Do you get pain in your lower back while riding? I sure do! It doesn’t get that bad when I bike at home, with my bike on the indoor trainer. I am just now getting back to biking outside, since the weather is getting better. Sadly, that’s not great for my back. I recalled that I have seen in the past that complaints about lower back pain are not so uncommon among cyclists. So I decided to dig around and find out what to do.
I have found out that there are two groups of reasons, let’s call them mechanical and fitness. Mechanical are bike fit and posture while riding. Fitness are your core strength and stretching. Let’s take each of them apart and discuss solutions.
Mechanical issues
Bike fit
Apparently this one is responsible for the vast majority of problems. Depending on your budget and how serious you were when buying your bike, you may have bought your bike from a professional store or from a big box store. Sadly, most of us are very price-conscious and it will lead to problems. So here are some key point for the bike fit:
- You need to have some clearance over the frame, that’s a given. I tried borrowing a bike before where I didn’t really have much (any?) space over the frame and let me tell you: watching me get on and off that bike was really funny (for people who weren’t me). But this one is obvious
- The other part of size of the frame: how far you have to reach out to the handlebars. If they are too far, reaching out will create strain on your back
- Height of your seat: your knees should be at 15-20 degree angle when your leg is most extended while peddling
Posture
This one can be caused by general bad posture, bad habits or physical limitations. Let’s start from the front of the bike: your arms when you are holding onto the handlebars. They should be slightly bent. If for no other reason, you need to be able to absorb shock (and there will be shocks) and those tend to be vicious on locked elbows. Locking your elbows is a no-no in pretty much every sport (I can’t think of any exceptions actually) and makes you prone to all sorts of injuries. Next would be back and shoulders – keep them straight. Slouching and hunching over can create strain on your bike. If you think about it, slouching also causes your chest cavity to get a bit smaller, compressing your lungs and making it hard to take a deep breath in. When you are performing physical activity, it’s generally advisable to be able to breathe 😉. Last, but not least: legs. At the top, your legs should be at a 90 degree angle and not be fully extended at the bottom. If that’s not the case, check your bike fitting.
Another posture issue is sitting straight and using both sides evenly. It sounds easy, right? Then starts by considering the fact that pretty much all of us have legs of different lengths. It’s probably not the world’s best known fact. We usually don’t realize it because the differences tend to be minimal and shouldn’t cause issues, but the differences may be larger and in that case, you need professional help to make adjustments. How about old injuries? Since I have an old hip injury, I can speak to this one from personal experience. They may lead to moving somewhat differently or large muscle strength disparities. Probably the best solution to this issue is to train both sides evenly and consult a doctor or a physical therapist if necessary.
Fitness
Core strength
This goes for both lower back and stomach muscle. Lower back pain while cycling for an extended period of time may be caused by muscle fatigue. Fortunately, there is an easy, albeit time-consuming, fix for lack of core strength: exercise! You will need, in particular, to focus on inner-most muscles, which attach to your spine, around L5 in particular. Easy example or exercise working those parts is the much-hated plank. I am currently working on some workout videos showing which exercises will help this particular issue.
Stretching
Many cyclists are very tight in their hips, which can cause muscle to pull on the back. During a longer ride, that will create a back strain. In order to avoid this issue, you should regularly stretch your hip flexors and quads. Like with core strength, I will be working on a video showing proper stretches. Heads-up: I am not uber-stretched. I have neglected it for years and now I am working on fixing it. So don’t worry, you won’t be assaulted by a super-limber gymnast who makes you feel inadequate. But isn’t this what this blog is all about: a weekend warrior with very average abilities and totally every-day problems?
Bonus: using too heavy gears. This one I am totally guilty of. I am not very good at moving fast. I can, however, produce a lot of power, especially with my legs, for extended periods of time. Without proper guidance, I developed an unhealthy coping mechanism: I shift into a very heavy gear, which allows me to achieve higher speeds with fewer rotations of the peddles. Apparently that’s how you strain your lower back. Moral of the story for me: I need to work on peddling faster rather than harder. I am pretty sure I have all the other issues under control.