Have been suffering a bit lately. On and off the bike. Don’t think it’s due to riding position as nothing has changed in the last few years on my set up. Even rode 86 miles offroad the other week with no ill effects..

But, last couple of races (Monkeys on Sunday), my back seems to have gone into spasm, near the part where it meets the glutes. A couple of massages have helped a bit, but still incredibly tight when running, moving about and when I wake in the morning after a night of inactivity

Anyone any tips to try and help with this? Am pretty sure it’s muscular rather than serious. I stretch regularly…just struggling to shift this..

Cheers

Core strength training will really help. I have had the same problem and need Diazepam to relax the spasm. Back problems started when I stopped extensive traning for triathlon and aslo changed jobs from heavy manual labour to a desk job.

back has never been right since and all the advice has been to get back to training and regain core strength.

Tight hip flexors / glutes
Shortened ligaments in the lower spine (from misaligned pelvis)

A combination of lots of biking, not much stretching and a job that involves a lot of sitting

Basically what I’ve had for the last few months – leading to a stretched back and tight neck / muscle spasms

Stretching only stretches the ‘good’ muscle tissue, not the knotted stuff. Physio will help loosen it, then use a golf ball / lacrosse ball to get the trigger points, and a foam roller to help lengthen stuff

google Evan Osar and look at some of his core breathing stuff / hip centration.

All this was the advice I got from my physio, so from personal experience

i get a bad back when i ride trail centres, im not used to the flowy up and downy sections (in the peak these dont really exist), but as soon as i go to a centre my back is killing midride, nothing really elievates it until i phyiscally finish the ride, then two days later back in the peak district and not a single twinge or anything

Thanks Chaps.

Core strength training will really help.

– I do a fair bit of core training – TRX etc and another core session each week…although I guess more won’t hurt!

Shortened ligaments in the lower spine (from misaligned pelvis)

A combination of lots of biking, not much stretching and a job that involves a lot of sitting

hmmm….that could be me….

Shortened ligaments in the lower spine (from misaligned pelvis)

A combination of lots of biking, not much stretching and a job that involves a lot of sitting

Thanks for the tip

i get a bad back when i ride trail centres, im not used to the flowy up and downy sections (in the peak these dont really exist), but as soon as i go to a centre my back is killing midride, nothing really elievates it until i phyiscally finish the ride, then two days later back in the peak district and not a single twinge or anything

Certainly get that too. Lots of on bike movement and short ups, downs etc…as per my race on Sunday. More straightforward rides don’t hurt nearly as much!

yeh im not really sure what mine could be other than not being used to riding that sort of stuff and the fact its totally constant too, i dont get it at all riding my usual stuff

i was in serious pain last time i did coed-y-brenin, i do think its more to do with the uppy downy flowiness and just not being used to it at all