Lower back pain on long rides

I have been getting lower back pain on longer rides where there is lots of climbing involved. It got pretty bad on yesterdays ride and I had to keep stopping to lie on my back to reduce the pain.. Does anyone else get this and know of ways to stop or improve it?

Thanks
Elsa

look up core exercises

your lower back is your "powerhouse"

when it gives up and hurts it means you have hit your limit really its saying stop

Strengthening the core will give you much more endurance

i get it.
due to a weak core.
do stomach crunches etc
and do a few crunches and hold them for about 10 seconds or so before long rides too. helps me

Yes I also have this pain, I used to think it was from riding a different style to normal/harder than normal, thus straining your body and back, obviously this being emphasised over a further distance/more time in the saddle…. Not really anything of help there but my observations!

PLANK ! you will grow to hate the world with the use of plank ! and side plank

I nailed this down to using a camelbak, in particular one that is full of heavy stuff like water. I use water bottles all the time now and only use a bak when mountain biking to carry a few bits and pieces. Helps a great deal.

i get a pain in my lowe back from shortened hamstring muscles – if i do to much seated climbing.

make sure you strecth your legs lots after cycling. try to lengthen your leg muscles if they are shortened.

core strength is just as important and i do not wisah to detract from that advice.

My physio prescribed hamstring stretches, as tight hamstrings pull the hips down. Apparently many cyclists have tight HSs, so stretch after every ride – it worked for me.

Ok – thanks all for the info!!!

My immediate reaction to this was that you might have tight hamstrings – I had a similar problem a few years back. But also, have you changed anything on the bike, or started riding harder/longer distances recently? If so, it's probably worth getting someone to look at your bike setup as well; it could be that the bar or saddle height isn't quite right.

My physio prescribed hamstring stretches, as tight hamstrings pull the hips down. Apparently many cyclists have tight HSs, so stretch after every ride – it worked for me.

Advice my physio agreed with, and it seems to work. Apparently I have the tightest she's felt!

As they have said above, core, hamstrings and bike set up.
Just wondered if you have had children?
I get back pain but this is due to old injuries rather than any biking stuff. It took to long to get my back anywhere near fixed when I was younger. This was also long before I started biking.
The bearing child thought comes from the many women I know who have suffered back problems after child birth, my wife, daughter and daughter inlaw inc.
Also read recently that too many people are concentrating on the "core" and not doing enough to balance the rest of the bodies muscle groups and hence leading to back pain due to the "core" overpowering the other muscle groups required for stability.
Plus not doing any exercise correctly may cause injury.
Recently tried yoga nad that was good, felt great after first session. I have also started swimming again which seems to be working, I am very stiff(old age :roll:)

My back pain story was set-up related.

Friend of mine suggested that I check-out my set-up. Turned out I was riding the wrong size frame (too small). On longer rides I would get a dull ache in the area around my kidneys.

So, I bought a larger frame, sorted out my set-up and no problems since.

A friend of mine had hurt himself almost to the point of having to give up cycling altogether.

I had to try quite hard to get him to change his set-up. Eventually he did though, (last-ditch attempt by him to stay on two wheels and he hated the new position at first )

But, it worked, and he still cycles today. He was so surprized that altering your position on the bike could help so much.

I'd start with looking at/checking that my set-up was good, before doing anything else.

Good luck, I hope you get the issue sorted soon, whatever it is.
🙂

stealthcat – I probably do suffer with tight hamstrings and need to stretch more. My bike set-up hasnt changed at all but I have been riding much longer/harder distances recently.. In fact, thats the only time I get back pain.

Trekster – no kids.

I think I have very strong leg muscles as I run alot too, but probably lack strength in my core area and upper body. I definitely suffer with a lack of flexibility in my upper and lower legs.

Will look into my bike setup too! I tend to keep my frame quite small as I prefer it for technical riding. Maybe thats not so good for longer distances..

for me, the cause was core strength. After starting some regular sit-ups, the lower back pain was 75% cleared up.
Post-ride hamstring stretching fixed the last 25%.

hammies! get off bike. stretch hamstrings (properly, for a few mins) get back on. magically pain is reduced!

I solved a back problem by adjusting the saddle position. I guessed it was connected to my hamstrings as stretching them suring and after the ride relieved the pain in my back.

Try moving your saddle, or just your bum forwards or backwards or the saddle up or down and see what that does. I'd guess slightly back (and down to compensate) will help.

Mine is mostly related to a compressed L5-S1 disc, but things that help the most are:

Plank
Sideplank
Superman
Bridge
Stretching hips helps too.

Despite a fair bit of cycling I can still put my palms on the floor (just) when bent over, so I guess I don't have a hams problem.

jonb- interesting i would have said forwards/possibly up a bit to use more of quad muscles – get more knee over the pedals.

its hanging off the back of the bike and sort of dragging the pedals round in front of you that always kills my hamstrings the most…

It's also worth checking the angle of your seat. Try tilting it forwards slightly as this will provide your back with more support. It worked for me and I rarely suffer back pain on rides now.

On youtube there are vids of Lance Armstrong doing stuff in the gym that is to do with core strength.

I get this often. I just take ibruprofen but I should improve my core strength.
Saddle position is quite critical for me; minute adjustments of a degree or so to saddle angle and mm's to saddle height can make a huge difference to the pain I was experiencing.

Check your posture on the bike. make sure your back is straight and not rounded. I get the same problem due to lazy posture where I sit back on the saddle and curve my back and shoulders. My elbows also tend to stick out too much!

Concentrate on straight back and using your abdominals to hold the position. Try to keep your shoulders back and elbows in. Try lower and middle back exercises to build strength. Do abdonimal exercises but be aware to much abs and no back can cause the opposite effect that tensions your front pulling your back into a curve.

silvermatt – thanks for the info. I think I already have stonger stomach than back muscles which pulls my back into a curve.. I defo need to focus more on my posture!

Does depend on your personal circumstances but what they said ^^^^ core stability. But not about doing crunches, core muscle exercises are more subtle and are about working your deep internal support rather than abs etc. FWIW I've found that yoga has really worked for me, cause it works a whole set of muscle groups that cycling neglects and you get the benefit of being nice and flexy 😉