I’ve struggled the past couple of years with my low back being very tight when running off the bike. The tightness is in my QL muscles, which become very aggravated/fatigued. It happens in HIM and IM races, and also sometimes on my long ride days with the post ride run. Is not a problem for shorter workouts or shorter races. The difference in my ability to run when it does happen vs when it doesn’t happen is pretty stark. The back basically becomes the limiter over my aerobic ability. I do have a functional leg length discrepancy, and have typical tight hips of an office worker. Some things I’ve done to try to eliminate the issue include:
Moving from 170 to 165 to 160mm cranks. 170 to 165 helped a ton, but didn’t eliminate the problem. Moving to 160 didn’t really help much further.
Practiced high cadence. Seems to help some also, but is not a bullet proof solution . . . I think my average cadence was 93 at Texas 70.3 Sunday, but my back was still tight.
Raised my aerobars one cm. No help at all.
Got a standing desk (I stand maybe 40% of the day), doesn’t really help.
Moved from once to twice weekly physio sessions to try get the back worked on, kept loose. Doesn’t seem to help.
I’ve tried various stretching routines/foam rolling/core routines, but have trouble maintaining them due to limited energy and just lack of confidence that what I’m doing will actually help. The one thing I do regularly is try to do a cobra pose stretch (on stomach head up).
One new idea I read but have not tried was a post from Jordan Rapp suggesting to someone with a similar problem to try reducing their reach. Looking at myself ride (pic attached), I do look relatively stretched, so I will give this a go next. If anyone has confidence in a reliable stretching/core strengthening/foam rolling routine to try, other bike fit type things to experiment with, or any other suggestions then I am all ears!
It may be worth experimenting with moving your saddle forward a bit so your riding steeper. That sometimes can help reduce stress on the lower back. Hard to tell by the picture and the angle.
I have what sounds like more or less the same problems. I’ve been going to a physio and doing a variety of stretches and core strength exercises this winter, which seems to have helped. The one that has seemed far most effective is stretching the side of the back/hips like this:
You can grab the top of a door or something like that and really stretch the sides of the lower back. Probably also a good idea to stretch all of the other muscles that connect to the lower back - front and back of thigh, and the neck. Might just be a single one of the those that is really tight and wrecks something further up or down the system.
Have you tried working on your mobility? There’s a couple of guys on Instagram with solid content - brian_movement101 & rob_movement101.
I had similar issues in the lead up to an IM last year and I started to incorporate their daily routine and found huge benefits from it.
P.
Thanks for the posts everyone, all helpful stuff. I did that side stretch first thing this morning! I have a co-worker who is very in to weightlifting who does this subscription stretching/mobility thing called romwod, which seems very similar to this Movement101 thing. Actually paying for the romwod might get me to do it/stick with it.
Have you check the mattress you sleep on? If its too soft, and too soft can mean just a little bit softer than you need, your lower back with arch down and cause problems. Most of the time you don’t notice it until its too late.
I think it has more to do with you being in the 40+ age group now.
Slightly kidding. I’ve been dealing with a tight lower back and was just contributing it to being older now. Bought a hypervolt gun to work on it with.
I think it has more to do with you being in the 40+ age group now.
Slightly kidding. I’ve been dealing with a tight lower back and was just contributing it to being older now. Bought a hypervolt gun to work on it with.
Ha, unfortunately I’ve been dealing with it for a couple years now. It hit me very hard at a HIM in June-2017 (never before), and just has not gone away after that. I’ve been tinkering with fixing it since, but have not found the formula, and running out of ideas by now. What do you do with the hypervolt? I have one of those as well, but obviously it’s difficult to get your own back. I’ve recruited my wife to do it a couple times, but she refuses to really dig in.
One new idea I read but have not tried was a post from Jordan Rapp suggesting to someone with a similar problem to try reducing their reach. Looking at myself ride (pic attached), I do look relatively stretched, so I will give this a go next.
Thanks!
Eric
My cyclocross bike is probably a bit big for me, I got a sweet deal on it. It’s close enough. I notice when I do some 3 hour to 4 hour gravel rides, my lower back starts to get sore from the extra reach. Shorter than 3 to 4 hours and I don’t have any problems. I think 10mm less stem may solve it.
Never had the same problem on my roadie that’s setup just right.
So, very anecdotal, but reach has mattered for me.
I have found that it has everything to do with posture (not just your fit) and core activation/strength. If rotate my hips forward too much, it puts a lot of strain on my lower back. After about 90 min of riding like that, my lower back is definitely feeling it. I have found if I keep my core engaged (slightly bring your belly button towards the sky), it keeps my lower back from doing all the work.
IMO you’re riding the wrong saddle, or sitting on the right saddle improperly. In that tunnel pic, your pelvis is vertical, and your stack is quite high because of it, and you’re actually not stretching out your back and not getting it into a neutral position.
Also, because your stack is slightly high, you’re not getting much weight on the front end, which in turn prevents you from unweighting your pelvis / relaxing your back and so you’re stabilizing with your QL muscles, which are fatiguing.
Find a better saddle and configure your front end to accept you much as an upside down easy chair would.
