Newbie with Sore Shoulders

[sundial]

Has anyone else had sore shoulders like this from riding? Is it a fit issue, or maybe a conditioning issue?

Maybe a little of both. My first thought was to maybe go with a shorter stem. This will bring the handlebars in some and put you in a more upright position with less pressure on your shoulders and neck. I think Specialized generally outfits their bikes with a 100 mm stem. I have an 80 mm on mine, but I also ride a unisex bike, Specialized Roubaix.

My next thought was maybe you might want a wider handlebar. You described your hands feeling a little squished. If you have broad shoulders, you might want to swap it out for a wider handlebar or one with ergo drops, like Salsa Short and Shallow.

I think it takes about 3 months to get fully acclimated to riding and for the body to develop the flexibility for the riding position. So hang in there.

[BarbaraAlys]

I think you need to go back for another fitting. I know that my bike shop will make a couple of small adjustments as I get used to the bike, the first after the first 100 miles I did on it, then as I figure out what is a problem I can go back and they will look at it again. Fitting is an art, not a science, so you should not be afraid to say "this isn't working".

Barbara

[IGGY]

I think it should be called bike "tweaking" instead of bike fitting. It seems like something that should be done regularly, like oil changes. Because we change, the bike changes, etc.
Also, tension while riding does it to me. Also, sometimes I find myself with my head at a weird angle because of the sun/shade etc. and my shoulders hurt.
Finally, core, core, core. Google pilates and learn how to do hundreds. You can do that in 2 minutes in the morning. You can learn more core moves, but this one will work relatively quickly, and you can do it without going to the gym for instruction.
Posture is my sore point. I have curves in my spine...and I really have to contort into getting straighter.
good luck!

[vinbek]

I have been riding for years. some years I ride more and better than others. I am not in really good riding shape right now. I ride better in the fall and winter months because my kids are in school and I get to ride during the week. My neck and shoulders are hurting and getting stiff on rides longer than 30 miles. For me, it is conditioning. During the fall and winter months you should work on upper body weight training. Some light weights for the arms and strengthening like pilates helps. When you start riding alot in the spring and summer, you can cut back or stop it all together. New riders, particularly in a group, will ride stiff armed and have their shoulders in their ears. I always remind riders to smile when they ride. It is almost impossible to keep your shoulders up and tight when you are smiling! Try it. Relax your arms - they need to be bent at the elbows. Change your arm position on the bike when you get tired - from the bar drops to the handlebars, etc. When you ride, you should be working from the waist down. You should not be moving your upper body or pulling with your arms. Hope this helps!

[Ana]

Sounds weird but you want your upper body to be kind of relaxed, not tensed or tight or locked out. Does that make sense?

Hm. Still a bit unclear about what this means. Will someone please enlighten me?

[VeloVT]

Hm. Still a bit unclear about what this means. Will someone please enlighten me?

Stand up. Bend over about 90 degrees at the waist. Let your arms hang down, and your head hang down, and let gravity pull them down, but don't bend MORE than 90 degrees (use your stomach to keep you there).

That's about what you want to feel like most of the time on your bike, at least when you're cruising (you have to use more upper body when you're climbing, sprinting, pulling into the wind, etc).

So you are primarily keeping your body up with your stomach, not your arms. Try riding as low as you can in your drops, with your elbows bent 90 degrees. Notice how in that position, you can't use your upper body nearly as much to support you, you have to rely much more on your core. That's the feeling you want to aim for when you're chilling on the hoods too.

Except don't let your head hang down on the bike, of course .

I work vigilantly at this when I ride. Every couple of minutes I think "let your shoulders hang -- are your shoulders hanging?". Sometimes I will push my shoulders down as far as I can (and when I say down, I don't so much mean pushing in the opposite direction as my ears, I mean pushing my shoulder blades apart), and then relax and let them find a place. This helps for me...ymmv of course.

Alternatively, if letting your shoulders hang is hard to visualize, it may help to try visualizing letting your elbows hang between your shoulders and your hands, as if there is no weight on them at all (this is actually more or less how it feels when you are low in the drops with your elbows at a 90 deg angle, right? channel that feeling). When this works you really do perceive much less weight on your hands, and you end up with much less potential for shoulder/upper back/neck tightness. But if your core is jelly-like (as mine currently is), you may feel something unpleasant in your lower back. Situps/crunches will make a big difference pretty fast though.

[Kano]

Liza --

You sure nailed it when you said you work hard at keeping your shoulders and arms relaxed!

I'm amazed at how much time I spend noticing that my shoulders are tight, or my elbows or wrists, or all three -- and then fixing them! Granted, it's not constant, but it does need fairly regular attention. More in the early part of the season than toward the end, and more if I've been away from my bike for a while.

The original poster mentioned being used to riding a mountain bike, and that riding with her hands on the tops is uncomfortable. It WOULD feel narrow, since mountain bars are wider and flat, so the top kind of feels like the place to ride. I don't find myself using that part of the bars much -- do many road riders? They're pretty much my place of last resort, when I really need a break from everywhere else!

Karen in Boise

[aicabsolut]

I ride on the tops a lot when I'm just cruising along (and don't need to be right by the brakes or shifters).

[Ana]

Stand up. Bend over about 90 degrees at the waist. Let your arms hang down, and your head hang down, and let gravity pull them down, but don't bend MORE than 90 degrees (use your stomach to keep you there).

That's about what you want to feel like most of the time on your bike, at least when you're cruising (you have to use more upper body when you're climbing, sprinting, pulling into the wind, etc).

So you are primarily keeping your body up with your stomach, not your arms. Try riding as low as you can in your drops, with your elbows bent 90 degrees. Notice how in that position, you can't use your upper body nearly as much to support you, you have to rely much more on your core. That's the feeling you want to aim for when you're chilling on the hoods too.

Wonderful! Thank you so much for this.

I, too, am a failure at relaxing the shoulders...I find myself consumed by it and completely forget to enjoy my ride I'm still working on the shoulders. Ideally, they are relaxed and pushed down?

Does anyone have any tricks to learn to keep their shoulders relaxed?

[PamNY]

Does anyone have any tricks to learn to keep their shoulders relaxed?

Yoga helped me learn what relaxation feels like. I just do yoga DVDs, not even classes, but I am able to use it in real life and it helps.

Pam

[rubysoho]

complete newb here just chiming in with something I haven't seen mentioned (sorry if I missed it in someone's post). I get sore between my shoulders and in the base of my neck because I lift my head to look in front of me. I don't know if it would continue on like your's does, but it is something to see if you are doing it. Once I realized what I was doing, I just changed it to lift my eyes to look ahead instead of my entire face. Magically the pain disappeared.

[Sgritn]

Thanks...I could not understand why my right side of neck was stiff for days after a ride.