After much harassment about my bolt-upright road bike position from friends and teammates (I ride a cervelo s5 with like 5 stem spacers as perscribed by a retul fitting), I have taken a hard look at my imbalances and realived that I have bad anterior pelvic and very tight erector spinae muscles. It seems to me that these things effectively pull me into an upright position and make it extremely difficult to 1) put out power while getting low 2) get low for any significant amount of time. I have begun a yoga routine that focuses on the APT but it is mainly focused on the quads, hamstrings, and hip flexors. Does anyone have any tips for loosening my lower back or generally fixing this issue? I feel rather silly rolling around on an s5 with deep wheels when my body is an aero brick in itself!
After much harassment about my bolt-upright road bike position from friends and teammates (I ride a cervelo s5 with like 5 stem spacers as perscribed by a retul fitting), I have taken a hard look at my imbalances and realived that I have bad anterior pelvic and very tight erector spinae muscles. It seems to me that these things effectively pull me into an upright position and make it extremely difficult to 1) put out power while getting low 2) get low for any significant amount of time. I have begun a yoga routine that focuses on the APT but it is mainly focused on the quads, hamstrings, and hip flexors. Does anyone have any tips for loosening my lower back or generally fixing this issue? I feel rather silly rolling around on an s5 with deep wheels when my body is an aero brick in itself!
Thanks a lot!
Something I deal with as well. I am getting back into a strength routine / core. Stretching doesn’t seem to work for me. I actually messed myself up in Yoga, I was too competitive and ended up pulling something.
Issues like yours are typically not flexibility problems. Weak muscles get tried fast, shorten and then get tight. This causes other muscles to pick up the slack then they get tired and tighten up. Core work is your friend. Work on strength and you will see a difference.
Issues like yours are typically not flexibility problems. Weak muscles get tried fast, shorten and then get tight. This causes other muscles to pick up the slack then they get tired and tighten up. Core work is your friend. Work on strength and you will see a difference.
Agree with this statement. I just got done with a bout of PT for SI joint dysfunction with overall lower back tightness - all caused by weak and inflexible 6-way motion in my hips and poor anterior core strength. You’d probably be best served by going through a core and 6-way hip strengthening and flexibility regiment to regain strength in the weak areas (I can almost guarantee you probably have very weak gluteus medius muscles) and help promote proper alignment of the whole region.
Posture and a properly functioning “skeletal frame” is HUGE in this sport. Look no further than your Kona winners for the gold standard in posture alignment.
Although my flexibility was pretty good I had killer back issues - heavy duty skiing (snow/water), hockey, cycling and desk sitting is what drove the dysfunction. I’ve been battling those issues since my mid 20’s actually.
Last year I visited two PT offices that put me straight onto IMS or needling. I have seriously taken like 500 jabs & wiggles with stainless steel needles from head to toe over the past year. Pretty rough shape.
The needling opens the rehab door. The process releases the ultra-traumatized musculature so then you can apply strengthening and some stretching. The stretching simply allows for range of motion to occur. I agree with Thomas that stretching is probably only 10-20% of what needs to be done. The more important things are imbalance correction through functional strength.
I am swimming the fastest I have ever been, without any training in the pool. And I feel much more efficient at running due to the improved pelvis/core position. Not biking much because I want to keep making forward progress.
