I am……… cough (48) and have had a stiff achey lower back since christmas (most noticable in the mornings gets worse if i sit for longer than an hour) I am happy with my general fitness,cycle and walk a lot and have an active life.My back is reminding me that I should be thinking about supleness.I am looking for recomendations for a 15-20 mins stretching regime that could also help my back the, tinterweb offers too much info…. so what do you lot do ?links with pictures :oops:would be ace

Go see a physio you cant get this sort of help from a forum

+1

And then look towards Yoga and / or fit-ball

I had similar (lower back pain after sitting for extended periods)

See a physio. Mine did various exercises to improve alignment of the spine. After each session I felt 10 year younger (temporarily) and after 4 or 5 weeks my pain was gone.

Tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain, google it and do some stretches.

As above, get advice from physio to get a diagnosis (I was lucky enough to get on NHS). I also do yoga and recently doing the following yoga course in addition to normal practice

http://www.yogaforbacks.co.uk/

I am a similar vintage and had bad back for years, including a couple of acute sciatica episdes. Now much improved.

Ditto the physio advice. Schweiz’s experience was mine exactly. Now I am swimming regularly and it makes a HUGE difference.

This has made a huge difference to me (and it’s free!)

http://www.synergy-athletics.com/effective-strength-training/lower-back-issues-part-1-tight-glutes/

I spoke to a physio about this last Thursday as i get lower back pain when i stand for quite a time. Cycling tightens the hammies and builds strength in the lower back. She told me tight hammies causes the hips to rotate slightly which puts strain on the lower back muscles. Also as a cyclist, abdominal muscles are pretty much completely ignored so you end up with a muscle imbalance. Youtube/Google lower back stretches, do some exercises to strengthen the abs and stretch those hamstrings 🙂

Suffered with lower back stiffness myself for over 20 years now (im only 38) but thankfully found a good set of stretches that i do every morning for around 20 min that make a huge difference.

As most people above have said concentrate on 2 main areas hamstrings/calves/gluteus maximus (your bum cheeks) and your core muscles (ie stomach and lower back).

I would highly recommend yoga as well as they’ll teach you all the moves which you can then take away and do in your own time.

Ill try to dig out some specific stretches later for you to do but its worth trying lots of different moves to find ones that work for you (hence going to a proper yoga class).

Steve

Thanks for advice people
physio referal round here takes 8 weeks was looking to do something in the interim

Make sure your bike fits you properly ie saddle height and your reach is not too stretched. . Also do regular glute exercises (arse muscles) strong glutes helps support lower back. . Rotational back stretching also. .
Only speaking from my own experiences. . My back much better following doing the above. .

I have very tight hamstrings (can only get to within about 10 inches of my toes trying to touch them) and have had lower back pain at various points in my life (such as after playing hooker at Rugby or cycling).

Stretching the gluts seems to sort it.

Stand up with your back straight and a good lordosis (the concave curve in your lower back), and then bend over to touch your toes, but keeping that straight lower back, rather than bending over from the middle of the back like a question mark, like most blokes.

You will feel tension in the back of your legs from the hamstrings at the knee right up into your gluts.

Hold the stretch and feel the gluts loosen up.

I have to do this sometimes when shopping with the wife, although she makes me go elsewhere in the store to do it. But it works.

Stand up with your back straight and a good lordosis (the concave curve in your lower back), and then bend over to touch your toes, but keeping that straight lower back, rather than bending over from the middle of the back like a question mark, like most blokes.

Works for me too although I can’t touch my toes when I do it. Most of the other excises I got from my physio were pretty much the same as you see in most books about sport cycling. Getting them from a physio made me do them though

“The Stark Reality of Stretching” is a good book for lower body stretches

Would recommend a physio initially but get all the info you can from them. They will inevitably go on about tension and musculo-skeletal imbalance – find out what they’re doing to you so you can do it for yourself

Personally I find basic yoga is pretty good supplemented with some basic stretches for legs/back there’s loads on the net.

47 here, asked pretty much the same before xmas…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/help-on-how-to-improve-flexibilityloosen-up-my-lower-back

i’ve always had probs with a stiff lower back, mine was getting so bad i could hardly surf (could’nt ride my sub 6ft boards at all), was bent double after the bike (painful to ride too) and in the mornings was too stiff to bend down for the sink.

based on the advice from this site that Gunz recomended…

http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8110250/lower-back-stretches-lower-back-flexibility-exer.htm

… i do that routine in the mornings when i feel like it and also in general if i’m a bit sore. plus work on the core a bit (main one is at weekly circuits) – believe me its all super casual and not at all regimented – but my goodness the difference is stunning. i really have not been so prob free with my back like this for as long as i can recall.

don’t pysio, save your cash, give this a go.

Gav thats just the sort of thing I was looking for cheers

I’ve been doing Pilates, no I really have. You see I too have been struggling with a bad lower back. I rather over did it a few weeks back ( I’m in training mode and I’m a git for not stretching ) I came in from a ride, did what I usually do, shower & crash on the sofa.. 2 hrs later I couldn’t get up. Ahhhh I thought to myself, this is gonna hurt a bit smart ish.
And it did.
So I chose a course of painkillers, made sure I kept moving, did some stretches, visited the Docs to organise a Physio who said ” here’s some stretches you can do ” an A4 piece of paper was the only advice I got.
I made my retreat known and got home, chose a Pilates app for the iPad and have been doing it daily since. I have to say its been a little weak on content but I’ve stuck with it and it has got me back on the bike for some training, I’m not giving up quite yet and shall continue to pummel my body and follow Pilates and finger crossed its going to help me.

” rubs back ”

Some great advice here. I also recommend a foam roller. Has helped alleviate my back pain and worked wonders for ITB as well.