Back pain
 

When ever I incorporate cycling into my lifestyle, I notice my back hurts. However I never have any pain or discomfort when during bike riding or even directly after.
it is usually few hours later like when I’m getting up out of chairs or in general.
It will exist off and on as such that as long as biking is part of my lifestyle .
Do you think it’s because of biking even though I never have pain during cycling ?

is it back pain or sit bone discomfort?
riding does just the opposite for me. In the beginning of the season I'll have some general sit bone discomfort, that tends to go away after I get a few good rides in.

Several years ago, I began using an inversion table. Hang upside down 5 minutes everyday. Now I have no lower back pain.

I think this is common. I get back pain off the bike also. I've tried different things. I find that stretching every morning helps, as does back work at the gym, as does vigorous walking. Of those three, I've found vigorous walking to be the most effective.

im just curious did it feel same even if riding less aggressive bikes vs more ?

I am the OP, and have a 2021 trek fx sport carbon, it’s a more sporty hybrid , but that’s only bike I own to know if I’d be better say if I owned a verve ?

I use a Yoga body Yoga Swing. It is like an inversion table but much more versatile.

Not in my experience. I find if the handlebar is too low, or too far away, I get low back pain, generally the next day. But if the bike is set up right, then it's not a problem.

I've been riding with a group of friends for a couple decades or so. My observation is that the greater the forward lean and the longer the reach, the less back pain is experienced. I ride a carbon bike with a -17° slammed stem and I'm 78. The best thing for back pain is exercise. Just got back from the gym, among many things I did a set of 40 reps with 175 on the back machine and most of the men I ride with are stronger than I am.

I had the issue. The cause was a slightly too high seat height. Once I got it down to where it should be, the back pain went away, as did the hip pain I was having.

There are too many possible causes to list, so I'll just relate my personal experience.

I find that I get more lower back pain if I don't use proper form while riding. If I get lazy and lock my elbows, let my hips rotate forward (i.e. arched back instead of bowed back), and fail to pedal circles then my back feels it more the next day. The negative consequences of poor form are increasing with every passing year for me (I'm soon to be 60), so I've got that going for me.

There are other factors - if I'm doing core exercises that helps with lower back pain; sleeping on a firm mattress also helps; not sitting too much (office, watching TV) helps - but proper form is the biggest factor during a ride. This is assuming a properly fitting bike, of course.

Chronic back pain here, eventually needing surgery in 2019. Now minor discomfort on the bike, it's real like that makes it worse.

For me, what has helped is daily exercises and stretching and especially paying attention to posture, how I sit (no slumping!) and to keep moving. Matching a movie at home, for example, I get up and stretch every 10-15 minutes. Limiting gardening activity--you're never done, so just do more tomorrow.

Actually, it just feels best when I am on my bike.

I used to bike only upright commuter style with the largest heaviest elastomer springs seat possible AND a suspension post.

Covid hit, everyone dared using public transportation, so I cycled whenever I would commute.

The route I take to go into town is always windy, often cycling against and into the wind.

Upright means I was a giant air brake.

As a bike reseller, I had a myriad of bikes and saddles at my disposal, and regardless of type of bike, I got the best performance from any bike where the bars were a couple inches below a hard slippery saddle.

This was an abrupt change, but allowed me to cut thru the wind.

My back hurt like hell during cycling and after cycling. I put up with it because it allowed me to do some decent top speeds.

About a month in, I got used to the pain and didn't bother me as much because I was feeling great from my endurance gain.

Sleeping on the floor with just a yoga mat really helped correct my back posture, as my sore back would be gone the next day.

As the weeks went by, my back muscles got stronger, and all pain disappeared.

See, my back muscles were weak and never developed from a lifetime of upright cycling.

I think it boils down to how much back pain there is for the individual. If they constantly end up screaming in pain to need morphine, I would seek professional advice from a gp and not BF.

But if it's just a sore back that appears to subside over a day or two, you're surely not breaking anything, and I would just cycle more.

Walking backwards, and quartered to and fro, on a treadmill (or running hillsides) has proven to be one of my more effective back injury prevention practices. As well, keeping the hip flexors stretched helps. I once saw them using a similar harness supported treadmill therapy on people at a spine specialist, during their recovery. Tried it, and along with strengthening the low back and glutes-alleviating back pain, I also stopped having troubles with damaged menisci, and it strengthened my feet's arches, resolving some fasciitis

Without knowing the specifics of the pain, the general recommendation is core strengthening.

The intuitive thinking that back pain means the back muscles are weak has been debunked. We now believe that weak core muscles allow a strength imbalance to develop between the core muscles and the back muscles. Most sedentary and moderately active adults have some amount of imbalance. The fact that you (nor the o.p.) mention doing anything especially targeted for your abdominal muscles is a huge red flag and discounts just about any conclusions you may want to come to about a cure for the problem. Very few people have 'weak' back muscles. We are bending over picking things up all day long. It is much harder to actually work the core as easily. Throw cycling into the life of someone who isn't also doing focused strength training of the entire body just emphasizes existing imbalances between muscle groups.

Interesting note: Its pretty common ta see defunct exercise bicycles, treadmills, even elipticals in garage Sales and out by the Dumpster. But I have never seen an Inversion Table thrown away.

As to the OP: Back pain is a bugger. First thing I would try in experiencing Low Back Pain after rides is to raise my Bars about 2cm...

