it’s about the most upright position i’ve ever had. and my back pain is getting worse all the time. i am almost certain that it’s connected to my setup.
i don’t think it’s being more upright that’s doing it, not as such, but i generally have had more drop and more reach and have been more stretched out. i wonder if the change to being more upright and closer in has put more pressure on my lower back? if i need a longer stem and maybe flat bars (bar options are super limited coz cetma) to stretch out more?
i’m going to experiment this weekend with different stems and bars. but am i just making shit up? could switching to a more upright position be putting more pressure on my back? or do i just need to spend more time stretching, doing yoga, etc? of course work is a problem, if i could take it easy on my body, i would, but that’s a luxury i don’t have (haven’t for a while, pretty sure that’s part of the problem). all i know is that my back hurts and i have an idea of how to change my setup that might help, but it’s counterintuitive–upright = good for back, right? but i’m wanting to get a little less upright, or at least a little more stretched out.
that’s the other thing. i’m trying to stretch, but i don’t always have time to fit that in. i’m already waking up at 645 to get to 8 hours of riding, at unpredictable intervals. there’s absolutely nothing that can be called a regimen there, and i can’t tolerate waking up any earlier to stretch and throughout the day it’s unpredictable when and if i’ll be able to do anything else. plus i’m downtown…not much area to really…i mean…i could do yoga on the corner in front of the starbucks, sure, but…
I’d say probably try a longer stem or something that will let you stretch out further without getting lower, which I think is key to an upright position. If you don’t stretch out further forward when you move up, you’re going to change the weight distribution too far towards the back and suddenly your back is supporting a lot more weight than it used to. Handling also gets weird when there’s not enough weight on the front. I also find that my lower back hurts when my saddle is too far forward or too far back.
What I’m saying is change shit and see if it gets better. Longer stem, most likely, and play with your saddle position. Maybe scoot it back a little bit?
even stretching at night is a good way to stave of waking up sore. if you want to do something you’ll find the time to fit it into your schedule. i read somewhere it takes three weeks before something becomes a habit so you’re going to have to force yourself to do it until you just do it every day. yoga in front of a starbucks? i’m sure you could pull off a few vinyasas on downtimes.
dfl, i suspected i needed to do that…the back pain did seem to worsen after switching to this setup.
mailer, i do a little stretching in the downtimes, but nothing that could be called any sort of regimen. at night is a good idea.
i’ve also decided a hiatus from messengering is in order, so i’ll have more time and less strain, but that also means in the next couple weeks idgaf and i’ll make time, probably by just being a little late to get in.
i had crazy back pain two and a half years ago and couldn’t figure out what was up. then i bought a new mattress since the one i had was easily 8+ years old and that fixed it.
don’t fuck around with back pain. figure out a core strengthening exercise regimen you can do 3 days a week. even if it’s just push ups, which are great for more than just your core, and a few crunches (which you might not want to do depending on your back because there are better exercises). there should be free yoga classes somewhere in the bay area. you could hit one or two a week to get started. i adapted my daily stretching routine from my yoga classes. also don’t bounce when you stretch.
if you want to work some exercises into you life, you can google some shit to get an idea about things. if you’re doing this on your own, start very slowly and work your way up. also, ask around your friends about back pain. chances are you know someone who dealt with the same things. advice is awzom
Might have a point with the mess bag. Ian do you work with a mess bag or backpack? The problem is likely unrelated, but I’ve got a fucked up back too and a mess bag made it worse.
Well that was out of left field. I’m lacking a clever retort.
Would like to point out that herniated disc type issues usually show up as radiating pain through the gluteus down into the leg and rarely qualify as “lower back pain”. Could be a problem with a Messenger back. I can’t do any serious riding with one without getting muscular pain in my lower back.
perhaps try angling your saddle up. nose too low can lead to excess pressure on your hands and general core distress cuz you need to push your bum back.
moving saddle back may help too.
on a personal note, as a pretty lean cyclist (read: weakly) i find i have to work on core strength or my back will start hurting during long hard efforts (read: cross). a few planks twice a week will generally take care of it.
weird.
leaving work yesterday i bend over and a little to the side and must not been warmed up for that coz shit is sore today. wtf.
be careful pickin things up man.
stretched yesterday morning and last night. felt good all day yesterday until my dispatcher started being a moron and i had to hustle all over town to cover for her ass. anyway i think this may help, can’t wait till this weekend so i can have time to work out bar/stem redo. i, as a general rule, don’t switch stuff up during the work week. if i do and it turns out to suck by 10am i’m screwed for the rest of the day.
