How to Avoid Cyclist Lower Back Pain
“The Rectus Puffis”
If you’re a cyclist, chances are you’ve felt that annoying ache or tension in your lower back, especially on longer or more intense bike rides.
Personally, I feel this tension when I ride harder and climb with more intensity—so basically, after every Over the Hump race. I remember the morning after the OTH season opener, my boss Kevin Rausch and I came into work with super stiff lower backs. Luckily, we know where to find a few good physical therapists.
Still, Kevin and I were surprised by the amount of lower back pain we were experiencing. As athletes, we feel like we have relatively strong core muscles; after all, we both can hold a plank for at least two minutes, which is supposedly the “gold standard” of a strong core.
So if our core strength is considered adequate, why do our lower backs feel this terrible?
What is the “core,” anyway?
You hear it all the time: “Tighten up your core!” “Feel it in your core!” “To get better, you need a stronger core.” But really, what does that even mean? Your core provides your stability from the center moving outward, which is why it’s considered the most crucial part of the body. Your “core” is made up of the deeper muscles that lie next to the spine:
- Pelvic floor muscles
- Transverse Abdominus
- Multifidus
- Internal and external obliques
- Diaphragm
Your core is NOT that “six-pack” you’ve been flaunting poolside—those muscles are the movers of the body, not the stabilizers. If your goal is relief from back pain or true core stability, don’t worry so much about working on those washboard abs.
How to ride to avoid lower back pain
To help avoid lower back pain after a hard ride, the focus should be placed on activating your core muscles in good sequences, in a proper posture or pelvic neutral position, and with good breathing patterns.
Step 1: Get your posture right.
Proper posture is a critical aspect for the longevity of your cycling career, power output and overall health of your body. When you ride with poor posture, you put your body under immense physical strain because your body is essentially at war with itself. The core muscles are constantly working overtime trying to pull you back into an ideal alignment that minimizes their effort. This leads to fatigue and compensations which inevitably cause specific muscles to get tight and achy.To combat all this, you first have to learn how to find what’s called the “neutral pelvis.”
To find your pelvic neutral position, place your hands on your hips and find the middle between arching your back and rounding your back. This middle ground is the neutral pelvis that takes stress out of the muscles, ligaments, discs, and joints of the lower back.
Step 2: Get your core situated.
To me, having a “strong core” means you have the ability to maintain the spinal alignment and pelvic neutral positions while the legs and arms move freely around it. When I test my clients core strength, I look to see if the lumbopelvic position changes under different demands; I can even measure it more specifically with a blood pressure cuff between the client and floor.
Many strong athletes can hold their back flat or stable, but they allow the belly to distend outward during testing or during their core exercise routine. This is what I call “rectus puffis,” which is the over-activation of the global rectus abdominal muscles or excessive use of the strong hip flexor muscles. Rectus puffis is simply feeding the beast that is lower back pain; it leads to poor muscle firing patterns, compensations in movement patterns or postures, and can indicate weakness in the deeper core muscles. If the stabilizer core muscles can’t hold up under demand, the larger, less effective “mover” muscles must then perform double-duty trying to stabilize and move the legs or arms freely.
A weak core can lead to many issues that could sideline your biking, such as overuse injuries, trigger points, poor movement patterns, lost power outputs, aches and pains down the road. If you want more enjoyable rides or to lengthen your cycling career, it’s time to start thinking prevention. Begin strengthening your core muscles now, otherwise it may be harder to recover later on when you’re on my table.
The three best exercises for strengthening your core
1. Dead Bugs
Click to view a video preview of this exercise on homeprograms.net
Begin by lying flat on your back, lift your legs to the 90/90 position, and raise both arms towards the ceiling. Keep your abdominals tight to prevent your back from arching up off the ground. Slowly lower your left heel towards the ground and drop your right hand behind your head. In a controlled motion bring them back to the starting position, and switch to right leg and left arm. Make sure to keep your abdominals tight—remember, no sagging or rectus puffis!
Start with sets of 10 reps with five second leg/arm extension holds. As you begin feeling stronger and more confident, try to match the intensity of this exercise with the intensity of the demands of your sport. For instance, don’t just stick to 10 reps with five second holds if you are cycling for two to three hours at a time.
If you have any medical issues, pain during or after, please contact your MD or Physical Therapist prior to continuing these exercises.
2. Forward Planks
Click to view a video preview of this exercise on homeprograms.net
Begin by lying on your stomach with the balls of your feet on the ground. Carefully raise yourself up onto your elbows, keeping them shoulder width apart. Finally, tighten your core before lifting your pelvis off the floor, forming a straight “plank” between your shoulders and your heels. Hold this position for the designated amount of time.
Want some tips? Keep the hips down in line with the trunk, connect and squeeze the heels together while squeezing the buttock, and try to breath deeply without letting go of drawing in the belly button to the spine. Again, no sagging or rectus puffis!
If you want a challenge, try to hold a plank for one minute, then during the second minute try lifting one leg off the ground (without rotating the trunk) and pulsing the leg outward or upward 30 times. Follow with the other leg.
3. Side Planks
Click to view a video preview of this exercise on homeprograms.net
Begin in the side plank position with one elbow on the ground and your body supported in the air. Keep your entire body supported and still, while you lift your top leg up. Hold for 2 seconds, then lower it down again. If you lose your balance, please stop and rest before you try again.
The concept is similar to front planks, but just on your side (duh.) Remember, good trunk alignment, belly drawn in, and with good shoulder position (so it’s not collapsed where there’s no space between the shoulder and head.)
Ready for the extra challenge? Raise the top leg off the lower leg, without trunk collapse or moving out of alignment. Then, try to pulse the leg up to the ceiling without losing good form or rolling the trunk/hip open to the celling, which will result in hip flexor compensations.
If you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to stop by our Rehabulance in the Over the Hump expo area. I’ll see you at the starting line!
Dustin Hancock, DPT, PT
Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance
dustin@rauschpt.net
Dustin Hancock is an adrenaline junkie with a passion for mountain biking and an outdoor-enthusiastic lifestyle. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, his approach combines research-based knowledge and manual therapeutic treatment with Rausch PT’s cutting-edge equipment. He has experience treating extreme sport athletes of all levels, from XTERRA World Champions to challenged athletes with amputations, neuromuscular disorders, and spinal cord injuries.