Cycling Low Back Pain

Cycling low back pain is unfortunately very common, and there are a couple of common cause. But there's also some less common, or even "unknown" causes:https://youtu.be/LszLxRZD8BUInterested in more? Check out my Problem-Solving Programs. They are purpose-built to help any cyclist or aspiring bike fitter find solutions to the most common problems:SOLVE YOUR SADDLE PAINhttps://bikefitadviser.com/solve-your-saddle-problems/NEW BIKE? Get the right size:https://bikefitadviser.com/what-size-road-bike/SOLVE KNEE PAIN on the Bike:https://bikefitadviser.com/solve-cycling-knee-pain/

Some Cycling Back Pain Notes

Too aggressive -- This is the most common scenario and the one that represents the "low hanging fruit" at time sin the bike fitting world. A rider comes in with back pain while riding  and their bar position is very long and low in a too aggressive position for their body type. What many don't realize is that the problem often stems from somewhere other than the lumbar spine. Poor hip or shoulder mobility are just as likely to create the problem because restriction in these areas can require the spine to flex excessively which can create low back pain. Some riders can correct their hips or shoulders, which frees up the lumbar spine to not be put in such a stressed position and even with the same aggressive bar position the back pain can be resolved.But if you're experiencing back pain a simple experiment to begin to troubleshoot at a cause is to simply put the bars in an easier position to reach and see what this does to your back pain. But this "too aggressive" bar position idea is often over-relied on in bike fitting. I've had a number of cyclists come in after repeated shortening and raising of their bar by other bike fitters only to have the same back pain. The reason is the next two causes of back pain on the bike...Too upright -- this one is way too often over-looked. Having a very upright bar position can actually increase back pain. The reason is raising the bar and shortening the reach trades one back stressor, namely stretching the spine and it's soft tissue too much into flexion, for another, added compression through the length of the spine.Twisted -as i talked about in a recent video, very few of us actually sit squarely on our saddle. This off-kilter position goes along with off-kilter movement. This movement involves the pelvis moving in an oblique way on the saddle -- so instead of moving gently side to side, it moves still somewhat side to side with a front to back motion as well which results in a diagonal motion. This can create back problems for a couple reason:First, because the pelvis is moving diagonally this produces more rotation through the spine. It should be noted that in the spine, every time you introduce rotation into the spine, you also get side bending (and vice versa)-- you can't isolate these movements. This alone can cause back pain especially over thousands of repetitions on a long bike ride.Another reason this can cause pain is because of the magnitude of the aberrant back motion. In many cases, riders that have shifted or twisted sitting positions develop a very pronounced hip drop. As you can from these videos, there's a lot of motion that occurs towards the end of the pedal stroke which creates a lot of twist