Pain in the neck (and shoulders)
Discussion
Looking for a bit of advice.
Back on the bike after many years, training for a modest charity ride of approx 50 miles over medium-to-hilly terrain.
The old legs are coping with the training just fine, but my neck and between my shoulders starts aching after about 90 mins, to the point of me finding it hard to look up where I am going.
Any clever exercises anyone could recommend to strengthen this weakpoint?
Preferably something I could do off the bike each evening.
Bike is an old road bike (steel Reynolds 653, Mavic open pro, Time Magnesium pedals, Cinelli bar and stem, Shimano 105) that served me fine for racing 15 or so years back, so the bike isn't the problem.
Ta.
Back on the bike after many years, training for a modest charity ride of approx 50 miles over medium-to-hilly terrain.
The old legs are coping with the training just fine, but my neck and between my shoulders starts aching after about 90 mins, to the point of me finding it hard to look up where I am going.
Any clever exercises anyone could recommend to strengthen this weakpoint?
Preferably something I could do off the bike each evening.
Bike is an old road bike (steel Reynolds 653, Mavic open pro, Time Magnesium pedals, Cinelli bar and stem, Shimano 105) that served me fine for racing 15 or so years back, so the bike isn't the problem.
Ta.
Im not going to be much help but I too have the same issues. My neck for the last 2 days has been murder.
So much so, today it took me a minute or so to get out of bed!
I have looked up to ensure my bike is correctly set up for me and did some measurements etc, put the seat down about 1" and forwards a little. Hopefully it will work.... find out tomorrow.
Apparently it can be down to a number of things such as seat/bar height and reach, though also as I think might be the case for me, that I didnt give myself time to build up.
So much so, today it took me a minute or so to get out of bed!
I have looked up to ensure my bike is correctly set up for me and did some measurements etc, put the seat down about 1" and forwards a little. Hopefully it will work.... find out tomorrow.
Apparently it can be down to a number of things such as seat/bar height and reach, though also as I think might be the case for me, that I didnt give myself time to build up.
Neck pain is a bast - it can be almost anything causing it... there's a lot of muscles and nerves running through there.
Go see a good sport massage/physio - they'll be able to pinpoint what's wonky.
I get sporadic neck, left shoulder/armpit/chest pain - after doing the rounds with the NHS looking for a heart problem for nearly a year, I went to get a massage to alleviate the tension.
I lay face down on the table and she immediately said 'you've got a vertebrae (sp?) out in your neck'.
Transpires my wonky neck was causing me to tense my left shoulder almost constantly to compensate for the loss of balance and support for my head - the sporadic pain around the chest area just being the muscles letting me know they're fed up.
Since taking up cycling I find that sometimes I'm bunching my shoulders up when riding - if I don't stop doing, I'll end up with a stiff and sore neck the following morning.
Oddly, going out for a bike ride normally alleviates the problem
Go see a good sport massage/physio - they'll be able to pinpoint what's wonky.
I get sporadic neck, left shoulder/armpit/chest pain - after doing the rounds with the NHS looking for a heart problem for nearly a year, I went to get a massage to alleviate the tension.
I lay face down on the table and she immediately said 'you've got a vertebrae (sp?) out in your neck'.
Transpires my wonky neck was causing me to tense my left shoulder almost constantly to compensate for the loss of balance and support for my head - the sporadic pain around the chest area just being the muscles letting me know they're fed up.
Since taking up cycling I find that sometimes I'm bunching my shoulders up when riding - if I don't stop doing, I'll end up with a stiff and sore neck the following morning.
Oddly, going out for a bike ride normally alleviates the problem
Edited by Dunk76 on Friday 30th July 22:21
OP, i regularly go for massages, and I have neck/shoulder problems through riding. It has been suggested that apart from tensing the shoulders, you have a dominant side which means in order to keep straight you are effectively fighting left/right.
It takes a while, but learn to relax on the bike, push your shoulders down and back, try to keep your back straight too. Posture is as important as cadence.
It takes a while, but learn to relax on the bike, push your shoulders down and back, try to keep your back straight too. Posture is as important as cadence.
Nardies said:
Good find. I will try those and see if it makes a difference.Otherwise I might resort to the other suggestion of changing my riding position to be less 'racer' and more 'tourer'
Left riding the bike for a few days but what I did do was look up how to set the basics up for the bike.
Bearing in mind its the first road bike with spd's so a right fiddlers paradise!
I dropped the seat about an inch, moved the seat forwards 1/2", moved the cleats back a bit and rotated the bars back a bit.
Rode home tonight, no neck pain and felt much better than last week - though this might be down to me actually beginning to get some sort of level of fitness..
I have also got the name of a good local chiropractor that hopefully will see if there is anything wrong.
Bearing in mind its the first road bike with spd's so a right fiddlers paradise!
I dropped the seat about an inch, moved the seat forwards 1/2", moved the cleats back a bit and rotated the bars back a bit.
Rode home tonight, no neck pain and felt much better than last week - though this might be down to me actually beginning to get some sort of level of fitness..
I have also got the name of a good local chiropractor that hopefully will see if there is anything wrong.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff