bike eagle

Hi folks.

In general I try to avoid bumping old threads, but this one seems timeless enough to me that I decided to go ahead and contribute a new idea. Or perhaps a new way to describe the ideas already mentioned in the older posts? Anyway, here goes.

I was out on a ride today and cruising along on the bike path, when I saw a middle aged guy bending over to pick up his dog. It was a fairly large dog, and he was struggling to lift it into the back of his SUV. The way he picked up the dog was the way you aren't supposed to, by bending with his back instead of from his hip joints and using his legs. He struggled to lift the dog but managed to get it into the car, then he was rubbing his lower back as he closed the lift gate and walked around and got into the driver's seat.

As I continued on, I thought about my own struggles with occasional back problems in the past and the way I've come up with to try to avoid them in the future. What I try to do is to bend from my hips, rather than by rounding my back. Works like a charm for me for preventing back problems. Anyway, since I was biking at the time, a lightbulb went off in my head, and it occurred to me that that idea also relates to cycling and to this thread.

Here's what I mean. When you lift something by bending your back, you feel tons of strain in your back, even if you try to assist with your legs. If you instead bendfrom your hip joints, you activate your legs and glutes much more. It's almost like your back and torso become weightless, at least in comparison to how heavy they feel when bending from your back.

For me, the idea from this thread of riding with the pelvis rotated forward is exactly like that. When I try to ride with a bent back and a vertical pelvis, it feels like my head and torso weigh a ton, my back hurts, and that leads to carrying a lot of weight on my hands.

On the other hand, when I tilt my pelvis forward (or in other words, bend from my hip joints), it feels like the weight of my head and torso are being carried by my hamstrings and glutes, and my back feels relaxed and weightless.

To see what I mean, try this experiment. Stand up, feet about shoulder width apart, and slightly flex your knees. Now, try bending forward, but do it by bending or rounding your back in the lumbar area. Also, reach your arms out in front of you, in a typical cycling position. Feel all that strain in your lower back?

Now, repeat the process, but instead of bending forward by rounding your lower back, do it by bending from your hip joints. This will also feel like you are sticking your butt out a lot more than in the first experiment. Notice that the only way to do this is to rotate your pelvis forward, as we've discussed in this thread? Also, notice how much lighter your upper body feels, and how its weight is being carried by your hamstrings and glutes, rather than by your back?

In other words, if the idea of trying to ride with your pelvis tilted forward is confusing for you, then think of it as riding by bending forward from your hip joints while sticking your butt out, rather than by bending your lower back. Either way results in the same thing, using the power of your legs and hips rather than putting strain on your back.

Anyway, sorry for bumping an old thread, but I hope this helps someone. Also, this thread is old enough now that tons of new riders may not have even seen it, so I thought some of them might benefit. Hope this helps more folks enjoy riding pain-free. Enjoy!