SS with lower back issues?

Don't sit...

Stand up.

Honestly, the only times I have pain in the back is when I ride geared. Sitting and pedalling .... unless you have everything exactly correct for your body, can give you problems.

Most riders I see on the trails have their handlebars set too low. This is a carry-over from road riding, and is not needed when off-road.

Form follows function.

It doesn't matter if your handlebars are as high or higher than your seat. What does matter is that you aren't placing too much strain on your body parts...especially your back.

I believe that if you stand up a LOT on the bike, and have the bike set up so that it suits stand-up riding, then your back pains will be a thing of the past.

Set up the bike so that when you are standing on the pedals, the handlebars are high enough so that you don't have to bend over a lot at the waist to pedal/mash.

This gives you a nice straight back posture for most of your riding. A small bend at the waist is ok as long as you aren't placing strain on the back as you grind the hills.

The same goes for sitting and spinning, either geared or SS. Set up the bike so that you are more upright, with only a slight bend at the waist.

Raise the handlebars enough to get the correct position so that you are comfortably upright on the bike. Look at yourself pedalling past shop windows, etc. to see the reflection in the glass to make sure you are not riding "hunched" over.

Maintaining good form when riding is important, otherwise your body will let you know about it...

R.

It really depends on the nature of the lower back injury and where it is stemming from.

In general the brunt of lower back pain stems from the pelvic tilt being off. This is usually associated with an imbalance of the muscles controlling the pelvis' tilt. Quads, hamstrings, stomach and back all need to be in balance in terms of strength and flexibility. Typically riders build up quads disproportionately in relation to hamstrings. If you have access to a gym- and a leg extension machine--as well as a hamstring curl machine. The proper ratio of strength for the quad to hamstring is 3:2. Many bikers who sit and push too much versus spinning develop overly strong quads. In conjunction with this can be overly tight hamstrings, quads, hip flexors (very common on bikers) and glutes. IF you sit alot and push versus spin you will need to address your glutes- hamstrings quads for flexibility as well. The longer the cranks- and the more you lean over--- the more your uppperhamstring and glutes do the pushing in a seated position. Standing may help out somewhat-- but anytime you are grinding up a hill....you are still tightening up the entire chain.......so if you have imbalances in strenght -coupled with stiffness and inflexibility.....you will feel it in the back and hips.

Core strengthening is very important because the psoas muscles which run down the center of the body to the pelvis help to control the pelvic tilt as well. The more you can start to do some core strengthening- and add a ton of proper stretching of the glutes- hams, quads and hip flexors- you may start to put less stress on the lower back.

If you are on the stiff side of the Yin/Yang--- trainers typically recommend stretching twice a day plus once for every time you train or use the muscles in an activity. Even 3 times a day will take a month to really get to the good side of the flexible/stiff equation if you currently are in the stiff end and experiencing pain due to imbalance or inflexibilty. Strengthening can also take a month because any time you work to strengthen a muscle you are also shortening the fibres and must do double the work to maintain the flexibility.

stretch stretch stretch and start to do some more core strengthening with a Theraband type exercise ball.

Geared and SS

Thanks for all of the input. Well I got the OK to start riding and decided to get a SS frame that I can also run with gears. I will run it geared for awhile and then when the time is right….. turn it into a single speed. The builder I am working with informed me that it will take at least two months to get the frame.:madman:

What I have learned about my particular issue (bulging disk in lower back).

I have done all kinds of sports over the years and m-biking is my passion. I never get burned out or sick of it (like some of the other sports). Also due to my three young boys at home my time is limited to only one sport. One weekend ride and maybe one or two rides after work at night. During lunch I would ride the stationary bike and stretch three to four times a week. All activities were focused on cycling. Plus I have a desk job that forces me to sit for long periods. This has caused muscle imbalances / bulging disks.

I am convinced that medical doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists do not completely have the back figured out yet. And the good ones will admit it. :skep:

One consistent is that over training in one particular sport can cause problems. I for one did nothing except concentrate on my cycling!:nono:

Starting next week I am going to ease back into cycling and mix in some other activities (weight training, swimming, and surfing). Thanks again for the tips!:thumbsup:

This is my experience, too

OldSkoolMark said:

I have a bad back too (bulging disc) ... I took up MTBing and was surprised that not only did it not cause back problems, it actually helped. Even more so with singlespeeding. My back is fine these days provided that I keep riding. ... A couple of months off the SS and I am ripe for a back 'incident'.

Click to expand...

All this is true for me, too.

I have a bulged L5/S1 disc, injured in 2000. At the time of the injury my doc could not tell me I would ever be able to ride an upright bicycle again. This scared the hell out of me. But I was unwilling to give cycling up, and three months after my "accident" I was back mountain biking.

I've never looked back. In '01 I won the Masters division while racing the 100 mile Cascade Cream Puff (on a 7 speed FS). In '02 I finished the Puff on a singlespeed hardtail. I don't mention these experiences out of pride; rather to prove that suffering a bulged disc does not mean one has to ease up on his cycling pursuits. I have found consistant riding to be remedial for my back, no question. SSing is almost all the riding I do anymore. It has proved to not be a problem for my bulged disc.

My advice: MAKE SURE YOUR BIKE FITS YOU CORRECTLY. (In my case, my seat was too high. So high that riding this way caused my a disc in my back to bulge. Yet until the incident actually happened, I thought my bike fit was fine.) Make sure your seat isn't too high and make sure your knee is over your forward pedal spindle when your cranks are horizontal.

I don't believe SSing is detrimental to one's back -- it isn't to mine. The worst thing for me is when I don't ride enough. I love to stand and climb for long periods. This is one of things I enjoy about SSing.

Also, I recommend you learn the cobra stretch and utilize it frequently. This was the easiest stretch my PT taught me yet the most effective for bulged disc pain relief in my case. I used to do the cobra stretch a dozen times a day. Now, only when I feel the need.

Good luck; don't give up.

--Sparty