Lower back and neck

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Twilkes

Guru
These two bits give me more problems than my legs - my lower back aches and feels 'loose' from having to remain still while my legs push, so feels like all of the power goes through it, and my neck aches from having to look up while leaning forward, after a few hours my head keeps wanting to drop down all the time.

Any off-the-bike training I can do to improve this? Preferably something I can do at home and not need a gym.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Core work. Pilates and yoga
Standard neck, shoulder and back stretches as well as hamstrings, quads, hips (which all impact lower back)

Use a tennis ball or foam roller to work on the knots in your back and neck
All can be done at home
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Do you wear glasses? These cause me neck pains as I have to raise my head more than without.
The more you ride, the neck pains get less. Raising the handlebars will help as well.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Raising the bars will sort the neck.

All your leg power is stabilised through your back and shoulders so it's normal to get aching muscles. It gets better with time and miles as the body responds remarkably fast to new stresses.
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
Sounds like your bike setup is not working for you. If your saddle is too high and / or the reach & drop to the bars is too much a bike will rapidly turn into an instrument of torture. I once had the saddle a little to high and the muscle strain it gave me from being too tense over reaching to the pedals gave me a pain across the front of my chest. Luckily it was in the summer and I didn’t get it riding my mountain bike so quickly worked out it was the road bike setup :okay:
 
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