just wondered if anyone has any clue to why im getting quite bad lower back pains after about 20 mins of riding. almost like a cramp

One or more of:

Lack of flexibility
Lack of core muscle strength
Poor position on bike
Pushing too big a gear

i do tend to push big gears, but i thought that was good for strength building

It will be but you need the core strength to do it properly. You really need to build up to it and it shouldn’t be how you ride all the time.

I experienced this really badly when taking part in the Strathpuffer this year,I blamed it on pushin a big gear as already mentioned (however i do have good core strength) but also the combination of possibly running a bike which was a bit too big for me.

im 5’10 and riding a trek remedy 8 17.5 inch

In that case, I would try and build up your core strength and see if that helps, it will do the world of good for your riding anyway 😀

whats a good exercise for core stength?

Ive been off the bike last 4 months, address it!

You can do alot of core exercises at home which is handy. I woud begin with anything that strengthens your stomach muscles, so the like of sit-ups and doing the plank, try holding the latter for maybe 20-30secs to begin with and progress from there. You can also raise your legs up to make it more difficult. ‘The plank’ also strengthens the muscles in your back which might benefit you. These are just a couple, if you google core strengthening or back pain exercises there are literally millions of results. HTH

pushing big gears is not so good for your knees through…

I used to get lower back pains but they went when I started stretching my gluts – try to bend over and touch your toes as usual but concentrate on keeping your whole back straight, rather than the quesion mark shape that most blokes do.

All the stuff about stretching and core exercising is good, but I’d say the quickest way to address your pain would be to check your saddle height. Lower back pain is typically associated with having a saddle that’s too high. Even dropping it by a couple of millimeters can make all the difference. If you’ve got an LBS who are experienced in bike fitting, all the better. Go see them and get your positioning sorted.

I’d also think about changing your pedalling style. Pushing big gears may be grr, but it may well be the case that your leg muscles aren’t strong enough to cope and so your lower back muscles are being dragged in to the equation to help, and they really can’t cope either. Sitting and spinning a small gear is more efficient and will place less stress on the body.

i find swimming great for core (and upper body) flexibilty and strength. seems to balance the muscle over use issues caused by sitting on a bike for long periods.

Having spent plenty of time with a chiropracter over the last 12 months I would suggest you work on you core stability and try adjusting you saddle position, try moving it forwards to start with and see where that gets you, it helped me quite a lot.

Planks are probably the best and easiest exercise to strengthen you core at home.

Start with a frontal plank holding you hips inline with your shoulders and ankles and rest on your elbows. Do this for 30 seconds.

do the same but on your side, resting on one elbow, again 30 seconds. Do the other side for another 30 seconds.

Do a reverse (upside down) plank for 30 secs. On your back, take your weight on your shoulders, knees up and feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips high and squuze your ass in.

Do this routine through 2-3 times. As it gets easier you can increase the time of each plank say, up to 45 seconds. When you get really good you can use an inflatable gym ball which will naturally create inbalances that your core muscles have to work harder to counteract and keep you stable.

Unfortunately its something you need to keep on top off, otherwise you just end up back where you started.

Hope this helps.

Forgot to say that a lot of people get back pain form weak/tight hamstrings. The strain generated from pushing big gears will pull through your hammies and up into your lower back so its really improtant that you work on your suppleness, especially in your hammies.

This is a common issue with cyclist, over a period of time the hamstrings naturally shorten, therefore pulling and rotating your pelvis back and pusshing the ball joint of the femur forward and out of shape. Again causing problems in stability.

Keep stretching and keep an eye on your posture.

Tight hamstrings; stretch regularly, get flexible, thats the key

all of the above

thanks for the tips guys, im going to look into these plank exercise’s cant quite work them out from ur description but ill look on you tube.