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Old 07-22-06, 07:34 AM
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dbg
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Most experts now say that traditional situps are a bad idea. I've been to 4 different physical therapy clinics in 10 years for recovery of various back problems and all told me never to do situps.

There are lots of different kinds of back problems. I used to have sciatica many years ago which was aggravated by the crouch position typical of racketball (and road bikes). I had to give up racketball. It went away with PT and chiropractic allowing me to run daily, including marathons. 10 years later another back problem arose which featured pain more localized to the lower back. Orthopod referred to it as stenosis. It forced me to give up running, but I discovered I could ride a road bike and hammer all day long. It helped to be in a somewhat aggressive racing position. I kept the handlebars slightly lower than the seat and found that dropping into the low position (on the drops) would loosen up any tightness. But I am currently back into a nasty sciatica episode which is made worse by riding a road bike.

So my oversimplication goes like this: herniations that cause sciatica are aggravated by conventional bikes. Stenosis that causes localized lower back pain is almost helped by a road bike position.

But you may want to visit a physical therapist for some good exercises to strengthen your lower back.
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