Lower back pain in cyclists

The Bane of Cyclists: Low Back Pain

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Wow! You had a great ride and really tackled those hills with gumption. You’re ready to put on those cycling shoes and mount that cycling saddle and do it all again or so you think, but when you dismount your troubles begin. That familiar, agonizing catch in your back simply won’t let you stand up straight. You can barely walk, and certainly cannot handle another bike ride. Are you getting old or what?

No, low back pain after a long bike ride is not necessarily a symptom of an aging body, although the problem does occur more frequently as we age. Low back pain is one of the most common problems of people who ride their bikes frequently. There are several reasons why this annoying problem attacks many of us, and the bodily mechanisms involved are complex.

Pain comes from the interaction of many different body systems and this is what sometimes makes the exact source of an individual’s pain difficult even for medical professionals to pinpoint. The spinal column is part of the central nervous system which relays signals from the brain to every other part of the body and signals from every part of the body back to the brain. The nerves, muscles, and joints interact in the neuromusculoskeletal system which is responsible for feeling and movement. You may self-diagnose your pain as strained muscle or a pinched nerve, but these problems are only part of the picture. The hip muscles as well as the back muscles are generally involved in back pain.

What Really Causes the Pain?

When considering what causes your back pain after a bike ride, you must take the whole picture into consideration. Cycling is great for the body, but it does put us in an unnatural flexed position for an extended length of time. The bent position over those handlebars necessary during a long ride is stressful on the muscles and the joints.

This stress is in addition to all the other daily stresses we subject our joints and muscles to. Even the most active among us are liable to have prolonged periods of sitting during the work day. This leads to the hip flexor muscles becoming shorter and contracted. At night we may further stress the psoas, iliacus, sartorius, and rectus femoris muscles by sleeping curled up in a ball.

The other muscles in the hip flexor group and in the spine may be stressed as well. Gaining an understanding of how these complex groups of muscles work can help you learn the secret of preventing many back problems that cyclists are prone to.

Is this secret complicated? No, it is actually rather simple. The grand secret to preventing this pain is stretching. You see, the hip flexors and other muscles need regular stretching to lengthen them and keep them from contracting. But most of our every day activities do not stretch these muscles.

Then we get on our bike and ride in a flexed position for hours. Rather than being stretched, the hip flexors must contract as they do this work. They go from being short to being shorter. This is a sure fire way to bring fatigue and even spasms to the hip flexors.

Perhaps you have experienced the benefit of a little stretching as you ride up hills. With prolonged climbing, your hip flexors become tight and uncomfortable and you react by standing on the pedals for a little ways. Standing provides relief because it stretches the hip flexors.

Stretching is the secret of the pros. Before you ride you should stretch those troublesome hip flexors with a regular routine. Massages that get to the deep tissues are great as well.

Besides stretching, the pros know another secret: core strength. The core—(the abdominal and back muscles), must be strong to allow you to pedal in a flexed position for a prolonged time. If you are really into cycling you need to work on increasing your core strength.

Joints need Attention Too!

Joints also play a role in low back pain. Low back pain is frequently caused by trouble with the sacroiliac joint. The sacroiliac joint is located where the pelvis (ileum) and bottom of the spine (sacrum) join. Medical experts once thought that the sacroiliac joints do not move, but in the 1930s it was discovered that these joints do move slightly.

The sacroiliac joint is responsible for that agonizing catch in the back which cyclists often experience. The sacroiliac joint literally gets stuck, a problem called fixation. A chiropractor can usually relieve this severe pain by manipulating the sacroiliac joints, but the aim of this article is to teach you to prevent fixation and avoid pain.

Stretching Muscles You Didn’t Know You Had

As we have seen, even the quick stretch of briefly standing during your ride can bring relief to the hip flexors. Always taking the time to do a pre-ride hip flexor routine will provide great benefits. Ideally, you should stretch even on days you don’t ride.

There is a great deal of emphasis on stretching the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, with some emphasis on stretching the lower back, IT bands, and hip flexors. However, little attention is paid to stretching several other muscles which directly impinge the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints. This brief article cannot give specific stretches for these neglected areas, but it can make you aware of them so you can find effective stretches for these muscles on your own. Take a few minutes to search Google or another search engine and you will find a variety of helpful stretches for stretching the following neglected muscles, some even demonstrated on video.

The following often overlooked muscle groups affect the hip flexors and the sacroiliac joints and should be routinely stretched:

The psoas muscle is part of the hip flexor muscles. It is attached to the lumbar spine and runs across the sacroiliac joint down to the groin area where it is attached to the thigh’s longest bone (femur). Bending over while riding your bike causes this vital muscle to work in a contracted (shortened) position. The psoas muscle can cause several different kinds of lower back pain. Be sure that your stretching routine includes stretches that work the psoas.

The gluteus muscles form the buttocks and include the minimus, medius, and maximus muscles. When the gluteus muscles are routinely tight, painful trigger points can occur at the iliac crest (pelvic bone’s top). You may have experienced the effect of a good professional massage on these points. It is painful at first, but worth the effort to get these muscles loosened up.

The piriformis muscle begins at the front of the sacrum and runs over the sacroiliac joint to the thigh’s major bone (femur). This is a relatively small muscle, but it significantly affects the sacroiliac joint’s ability to function properly. A small percentage of people (15%) are even more susceptible to sciatic nerve impairment from a tight piriformis muscle because the large sciatic nerve runs through their piriformis muscle, instead of underneath it.

Conclusion

The bicycle’s form contributes to cycling injuries. This machine requires a series of short, repetitive moves with little room for flexibility. Frequently, a cyclist’s injuries are caused by overuse, and a prolonged flexion position.

Confining yourself to operating a machine that cannot adjust to the human body means that you must take steps to protect yourself. This means that you must develop a stretching routine which includes working on often neglected muscles.

Chiropractors, professional trainers, and massage therapists can offer you invaluable joint mobilization and muscle work. You should consider trying this option along with the preventative stretching and strengthening that you do at home. Dental care provides a good analogy. While you routinely care for your teeth at home, you also value a professional cleaning and exam.

The nerves, joints, and muscles of the neuromusculoskeletal system work as a unit and each part affects the other parts. Using techniques from several disciplines can help you keep your neuromusculoskeletal system in good condition.

Ideally, you will continue to learn more about how your body functions as a unit. This will help you take better care of your health by encouraging you to use routine preventative measures, thus avoiding injuries.

Ride safe, ride strong.

Bruce and Ron

About Bruce
Bruce Hendler is a USA Cycling Coach and owner of AthletiCamps (this site) in Northern California. For the past 9 years, he and his experienced team have helped athletes of all levels achieve their goals in the great sport of bike racing thru cycling training camps, cycling coaching and performance testing. To contact AthletiCamps, either give us a call at 1-866-370-6516 or request more information at the Contact Us page.

About Ron
For the past 22 years, Ron Fritzke, D.C. has practiced privately in Mount Shasta, CA. Currently, Ron Fritzke works for the College of the Siskiyous sports medicine team as the team chiropractor. Ron Fritzke uses his experience as a 2:17 marathoner, as well as his experiences racing bikes, to write about topics like bicycling accessories, college cycling jerseys, road cycling shoes, and bike trainers on his website, cycling-review.com.

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