Neck/shoulder pain.

**emily_in_nc** · 08-22-2005, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by bones

wow so glad to hear I am not the only one with my shoulders hunched I just relized this week I was doing that. I have also been having pain in my lower back latley was scared my new bike is too small and that was causing it still have no idea why I have the pain. Should one ride with sraight arms or should they be bent a bit? Hope everyones pains go away soon.

Definitely bent a bit. Never lock your elbows as they take a lot of shock as you ride, particularly if you hit a rough patch. You don't want that shock to be taken by your joints, but by your muscles.

Emily

**Helen** · 08-29-2005, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

Definitely bent a bit. Never lock your elbows as they take a lot of shock as you ride, particularly if you hit a rough patch. You don't want that shock to be taken by your joints, but by your muscles.

Emily

Its like skiing I think. Instead of benting your legs, you;ll have to bent your arms otherwise you will have lots of pains in different places of your body.

Thanks for the tip.

**Helen** · 08-29-2005, 07:58 AM

Quote:
"BMI is an estimation of body fat based on height and weight. According to guidelines from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a normal BMI range is 18.5 to 24.9. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese."

Practically it is a fat calculator

**go get em** · 08-29-2005, 08:45 AM

When I first started riding I had lower pain in my back. With time on the bike and adjustments made to the bike I know longer had any back pain. Just make sure the person helping with adjustments knows what they are doing. This is very important.

**bikerz** · 08-29-2005, 08:58 AM

I'm going to tape this note on my handlebars, in plain sight:

Shoulders down
Elbows in
Back straight

I'm constantly finidng my shoulders up around my ears, especially when I'm getting tired and/or fighting the wind.

Good reminders from all of you on proper form - thanks!

**SadieKate** · 08-29-2005, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Helen

Quote:
"BMI is an estimation of body fat based on height and weight. According to guidelines from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a normal BMI range is 18.5 to 24.9. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese."

Practically it is a fat calculator

Just beware that BMI is a very crude calculation and doesn't take into account athletes with a lot of muscle.

**slinkedog** · 08-29-2005, 09:31 AM

Another thing to think about is core strength. If you're putting all of your upper body weight onto your arms during your ride, you're going to get sore shoulders/neck.

Doing some sort of core strengthening exercises will help you hold some of your body weight up without putting all the weight on your handlebars.

**Helen** · 08-31-2005, 04:58 AM

Originally Posted by go gget em

When I first started riding I had lower pain in my back. With time on the bike and adjustments made to the bike I know longer had any back pain. Just make sure the person helping with adjustments knows what they are doing. This is very important.

Yeah ... I think its so important to keep a good posture because this way you'll avoid getting injured and instead of maintaining a healthy life, you'll do the opposite actually ...

**kaian** · 09-03-2005, 09:23 AM

Check out www.sheldonbrown.com for info on riding posture.

There are a lot of helpful things on that site.

Also, I was going through the same thing recently - shoulder, neck and elbow pain. I decided I wanted to get a better bike anyway, so I decided to go to a LBS that had a good fitter, get measured and let the fitter know the troubles I was having.

I found out that I actually had a long torso for my height and that my bike was too small. So, I got a new bike (Trek 1500 WSD, 47cm) and he initially set me up with a 100mm stem with not much rise. I felt a little better, but still wasn't comfortable, so I went back and he gave me a 90mm with a 17 degree rise stem. This set-up actually feels comfortable. So...you might want to double-check bike fit, stem length and stem height. My handlebars are higher than my seat and this is what is comfortable for me right now.

I also figured out that doing exercises and stretches for my upper back and shoulders have helped quite a bit. Sometimes those areas can be weak and we don't even know it. So, every day I stretch and do those exercises and with that and the new bike fit I find that I am getting less and less sore and stiff.

I'd be happy to share my stretches and exercises with anyone interested. I got them straight from my physical therapist.

**Dogmama** · 09-03-2005, 06:22 PM

For neck/shoulder pain during long rides, paint the alphabet with your nose. Really. It works. Looks a little weird, but usually by the time I get to "E" I feel much better.

**Helen** · 09-04-2005, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by Dogmama

For neck/shoulder pain during long rides, paint the alphabet with your nose. Really. It works. Looks a little weird, but usually by the time I get to "E" I feel much better.

Very good advice Dogmama. Its so simple and it gives very good results.
Yes it looks weird but its effective and this is all that matters.
Thanks again.

**CorsairMac** · 09-05-2005, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by Dogmama

For neck/shoulder pain during long rides, paint the alphabet with your nose. Really. It works. Looks a little weird, but usually by the time I get to "E" I feel much better.

Wow - I tried it just sitting here reading the board and I felt better! Great idea Mama....thnx for the tip!

**DirtDiva** · 09-05-2005, 01:14 PM

Don't you get the alphabet song stuck in your head doing that? Or was that just me?

**greenchick** · 09-05-2005, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by tlkiwi

Don't you get the alphabet song stuck in your head doing that? Or was that just me?

I think your nose writes faster than mine! My neck is so tense from work at this time of year that I'm more like A.... B.... C.... D*ow*!.... now where was I?

**jpbayarea** · 09-05-2005, 08:30 PM

For me Yoga has been the main support to not having neck and shoulder pain. In the Downward Dog posture in yoga they teach you to drop your shoulders and bring your scapula bones down and in toward the middle. This is the same posture that works best on the bike, straight back and shoulders and scapula dropped down (toward your waist and lower back while on the bike with your hands on the 'hoods.' When I notice my shoulders are riding up and or my back is not straight I immediately do these simple things and all of a sudden the tension is gone and the straight back feels supportive to the rest of my core. Hope this helps. Any yoga book/teacher could help you with those subtle inward movements and gradually they become second nature.

Best of luck,

jpbayarea

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