Warning about backs.
Discussion
I had my first ride out today, after an enforced lay-off of about 4 months (2 of which were spent laying down or standing - sitting was agony). The reason, a prolapsed disk brought on by over-training.
After, getting FA advice from the NHS, I ended up speaking to the back-care charity and they've been absolutely brilliant.
In summary the expert I spoke to provided the following advice.
HTH
After, getting FA advice from the NHS, I ended up speaking to the back-care charity and they've been absolutely brilliant.
In summary the expert I spoke to provided the following advice.
- When you're tired, you tend to arch your back to reach your bars, rather than bending from the hips, which is a big no-no as it puts a huge load on you lower back when powering up a hill. Her advice was, get your bars as high as you can to reduce the amount of bend in your back.
- spin up hills rather than power up with a low cadence.
- when you stop, rock your torso backwards and forwards, leaning as far back as you can. This is because your disk tend to bulge out the back of your spine after pro-longed cycling. This exercise will help even the the thickness of the disk out again reducing the pressure on a single point.
- Make sure you regularly do back stretches after exercise (along with your leg stretches etc.) See the back care charity site.
- Try to avoid hard cycling in a morning as you have more fluid in you disks in morning so the pressure is greater when you're bending over the bars.
HTH
Imagine looking at your body from top down.
What tends to happen as your ride and tire is your shoulders fall forward, and your back curves. So the line across your shoulder blades is curved, and your chest is cramped up.
The thing to do is push your chest out, and your shoulders back, as the woman has suggested this makes you pivot from the hip with a straighter back, rather than curving your spine.
works wonders, and aids breathing too.
Try to drop your elbow on steep climbs too for maximum effect, forearms parrallel to ground, then bending up to your shoulders rather than being in a line with elbows pointing outwards.
What tends to happen as your ride and tire is your shoulders fall forward, and your back curves. So the line across your shoulder blades is curved, and your chest is cramped up.
The thing to do is push your chest out, and your shoulders back, as the woman has suggested this makes you pivot from the hip with a straighter back, rather than curving your spine.
works wonders, and aids breathing too.
Try to drop your elbow on steep climbs too for maximum effect, forearms parrallel to ground, then bending up to your shoulders rather than being in a line with elbows pointing outwards.
I tweaked my back a month or so ago moving a washing machine, and I thought I would never ride again as i couldn't sit down properly, and spent moet of the month either stranding up ro lieing down. The idea of bending over on a bike seemed an impossibility.
Fortunately I recovered after a month of rest and am now happily back on the bike without any pain at all. These tips are very useful for prevention so thanks!
Rhinochopig - you don't say how you hurt your back in the first place by overtraining - was that with weights or bike?
Fortunately I recovered after a month of rest and am now happily back on the bike without any pain at all. These tips are very useful for prevention so thanks!
Rhinochopig - you don't say how you hurt your back in the first place by overtraining - was that with weights or bike?
prand said:
I tweaked my back a month or so ago moving a washing machine, and I thought I would never ride again as i couldn't sit down properly, and spent moet of the month either stranding up ro lieing down. The idea of bending over on a bike seemed an impossibility.
Fortunately I recovered after a month of rest and am now happily back on the bike without any pain at all. These tips are very useful for prevention so thanks!
Rhinochopig - you don't say how you hurt your back in the first place by overtraining - was that with weights or bike?
I was in training for a mountaineering trip, so was doing a lot of aerobic stuff. The pedalling I was doing to support my training was on my 9 speed (single front middle ring) MTB, and my route took in a lot of very steep hills, and with that gearing, it required a lot of high effort low cadence stuff. That seemed to be the major contributor. However, I tick all the risk factors for a bad back - 6'5", rowed for years at a fairly high level, so it was bound to happen at some point.Fortunately I recovered after a month of rest and am now happily back on the bike without any pain at all. These tips are very useful for prevention so thanks!
Rhinochopig - you don't say how you hurt your back in the first place by overtraining - was that with weights or bike?
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