Quote Originally Posted by Hi Ho Silver View Post
I had lower back problems for many years and finally ended up having a spinal fusion. That was 42 years ago! And to this day if I don't walk at least a couple miles every other day, I start having some minor twinges in the back. I have always guessed that walking benefitted my back by strengthening the stomach muscles, but I am no whiz when it comes to muscles and anatomy. Also, I have to have a fairly stiff mattress or the sag in my spine when I lay on my side causes some minor back twinges that can occasionally blossom into sciatica.

Good luck - I hope you can fix your problem!
You know, one thing I mentioned to DH earlier is that I wonder if my relative lack of running is a contributing factor. I was a runner before I was a cyclist and averaged 30-40 miles/week for several years. This Spring I trained for and ran a half marathon on that sort of mileage, but after the early May race I cut way back on my miles and most weeks all summer long I wasn't running more than 10-12 miles. I wonder if this contributed to some imbalance. I have never been great about doing core work, but I've never had back issues like this while doing a more even mix of running and biking. With the coming of Winter I'll be back to more running and less biking and that may very well be a good thing.