Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - change in postion - now some back pain....

Ok, I'm a big guy, will always be. Started riding last April (2010) @ just under 300 lbs. 4300 miles later I'm @ 245. Cholesterol went from 190 to 85, the doc likes me again. :) Have went from tight 40 waist to wearing 36's. Closer to 50 years than anything else.

Started riding @ 8-10-12 miles, always pushed just a bit. Just wired that way. Most of my rides now @ 30+ miles a lot of 50's and with a few 75+ miles every few weeks.

But, over the past 3-4 weeks I've got more aggressive on the hills, (live in the Ozarks) standing, working harder, taller gear, even trying to gain speed on them - just pushing myself. One thing I discovered about the same time is if I bend farther down, nose toward the stem - it feels like I'm getting more strength into the pedal stroke. But now, I'm getting a bit touchy in the lower back. Is this something I need to build up to or just stay setting up more.

Bike set up is unchanged - exact same everything.

Anybody else been here before?

marc

Congrats on the weight loss and obvious fitness gain, well done. :thumb:

Speaking on behalf of myself only, I pretty much started doing the same thing after I lost a similar amount of weight. [60 lbs.]
I found that I wanted to ride in a more aggressive position than what the bike was originally set up for me. My weight loss, fitness, strength and flexibility improved a lot from last year which I suppose, influenced my changes.

Maybe have a new fit done or at least look at changing the bar height, seat fore/aft, stem etc. that will put you in that position from the get go.

And yes, I used to have a few pains in the same area before I figured out a better set up for me and it made things much more comfortable.

When you go faster, you use your lower back muscles alot. When you push hard on hills, you use them even more. When I finished the Mulholland Challenge (12,000+ feet of climbing, 110 miles), I couldn't walk straight for a couple days.

This could just be your back adapting to the new strain, or, like Seve said, it could be fit combined with effort.

If you can afford to get your fit checked, do it. Ask knowledgeable/experienced cyclists for opinions. Then, let your muscles adapt. Make sure you're getting adequate rest & recovery.

Yoga, specifically the superman pose.

more abdominal strenthening including plank, side planks, and oblique crunches. otherwise, your probably just experiencing some relatively normal soreness that comes with increased intensity. Remember, the only thing more important than doing a tough workout is recovery afterwards so when you do some of these more aggressive rides make sure the day or 2 afterwards is done in a more relaxed recovery type manner.