Lower back pain

On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:49:51 -0700, "yk" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Weak muscle or a bike fit problem ?

If you are older than 40 just buy a
recumbent and never have foot, back,
arm, wrist or shoulder pain again.
Easy Racers.com http://www.easyracers.com

And no I am not a recumbent fanatic, just
a satisfied duffer who can ride a bike as far
as he wants without pain.

Don Boring
Glendora, CA. USA
Easy Racer EZ1-SC and Lightning Thunderbolt

41 said:

Back pain is not that well understood but I do believe it is possible
to distinguish by feel muscular pain from something else. Pain in the
back muscles feels much like pain in any other muscle, and sometimes if
you press on the spot you can also feel pain, just like with any sore
muscle. Typical low back pain on the other hand does not feel at all
like muscle pain, it is much sharper, often a shooting pain.

Tell me about it. I seized up my back once a few years ago by sitting
in a horribly awkward position for about a half hour and then jumping up
quickly to get to a class. I could hardly walk, and breathing was even
difficult. A few days later it was fine.

It might be worth getting a doctor to look at it if you can't figure it
out by changing your fit. Better safe than sorry.

"yk" wrote: I have lower back pain only at the left side. It only happes
climbing a

Quoted message said:

long/steep hill.
I can ride 100 miles without pain on a flat road.
What could be the cause of the pain ? Weak muscle or a bike fit problem
?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well, obviously something is different on the hill. It could be that when
you ride 100 miles on the flat, you are able to coast and rest from time to
time, or you simply don't spend as much power. Do you wear a heart-rate
monitor? That will enable you to compare how hard you are stressing your
body in the two situations. If the pain is on one side only, it may be an
organ--a doctor can usually diagnose that kind of thing from location,
circumstance and description.

yk said:

I have lower back pain only at the left side. It only happes climbing a
long/steep hill.
I can ride 100 miles without pain on a flat road.
What could be the cause of the pain ? Weak muscle or a bike fit problem ?

I would investigate leg strength imbalance. The hill part implies
greater effort which would maganify this. Else, it may be a change in
your position when hill climbing which gives the same result as a leg
length imbalance in walking / running. It may be both. For example, you
may favor your weaker leg when climbing thus moving you slightly off
your saddle to one side which will twist your spine resulting in back pain.

yk said:

I have lower back pain only at the left side. It only happes climbing a
long/steep hill.
I can ride 100 miles without pain on a flat road.
What could be the cause of the pain ? Weak muscle or a bike fit problem?

Hills press the back muscles into service much more than spinning. Try
pushing real hard on the flat for a while and you may be able to
provoke the pain then as well. However, it's not exactly the same, if
only because the weight distribution is different between flat and
hill.

Back pain is not that well understood but I do believe it is possible
to distinguish by feel muscular pain from something else. Pain in the
back muscles feels much like pain in any other muscle, and sometimes if
you press on the spot you can also feel pain, just like with any sore
muscle. Typical low back pain on the other hand does not feel at all
like muscle pain, it is much sharper, often a shooting pain. To protect
the affected area the muscles may be pressed into service to hold the
spine in some fatiguing posture (e.g. inability to straighten out),
which then tires the back muscles and may cause them to hurt in their
own way too. Can you reproduce or provoke the pain while standing, by
bending or twisting or lifting? Does it come on suddenly, or gradually?
Sharp or dull?

Changing the position on the bike may help. Typical action is to raise
the handlebars so that they are at least within about a half an inch of
the saddle. That plus the typical back program of strengthening and
stretching excercises usually does the trick.Ω

Don Boring said:

On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:49:51 -0700, "yk" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Weak muscle or a bike fit problem ?

If you are older than 40 just buy a
recumbent and never have foot, back,
arm, wrist or shoulder pain again.
Easy Racers.com http://www.easyracers.com

And no I am not a recumbent fanatic, just
a satisfied duffer who can ride a bike as far
as he wants without pain.

Even after breaking my back 3 years ago, I don't need a 'bent and I am
1.5 decades over 40 yrs old. Get a bike fit, probably something simple.
DO NOT just spend the $ on a 'bent. They are NOT a panacea for real or
imagined riding 'pain' They have more problems than solutions.

For a well fitted upright, 'bents solve no problems, answer no
questions.

I have had this happen. In my case it was from bad bike fit.

I would guess ether the reach is too long/short or the seat is too far
forward/back.

In my case the reach was good but the saddle was too far back. Felt
fine on level terrain, but lower back felt like hell on any type of
incline - I would turn around and go down because it hurt so badly.
Moved saddle forward 1cm and magically it went away.

If you are already in KOPS position with the saddle you may try to
adjust the stem. Try one a little shorter and see what you think.

Hope you get it figured out, it can be frustrating.

-n

Actually, lower back pain while climbing is not that uncommon. Back
arches a couple of times a week will help strengthen the lower back
muscles. To do back arches, you lay down flat on your tummy and arch
your back bringing up your legs and your torso. Do three sets of ten a
couple of times a week and this will strengthen your muscles.

Of course bike fit and position will affect lower back pain. Lower back
pain can be caused by a steep angle between your hamstrings and your
lower back muscles. As your leg comes up and over the top, the
hamstring stretches the muscles in your lower back. If you can reduce
the angle between these muscles you may stop the pain. In fact, when
climbing, it is not uncommon to slide back in your saddle, increasing
the angle between back and hamstring. By raising your saddle and moving
it forward you will decrease the angle.

I used to suffer lower back pain during climbs and rides of more than
three hours. After bringing my saddle forward considerably, the pain is
gone. I've done centuries and climbs riding mostly on aerobars w/o back
pain. Of course, this contradicts the advise of most road racers who
favor saddles far back.

Andres

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Actually, lower back pain while climbing is not that uncommon. Back
arches a couple of times a week will help strengthen the lower back
muscles. To do back arches, you lay down flat on your tummy and arch
your back bringing up your legs and your torso. Do three sets of ten a
couple of times a week and this will strengthen your muscles.

Of course bike fit and position will affect lower back pain. Lower back
pain can be caused by a steep angle between your hamstrings and your
lower back muscles. As your leg comes up and over the top, the
hamstring stretches the muscles in your lower back. If you can reduce
the angle between these muscles you may stop the pain. In fact, when
climbing, it is not uncommon to slide back in your saddle, increasing
the angle between back and hamstring. By raising your saddle and moving
it forward you will decrease the angle.

I used to suffer lower back pain during climbs and rides of more than
three hours. After bringing my saddle forward considerably, the pain is
gone. I've done centuries and climbs riding mostly on aerobars w/o back
pain. Of course, this contradicts the advise of most road racers who
favor saddles far back.

Saddle position fore and aft is a compromise. When we
pedal hard we like to have our body weight balanced over
the cranks just so as to get our body weight working for
us on the pedal stroke. If the saddle is out of position
then we must use our arms to keep our body weight
centered. Adjust the saddle so that it is ideal for
pedaling hard on the level; then when we go up hill the
tilt of the bicycle puts the saddle behind the ideal
position for best use of our body weight on the pedal
stroke.

My unsupported opinion is that many riders climb out of
the saddle because their saddle is too far back to allow
for efficient uphill mashing while on the saddle.

--
Michael Press