Lower back pain

[Ana]

I have recently developed lower back pain when I'm cycling on my road bike after 5 miles or so and when I stand for long periods of time. I spent a large amount of time in the drops because it relieved the back pain... :(

I also tried a stretch (pictured) which I had previously been able to do comfortably but now it's incredibly difficult and painful.

I have stopped weight training but I've never experienced something like this.

Any thoughts?

[VeloVT]

Sounds like tight hip flexors maybe? I have been struggling with this also. I think it's fairly common among cyclists. Stretching the hip flexors helps, but you have to be diligent about it (which I'm usually not).

[msincredible]

I also tried a stretch (pictured) which I had previously been able to do comfortably but now it's incredibly difficult and painful.


The pictured position will stretch your abs and crunch your lower back, it's not surprising it hurts.

Some of the stretches shown here are good for lower back:
http://websterbicycle.com/page.cfm?pageID=80

Did something change about your bike fit? Maybe your handlebars need to be adjusted slightly.

Strengthening your core muscles will also help your lower back.

[Tuckervill]

Definitely stretch those hip flexors.

One thing I like to do when my back is acting up...I lie on the floor, hug my knees to my chest, and roll like an egg the entire length of my back, back and forth back and forth. There's something about it that just feels better.

Then I lie with my arms out to my side, pull my knees up and slowly lower them from side to side. If any of this hurts too much, don't do it.

Any tme my back hurts I just do as much gentle non-weight bearing manipulation I can do on the floor, and that seems to help. One thing that causes me back pain is sitting up in bed typing on my laptop, which I'm doing right now! So I have to tell myself to stop that.

Back pain is no laughing matter. Take it easy, but be active as much as possible.

Karen

[Ana]

Definitely stretch those hip flexors.

One thing I like to do when my back is acting up...I lie on the floor, hug my knees to my chest, and roll like an egg the entire length of my back, back and forth back and forth. There's something about it that just feels better.



Oh, I remember that stretch now! I used to do it ;)

Thank you for all of your help! I am currently in the middle of a bike fit (waiting for a stem order to come in to complete it) so I think I'm positioned too far back on my bicycle.

I will do those stretches and see if it helps! I definitely have to work on that core strengthening....

Thanks All!

[uforgot]

I hurt my lower back in dance class several years ago. I had to go through physical therapy and the stretch you have in your post was not allowed. I had to do the whole roll in a ball thing that was already mentioned and lots of core strengthening. One of the exercises that helped the most was laying on my back with knees bent, and raising my pelvis up in the air with my feet flat and my shoulders still on the floor. Up and down. It actually provided relief. Hope it gets better soon!

[malaholic]

A shot in the dark, but...is the nose of your saddle tilted downwards at all? When I was having lower back pain while riding, my bike fit guy changed the tilt on my saddle from slightly nose-down to completely level, and it solved the problem. He said that with the nose tilted down, and with slippery lycra shorts, you tend to slide forward a lot, and that to counter the sliding and stay in place, you put more strain than necessary on your shoulders & back. My back still hurts while standing for long periods of time (or while washing dishes, oddly enough)...but at least I'm good on the bike now.

Hope that it gets feeling better for you soon!

[spindizzy]

That is the back extension exercise my husband (PT) prescribes and do when my lumbar disc prolapses. That happens when I have not been doing my core work....

[Tuckervill]

When you do the dishes, open the bottom cabinet and rest one of your feet on the shelf in there. I also used to carry a little fold-up shelf in my bag for putting a foot up on when I sat in chairs at church or at work. But, my legs are short and I'm always out of alignment when I sit on a chair.

Now that I have a core of iron ;), I don't have low back problems unless I sit in bed as mentioned.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

If your hip flexors are tight, then encouraging an anterior pelvic tilt by lifting a knee is only going to compound the problem. Trying to reverse the pelvic tilt by engaging the abs without releasing the hip flexors won't help, either; it'll just throw your quads, hammies and calves completely out of balance.

What hurts when you do upward dog? Can you do bow?

If you can find a massage therapist who can do an iliopsoas release, go for it. Really, my LMT assures me that you can stretch the belly of the muscle until the cows come home, but if you don't release the trigger points near the attachments, it won't do any good. Once I get back south in the winter we're going to work on that...