[QUOTE=soyabean;23216908]...My back hurt like hell during cycling and after cycling. I put up with it because it allowed me to do some decent top speeds... But if it's just a sore back that appears to subside over a day or two, you're surely not breaking anything, and I would just cycle more.
Attached Images https://www.bikeforums.net/attachmen...1&d=1713360379 [QUOTE]

Yep... Most of us just power on. Wonder what he will have to say 30 years from now... Ha

Still, Nice young healthy looking guy with a nice bike... OK!

Free? That is an odd criteria for a piece of fitness equipment. My DW's treadmill was not found in a Dumpster, nor a Garage Sale. Neither was my Concept 2 rowing ergometer. Both of these pieces of fitness equipment cost over $1000 each. Both are over 20 years old now, making the purchase prices essentially moot. Our ongoing Gym membership has only recently been reduced (by half) due to us officially becoming Seniors. Lose the Car and a whole lot of things become affordable. But, raising bars 2cm ... possible, but on a modern bicycle will take some doing. There won't be that much adjustability available in a threadless setup. A two or three minute Plank everyday, several sets of Crunches, Situps, or Lying Bicycle Raises, every day ... these moves cost nothing, except a bit of time and some physical discomfort, but the payoff is (usually) worth it.

For me, onset of pain was 24 to 48 hours later. Delayed feedback is not very effective at driving behavior modification. But that's another story.

I recall reading somewhere along the back pain journey that every spine is different, so personal testimony is of limited experience. Cadaver studies of people who did and did not experience back pain found little correlation between reported pain and common physical spinal conditions.

So take everything with a grain of salt.

Lowering my saddle near the limits of conventional wisdom regarding knee angle helped my spine immensely. Occasional mid ride stretching helps my spine. Indeed I've found a too upright position is bad, but also too low. My saddle to bar drop is zero, and I can ride literally hundreds of miles moving between flats and drops. That's my spine.

Wow... You are right. On my old beaters adjusting the Bars, Stem, Seat, Seat Post is no big deal. But on a modern bike that could be a real chore and might not even be possible. I now see why some people are spending money for a professional bike fitting before making a new style bike purchase.

In my, "Ole Geezer, More Beat Up Than I look", condition, changing my bikes set up even just a few millimeters causes a noticeable change...

Uh, what?

Unless you're talking about the small percentage of high end bikes with integrated stem and bars, threadless is significantly more easily adjusted than threaded.

Threadless stems can be flipped, possibly achieving 2cm alone. Ain't happening with a threaded "7" stem. Even if the thread less fork has been cut to have no room for spacers, virtually infinite combinations of stem angle and length are available. Heck, if you have a threaded stem needing adjustment, the easiest route may be to toss the threaded stem and replace it with a threaded to threadless adapter. From there you can put the bars almost anywhere you want.

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Don't see them that often. But I got mine from a garage sale.

I did say it was possible. You don't think buying a new stem or fork or stem raiser plus spacers, "some doing"? I do, certainly vs loosening a locknut and pulling some more height (to the min insertion mark) out of the stem shaft ... I'll double down: some doing. I have NEVER seen the stem that was negative angle in the OEM position allowing 2cm of height free for the flipping. Let's call this one a draw.

'

I could not live without my Inversion Table. I`ve had it for over 20 years, and I only wish I would have got sooner.


ALSO

I have two bikes
A touring "Road" type bike and a Trek Verve.
My back bothers me much, much less riding the Verve.

how much do you walk ?

does that mean saddle and handlebar at same height ? Also is it a road bike?

I have a fitness bike it’s where comfortable , and handle bars are slightly below saddle

About 3 miles at a 3 mph pace. When I walk specifically for back rehab, I use a special motion, rotating each hip in a circle as best as I'm able. When I've been fixing a sciatica attack, that hurts like the devil for the first mile, then gets better. If you don't have pain while walking just a normal walk works fine. Oddly or perhaps not oddly at all, walking seems to be about the best core exercise, works everything. I guess that makes sense, after all we are bipeds and are supposed to be walking during many of our waking hours, but we don't do that much now that everything is mechanized - and the bike is also a machine. Thus many of our core muscles are activated specifically by walking - that's what they're for.

Now seeing downtube42's post, it's totally normal for muscle exercise to produce soreness about 48 hour later, known and DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It's normal, just means you did something unusual or did it more than has been usual recently. Since pedaling activity varies with the individual, the amount of activation of the posterior chain also varies. Those who activate that muscle chain on the bike are more likely to get a sore lower back from greater than usual cycling activity. That's a decent theory anyway, not a proven result.

That said, I've found that strengthening my whole posterior chain reduces or eliminates my back pain after riding. My favorite over time has been the Romanian deadlift, relatively light weight, high reps, a full stop at the bottom, no jerking. For this old man, say 40 reps with 100 lbs. but start with way, way less.

This was my first thought in reading the original post. I've never had back pain from cycling, but a few days ago I strained my back from lifting something too heavy. It's not a bad strain, but I can feel it when I'm walking. I've been riding every day and don't notice the back pain when I'm riding, and it's not worse when I finish. From my experience, cycling should not cause back pain. Others may have different experiences, but my thought is that if you ride with good form (and the bike fits you), you shouldn't get back pain from riding.

I’d recheck the fit first by shortening the reach or raising the bars a bit. Strengthening my core and loosening tight hips and hamstrings made a big difference for me too.