Posture question

So after my run today, I took my bike out for a quick spin. Didn't want to spend too much time in the saddle because a friend and I are biking again tomorrow and the last thing I wanted to do was be incredibly saddle sore.

About ten minutes in, I started to feel a bunch of tension in my upper back, between my shoulder blades. I also felt like I was resting too much on my hands, perhaps, and this was causing the problem? I'm just not sure where my posture is wrong. Though just looking at the image at the top of this page, I wonder if perhaps my back was much too flat.

I do also carry a ton of tension in my back, so that can't help, and I wasn't exactly the most relaxed, as this was the first time I was on the bike all by myself, and I was playing with gears and seeing how everything works.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong or how I can fix this? Ten minutes isn't exactly record time to spend on the bike.

I thought I had a good fitting. But maybe not.

I have some of the same issues, and it is because of a too-long reach. It was much worse when I had an ill-fitting saddle, so you might want to look into that as well.

Have you had that issue when you didn't just come back from a run? I wonder if it isn't something about your running form that's knotting up your back and making cycling uncomfortable?

I will have a cycling friend look at my posture tomorrow. Of course now I'm worried about my bike not being right. :(

I get that pain and stiffness every spring, and my fit is just fine. I'm just out of practice, my core isn't as strong as I should be and, as a result, I hunch my shoulders.

Without seeing you on the bike, it's hard to say for sure. Just wanted to throw out an alternate theory for consideration.....

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Originally Posted by elbowglitter

Didn't want to spend too much time in the saddle because a friend and I are biking again tomorrow and the last thing I wanted to do was be incredibly saddle sore.

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This might be an important clue right here.

You should not be getting sore from your saddle.

Riding 2 days in a row should not cause pain from the saddle.

If your saddle is not fitting you right (wrong width, wrong shape, wrong padding level, etc.) you will get sore from it, and your body will automatically shift weight away from the saddle and onto your hands.

While it sounds odd, the source of your neck/shoulder/back pain could be your butt... :rolleyes:

The saddle sore thing was just a guess. Since I haven't ridden in a while, I know that I need to break in my butt a bit and be used to being on the bike. But who knows. Could be anything!

Make sure the nose of your saddle is not tilted down.

also remember to keep your shoulders pressed down and back when you ride and work on your core strength, also build up your time in the saddle endurance.

marni

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Originally Posted by Becky

I get that pain and stiffness every spring, and my fit is just fine. I'm just out of practice, my core isn't as strong as I should be and, as a result, I hunch my shoulders.

Without seeing you on the bike, it's hard to say for sure. Just wanted to throw out an alternate theory for consideration.....

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Ditto. Even now if I neglect my core I will start to feel it more in my upper body and hands by the end of longer rides. Though feeling it 10 minutes into a ride sends up some fit-issue red flags.

Rode for about an hour yesterday and it felt a bit better. I think I was tensed up because I was nervous the first ride out. I do think that maybe my handlebars need to be tilted up slightly. I am assuming that's a reasonable adjustment? They don't feel too far, I just noticed that when I sort of pushed up slightly on my fingers so I was maybe half an inch higher, things felt perfect to my back.

But I probably do also need to work on core strength.

I'm going to try to schedule an adjustment for next weekend and give it another week to play around.

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Originally Posted by marni

also remember to keep your shoulders pressed down and back when you ride

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I'm having a somewhat similar problem, and I think it could be at least partly posture related, so I'm wondering: What does "down and back" mean? Relative to what?

Very detailed! I'll try this out. Thanks! :D

I am having a similar issue. Not so much pain in the shoulder blades, but crunchy neck. After I ride, I am tense below the neck and shoulder blades a bit. The crunchy neck just grosses me out when I turn my head from side to side. Now I am no Spring chicken, but that is something new!

Mine seems to be nerve-related pain, right along my spine on the right side where my neck meets my back. It's a very specific spot. I don't know if it's posture, bike fit (although I did get a bike fitting and everything else seems great), or lack of core strength. Sometimes it hurts almost immediately when I start riding, and sometimes not until after 40 miles or so.