Otherwise, the best hip flexor stretches I know are the lying ones. Unlike the stretches that take a lot of strength to hold, with the lying ones you can relax into the stretch as long as you like and let gravity do its work. You need a high, firm surface like a massage table (or kitchen island, or the top of a large dresser....). Lie supine at the edge of the table and hang one leg off the edge. The table needs to be high enough that your foot doesn't touch the ground, at least at first.

Then, lie on your side with your shoulders, hips and feet aligned with the edge of the table, facing inward. If you don't have a rail, ask a friend to stand next to the table to keep you from rolling off. Drop your top leg behind you and relax.

These feel so amazingly good you won't want to stop. :)

[ozzie123]

I would seriously consider Astanga yoga for your issues. As an endurance athlete who has been seriously injury prone for so many years (you name it, I've probably been through it), I've finally decided to incorporate both yoga and Pilates into my training regime. I've tried Hatha, Mosha and Yin/Yang yoga but nothing has come close to the benefits I've received with Astanga yoga. No more low back pain - hip flexors are nice and supple and I can ride for days and days. Running issues are all gone too and its even helping with the shoulder impingement syndrome I've been plagued with the past 15 months. I thought surgery would be my only option to get me back in the pool but I now believe that I'll be back in the water before the month is over. Another form of treatment I swear by is called Chines Ditda. Do a Google search. It's amazing! Alot more painful than ART but far more effective. It's hard to find but if you have a practitioner in your area, go get treated. You won't need physio or chiro treatment again!

[Tuckervill]

If your hip flexors are tight, then encouraging an anterior pelvic tilt by lifting a knee is only going to compound the problem. Trying to reverse the pelvic tilt by engaging the abs without releasing the hip flexors won't help, either; it'll just throw your quads, hammies and calves completely out of balance.


Well, we don't actually know if her hip flexors are tight. Most people can use the stretch, though. And, if you gotta get the dishes done, you gotta get the dishes done, and if putting your foot up helps, no harm in it.

Karen

[solobiker]

My back issues stems from tight hamstrings. When my back flairs up it is always because my hamstrings are tight. I have to be very dedicated to stretching including the pic in your 1st post. My back was quite bad back in 2000. I could not sit for more then 10 min without being in significant pain. My Dr gave me pain medication and muscle relaxants which did nothing. The only thing that worked for me was Yoga and lots of stretching. Good luck to you. Back pain is no fun.

[Ana]

A shot in the dark, but...is the nose of your saddle tilted downwards at all?


No, I'm quite diligent about leveling my saddle. There is something off about my fit that puts pressure on my hands so I shy away from tilting the saddle forward or other things that could contribute to it.

What sorts of things make hip flexors tight?

I will work on my core strength, do some stretching and look into yoga/pilates (I've been meaning to do it for a long time) :) I am also going to try to weight lift again.

I wish I knew exactly when this happened and what contributes to it.

Thanks for all of the suggestions :)

[lisathew8lifter]

hello all,
this topic is of huge interest to me. i have been suffering from lower back pain for about two years.

i have switched my shoes from trendy to comfort
i have switched my pillow to a memory foam
i have switched my chair at work
i have bought a new bike that seems to fit me (instead of using my husbands bike who is 5" taller than me)
i get monthly deep tissue massages

so...what the hell is my problem?!?!? i can't figure it out! we went to vegas last week and my back did NOT hurt. we rented bikes (cannondale rush) and biked red rock canyon for three hours. no back pain. my back is the first thing to cut my bike ride short when i am on my bike.

i keep wondering - is it my bed? my chair at work? i wish i had the answers! i stretch after every run, i take "core" classes three times per week at work so i am aware that strengthening your core helps this. so far, it hasn't!!!

i am wondering what the difference is between my Gary Fisher Pirahna and the Cannondale Rush (besides the obvious 1000.00 + price difference). could i need a full suspension bike to avoid back pain? i'm soo new and naive at this i have no idea..

anyone?

[tulip]

...i have bought a new bike that seems to fit me ...

Have you had a proper fitting on your bike?

[lisathew8lifter]

um..well...sort of? i have changed the seat height, shortened and raised the stem...and that's it. i know this sounds very foolish, but i really thought that was all there was to it...:confused:

[tulip]

If your back is really bothering you and you think that it's related to the bike, then going in for a professional fitting might be just what you need. They can really dial in the perfect measurements.

