[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” width=”750″ ]Exercise therapy is a program of physical activities carried out in an effort to reach specific health goals. Its purpose is to return to normal musculoskeletal function or to decrease pain caused by injuries or other health problems. The exercise therapy online column is written by Raasay Waters.[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Meet the Author:
Raasay Waters is a graduate Sports Therapist from the University of Central Lancashire, North England. She has lived and studied in the UK for 6 years and has been back in South Africa since 2012 to pursue her passion and career as a Sports Therapist. She works at a Private practice in Claremont, specializing in Sports Massage, Exercise Therapy, Fitness training, Injury rehabilitation and strength and conditioning. Raasay spends her time outside of work trail running, cycling and hiking! You can find out more by visiting www.exercisetherapy.co.za.[/box]
Back pain can be one of those things that just ruin your enjoyment of anything. It seems that once a person has experienced back pain, it can frequently recur and a number of responses can be adopted such as: Withdrawal from activity, Putting up with additional suffering or doing something about it by resolving bike set up, posture and strength issues including core and glute strength work.
Improper bike fit, bad posture, muscle strain, poor riding style and weak core can all contribute to cycling related lower back pain. In addition, some medical conditions such as spine misalignment, osteoporosis and sciatica can also trigger back pain while cycling.
In my experience in my practice, many cyclists are riding bikes that are too big for them and many cyclists lack proper flexibility and their core strength is lacking. I really encourage cyclists to take the time and have your bike fitted to your body. Back pain can also arise from anatomical causes like leg length discrepancy or misalignment of your spine.
So much of what cyclists do is hunching forward, working on computers, riding bicycles, eating at dinner tables all contribute to bad spinal health. Poor spinal health is common in cyclists and often due to bad posture (on and off the bike) and injury. If you favour one side of your body or the other due to injury or poor posture, your back eventually takes the strain. An imbalance in the spine and around the hips will cause overuse of the lower back. Cycling is often thought of as a leg-based exercise.
In order to stabilize the hips, the obliques and quadratus lumborum muscles (lower back) on the side of the ascending leg need to engage to reduce hip tilting and stabilize the lower back. If you see a person cycling with hips tilting from side to side, or maybe just one side, it’s likely that these muscles are not engaging fully or have become fatigued. You can test the lower back engagement on the ascending leg side yourself by placing a hand there as you repeat lifting one leg. The prime movers in the legs are very strong and have great endurance. When the obliques and quadratus lumborum are unable to keep up and start to fatigue, the smaller core muscles start to take the strain. If this situation continues, a muscle strain can occur, along with the resulting discomfort.
Strengthen Core Muscles
Strengthening the core muscles in your lower back, pelvis, abdomen and hips can ease and prevent back pain while cycling and allows you to be more comfortable on the bike. Strong core muscles can help increase your power to your pedals by improving endurance, your stability and balance while riding.
You can incorporate core strengthening exercises such as the abdominal crunch, planks , bridges, squats, lunges and glute strengthening, into your exercise routine. These exercises will make such a difference in your leg strength, core strength, climbing hills and prevention of back pain!
Here are a few visual guides to exercises you can do:
Warm up with the Sun Salutations sequence as described by Joelle Sleebos in her Yoga column. To see how click here.
[author image=”https://fullsus.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Raasay-profile.jpg” ]Raasay Waters is a graduate Sports Therapist from the University of Central Lancashire, North England. She has lived and studied in the UK for 6 years and has been back in South Africa since 2012 to pursue her passion and career as a Sports Therapist. She works at a Private practice in Claremont, specializing in Sports Massage, Exercise Therapy, Fitness training, Injury rehabilitation and strength and conditioning. Raasay spends her time outside of work trail running, cycling and hiking! You can find out more by visiting www.exercisetherapy.co.za.[/author]
