Stronger abs = less back pain?
 

Will working on my abs help out with back pain?

I remember learning somewhere that the stomach and back muscle work together and back pain can be an indication of weak abs or a weak back and I figure the ride is workout enough for my back.

Pain always happens on rough XC rides, but only happens on the road when I'm pushing it or taking a real long ride.

yes

a couple of things have really helped by back problems in recent months: stretching my glutes A LOT and walking my dog much more

Really strong abs with a weak back could also cause back pain. Balance is good - if you have time to work out your abs, try to throw in something to work whatever part of your back is causing you problems.

And like 531Aussie said, don't forget to stretch! Glutes, hamstrings, quads, groin, back...everything.

hello...try yoga did wonders for my back.

I've also heard from educated sources, that having a strong stomach and weak back can cause problems. Pretty sure that's part of my problem.

Yeah that's about right. It comes down to when you are experiencing this back pain. If you come back from a ride with sore stomach, then work on the abs. If you have sore backs, do back exercises. You have to balance the two and most often the back is much, much weaker than the abs.

Check out this thread: Lower Back Excercises

I stretch alot already. I do stretches right when I wake up and right before I go to bed and before/after workouts/biking.

The only free yoga I know around here are Fridays at 6:30 in the morning so I don't know if I'll make that. Upside is that its right next to my apartment.

stronger core = stronger back.

you must work on both the back and stomach areas. also, stretch out those hamstrings. later.

Both exercises and stretching are the ticket.

I've had good results with cyclo-core and cyclo-zen (zen especially). It has a program designed to address back issues.

Sounds like your bike doesn't fit too well. I had lower back pains on long rides but never on short rides so I lowered my saddle by 5mm and now the pain has gone. If you want a good ab exercise try hanging leg raises but do them really slow. You will only need to do 3 sets of 10 then rest your abs for 3 or 4 days.

Well I know my road bike is pretty well fitted since I tweaked it for the last year, but you might be right concerning my mtb. I can't really get around that because of performance factors i.e. I need my saddle that far back in order to me my rear from getting squirrely.

I tend to stretch my luck...that count? Yes a strong core can/will help with back pain.

Just get a DVD. Rodney Yee has a "Yoga for Athletes" DVD with some shorter workouts tailored to individual sports, cycling being one of them.

That is exactly what caused my back pain. I had read so many times that strengthening abs is the key to a healthy back that I worked overtime getting my abs strong. It ended up just exacerbating the problem.
A physical therapist examined me and made me immediately stop the ab workouts and concentrate on back excercises.

EXACTLY! I'll say it again, if your stomach is sore after a ride, work out the abs. If your back is sore, do back exercises. You want them equally sore after a ride.

Unlike other sports where your torso is upright, in biking, you're bent over. It's the back muscles that support the weight of your upper-body. Also, when you push on the pedals, it throws your torso upwards. So you have to use your back and pull on the bars to bring your torso back down to balance the leg forces.

When I started biking, I had really strong legs from 12-years of soccer, 10-years of tennis and 5-years track/cross-country. But those sports doesn't require a super-strong back and you're mostly upright. I was really fast on the bike for a beginner due to my strong legs. However, my back was only average and in less than a month, I had pulled it pretty badly.

I was out for the next 4-weeks in bed with painkillers. I hobbled around the house like an old man using a walker and a cane. When I finally was able to walk on my own, I got help from a PT and chiropractor at a local sports-performance centre at the university. They had me do stretching exercises to complete the recovery then added strengthening workout to prevent future injuries. The main exercise was hyperextension back-lifts on the roman chair:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...RomanChair.gif

When I was able to do this 20x with a 30-lb weight on the back of my neck, I was ready to get back on the bike. I raced for the next 10-years without ever having any back pain again.

^word^ All about the balance.