If it could be from something else, then the bike fitting would be good, but might not solve the problem. Could you actually be hurting your back with the core classes you are taking? I found that in the gym I used to belong to, the core classes were a terrible mishmash of pseudo yoga, Pilates, tai-chi and crunches. The instructors had no clue about any of them and did not correct the students' posture and position. I stopped going to that gym because of it. And it was a well-known national chain gym. Terrible. I know I beat it to death, but Pilates really helps me. But it's really important to go to classes taught by properly-trained instructors.

Have you been to a doctor or chiropractor? I found great relief from a chiropractor for my lower (and upper) back pain. Which brings up something else. My lower back pain had nothing to do with my bike and everything to do with a weak core, poor ergonomics at work, and a whole lot of stress in my life. I had to deal with both the physical and emotional stuff to find good relief. Might not be your case, but that's my experience.

[lisathew8lifter]

Thank you Tulip for taking the time to respond thoroughly. I have had the chiropractor thing in the back of my mind but I haven't brought myself to get there yet. I know that this is ignorance on my part but I am scared to go for fear of the sales type pitches I hear my friends say they get when going there.

I thought it was something to do with my bike because i rode a different bike when we rented them while in Nevada. I now have it in my head that its MY bike that is causing the pain (while biking) and that I need the other bike.

I love to mountain bike but it seems as if the first thing (or really the only thing) to hurt at the end of the first lap of our trail (4.5 miles) is my lower back. This usually happens at the end of the ride and it prevents me from enjoying the ride and it makes me want to stop long before the rest of my body. I guess I was so shocked that I rode a bike for three hours on rougher terrain than i'm used to and I had no back pain. In fact, it didn't even feel like "work" or like exercise. I should say that my current bike is not a full suspension bike and the one I rented was. Could that be it?

pardon my ignorance here on all of this - i'm new to the forum but I have learned a lot just from poking around in the threads!

[Dogmama]

Hi Lisa,

Lots of advice here - we have no shortage of that! :D Here's mine.

I, too, have a bad lower back due to arthritis changes in the spine. Epidural injections were no help. Chiropractic helped ruin my neck & hastened my trip to the cervical fusion doctor, so I won't do that again. Spine doctor said strengthen the core, take asprin & live with it until you can't stand it, then we'll operate. Not an option for me.

I did two things:

I agree with Tulip about pilates. (1) I took private pilates lessons from a real instructor at a real studio. I learned a LOT about core strengthening. (2) I started to slowly strengthen the surrounding muscles around my spine. In the weight room I did very light squats, deadlifts along with my pilates routine. It was frustrating for awhile, because I had been capable of using a lot more weight but I knew if I pushed it I would regret it. Patience - a virtue (for somebody else!!)

Today, I have pain when I'm pushing gears that are too big for an extended period of time. I have to concentrate on spinning up hills, against the wind, etc. Other than that - I'm pain free. According to my MRI & x-rays, I should be hurting.

Keep us posted!

[lisathew8lifter]

Hi Lisa,

I agree with Tulip about pilates. (1) I took private pilates lessons from a real instructor at a real studio. I learned a LOT about core strengthening. (2) I started to slowly strengthen the surrounding muscles around my spine. In the weight room I did very light squats, deadlifts along with my pilates routine. It was frustrating for awhile, because I had been capable of using a lot more weight but I knew if I pushed it I would regret it. Patience - a virtue (for somebody else!!)

Today, I have pain when I'm pushing gears that are too big for an extended period of time. I have to concentrate on spinning up hills, against the wind, etc. Other than that - I'm pain free. According to my MRI & x-rays, I should be hurting.

Keep us posted!

I used to do squats with 2 45#s on each side. i am 5'5 and at the time weighed about 145. i know all about the frustration of wanting to go heavy and then having someone tell me to just do light weight, etc. I, too, have ZERO patience.

Maybe I just don't know HOW to ride or HOW to use my gears? It does seem like I have problems finding the perfect gear. When we were in Nevada at Red Rock, I was able to use a bunch of different gears because I could tell what was up ahead since the terrain was WIDE open. I live in MN and the trails we go to have a lot of sand, rock gardens, trails between two trees (:eek: i hit one last fall and had a bruise on my azz for two weeks that I never thought would go away) and I think I get very tense and that doesn't help my situation either!

I will have to check on info for hills and gears - I saw the sand one (thank you to whomever posted that!!!) and that was helpful too.