"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Lower back pain day after a race?

I've never had any back pain before today, now all the sudden I have it in a big way. Anyone ever get back pain the day after? I've been lifting more stuff on account of a new job so that may have something to do with it.

How did the race go? Were you sprinting hard?

when i've been in a break all day, or if there's a substantial amount of climing, i'll feel it in my lower back and glutes.

I get some lower back pain, and some right arse-to-hip-to-lower-back area pain. Sometimes when working hard (physical labor), sometimes when racing hard. Certain core exercises tend to clear it up.

I started having lower back pain that lasted for many months. Went to my chiro, got adjusted, didnt help. Started doing core exercises, nothing.

Then one of my teammates said it looked like my back was slightly arched when i was in the drops. So i changed from a 110 to a 130 stem. Pain was gone in less than a week.

After harder than normal races, my glutes and eyes get tired. Eyes because I don't blink as much when things are intense. Glutes because I don't TT much on my own so although I'm low much of the time, I'm not working that hard.

+1 on the longer stem thing. The proper fit for back pain may not be a shorter, taller one. I have burst and bulging disks in my back, and I feel super comfortable on the drops.

My back used to get tired but now it doesn't. My frame I got this year puts me in a ~4 cm longer position from my past ones, and this has made a huge difference. (Past = 53.5 TT + 13 cm stem = 66.5 cm. Now 56.5 cm + 12 cm + 2 cm from steeper seat tube angle = 70.5 cm, same bars, same saddle, same post. I'm contemplating putting the 13 back on.)

cdr

also check to see how tight your hamstrings are. I've often had lower back pain when my hams were tight, stretching them out fixed it for me.

As a counter balance, I have, and always had, super tight hamstrings. I don't stretch or anything, although I tried for a while. I did over 100 miles yesterday (at an admittedly steady pace) and felt fine (albeit hungry) at the end of the day.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I forgot to add that the back pain started after the 45 minute drive home, which I thought was pretty strange.

A permanent fix is to strengthen your core and stretch more.

Also, if your new job requires you to pick up and move stuff more often, then you should made damn sure that your technique for lifting stuff is good. Don't round your back, lift with your legs, etc etc.

Need to stretch your legs after a hard ride. At least I do. Otherwise, the muscles get tight and pull on my spine in an unhappy way.