I’ve struggled the past couple of years with my low back being very tight when running off the bike. The tightness is in my QL muscles, which become very aggravated/fatigued. It happens in HIM and IM races, and also sometimes on my long ride days with the post ride run. Is not a problem for shorter workouts or shorter races. The difference in my ability to run when it does happen vs when it doesn’t happen is pretty stark. The back basically becomes the limiter over my aerobic ability. I do have a functional leg length discrepancy, and have typical tight hips of an office worker. Some things I’ve done to try to eliminate the issue include:
Moving from 170 to 165 to 160mm cranks. 170 to 165 helped a ton, but didn’t eliminate the problem. Moving to 160 didn’t really help much further.
Practiced high cadence. Seems to help some also, but is not a bullet proof solution . . . I think my average cadence was 93 at Texas 70.3 Sunday, but my back was still tight.
Raised my aerobars one cm. No help at all.
Got a standing desk (I stand maybe 40% of the day), doesn’t really help.
Moved from once to twice weekly physio sessions to try get the back worked on, kept loose. Doesn’t seem to help.
I’ve tried various stretching routines/foam rolling/core routines, but have trouble maintaining them due to limited energy and just lack of confidence that what I’m doing will actually help. The one thing I do regularly is try to do a cobra pose stretch (on stomach head up).
One new idea I read but have not tried was a post from Jordan Rapp suggesting to someone with a similar problem to try reducing their reach. Looking at myself ride (pic attached), I do look relatively stretched, so I will give this a go next. If anyone has confidence in a reliable stretching/core strengthening/foam rolling routine to try, other bike fit type things to experiment with, or any other suggestions then I am all ears!
quote ericMPro]IMO you’re riding the wrong saddle, or sitting on the right saddle improperly. In that tunnel pic, your pelvis is vertical, and your stack is quite high because of it, and you’re actually not stretching out your back and not getting it into a neutral position.
Also, because your stack is slightly high, you’re not getting much weight on the front end, which in turn prevents you from unweighting your pelvis / relaxing your back and so you’re stabilizing with your QL muscles, which are fatiguing.
Find a better saddle and configure your front end to accept you much as an upside down easy chair would.
Hey - I appreciate these thoughts, but I’m not sure about this idea of just finding a ‘better’ saddle . . . I had the same problem when I was on a Sitero, but the Dash is massively more comfortable in terms of staying in the saddle/aerobars for long rides. Do you have any specific brands/models you think would be worth trying? Could it be a saddle tilt issue or maybe even an aerobar tilt issue? Or would simply lowering the front end be a reasonable place to start? I’ve been gradually raising it while making other changes, so perhaps reversing course on that would be a non-trivial improvement. Thanks!
you’ve got to either rotate your pelvis or bring your stack waaay up to neutralize your lower back. Rotating pelvis usually means saddle stuff, and postural coaching from a good fitter.
It’s a matter of doing things right (your saddle comfort) vs. doing the right things. Your saddle is comfortable but you can’t run off the bike. You’re not doing the right things…
IMO you’re riding the wrong saddle, or sitting on the right saddle improperly. In that tunnel pic, your pelvis is vertical, and your stack is quite high because of it, and you’re actually not stretching out your back and not getting it into a neutral position.
Also, because your stack is slightly high, you’re not getting much weight on the front end, which in turn prevents you from unweighting your pelvis / relaxing your back and so you’re stabilizing with your QL muscles, which are fatiguing.
Find a better saddle and configure your front end to accept you much as an upside down easy chair would.
Hey - I appreciate these thoughts, but I’m not sure about this idea of just finding a ‘better’ saddle . . . I had the same problem when I was on a Sitero, but the Dash is massively more comfortable in terms of staying in the saddle/aerobars for long rides. Do you have any specific brands/models you think would be worth trying? Could it be a saddle tilt issue or maybe even an aerobar tilt issue? Or would simply lowering the front end be a reasonable place to start? I’ve been gradually raising it while making other changes, so perhaps reversing course on that would be a non-trivial improvement. Thanks!
you’ve got to either rotate your pelvis or bring your stack waaay up to neutralize your lower back. Rotating pelvis usually means saddle stuff, and postural coaching from a good fitter.
It’s a matter of doing things right (your saddle comfort) vs. doing the right things. Your saddle is comfortable but you can’t run off the bike. You’re not doing the right things…
OK, I think I understand enough to experiment and work on this issue. Would still be interested if you had a specific saddle rec to try out though. Thank you!
I would have said Dash but you could also try PN 3.0 or Mistica… those seem to be getting good results.
you’ve got to either rotate your pelvis or bring your stack waaay up to neutralize your lower back. Rotating pelvis usually means saddle stuff, and postural coaching from a good fitter.
It’s a matter of doing things right (your saddle comfort) vs. doing the right things. Your saddle is comfortable but you can’t run off the bike. You’re not doing the right things…
OK, I think I understand enough to experiment and work on this issue. Would still be interested if you had a specific saddle rec to try out though. Thank you!
Same problem but only on the bike. I am doing a core routine and also visiting a chiropractor so let’s see what happens. And soon a revisit to my fitter.
I’ve had lower back stiffness coming off the bike as well. Of course, I’ve had minor lower back issues since I was in college. For me, continuing core strength workouts and overall strength workouts have helped a lot.
I find doing the following stretches helps my back as well
