my back at some point in my life. It doesn't hurt on a daily basis really anymore, unless I abuse it.

but when riding, sitting down and leaning forward for awhile, my back starts to hurt. I actually had to stop riding yesterday to stretch it out.
it didn't hurt once I got off my bike though.

does this happen to you and what do you do about it?

YES! My back hurts! Like you, not everyday, but after certain activites(soccer and biking) it will bother me for a while.

I used to have to stop and really strech out half way up the climb at Tiger and again right before hitting the trail at the top. I'm riding a different bike, different size too, this year and my back feels so much better. It still bothers me every once in a while, but not nearly as much.

When it is bothering me I soak in a hot bath of that Epson salt for 20 min.

Psychic_Pimp · Jun 23, 2004

Could be that you need to experiment with different bars or stems to give yu a different riding position, an inch can make a lot of difference. What works great for flat-land fun can be torture for cross country and hill grinding.

How 'bout seat height? I know you're a BMXer and ride with a low seat. Maybe crank up the seat for the climbs and drop it back down for the tech stuff?

Speakin' of... did you find a seat post clamp yet? I might have one of those for you too.

brock · Jun 23, 2004

I had reoccurring back problems for a few years. Then I started doing yoga a couple of times a week. I have not once had a sore back ever since.

brock · Jun 23, 2004

pnj said:
did you take a class or something?

I don't know though, yoga might cut into my beer time..... ink:

Yeah I did a class at the Y for a bit. Then I started doing it on my own at home and going to a Bikram (some know it as "hot" yoga) yoga studio near my house every once in a while. I dig the Bikram sessions because they are intense and the heat seems to loosen you up and allows you to get deeper into the poses, which in turn provides more stretch. The first time I did it, I was blown away. I was as sore the next day as if I had done an intense weight training workout.

It's 90 minutes. You'll be thirsty afterward and can drink up. The rewards are worth the small sacrafice in beer drinking time.

Snacks · Jun 23, 2004

Psychic_Pimp said:
Could be that you need to experiment with different bars or stems to give yu a different riding position, an inch can make a lot of difference. What works great for flat-land fun can be torture for cross country and hill grinding.

I would say that riding postion was my main issue. I changed bike size which in turn changed the size of my stem.

Yoga = good time for back :thumb:

does your back hurt?

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