good back pain?

[etu]

is there such a thing? wondering if back soreness can be just an indicator of a good core workout or something not so healthy.

[MattTuck]

Good question.

There are muscles in your back, so it seems possible that you could experience DOMS. I certainly get it sometimes in my glutes which can extend to the lower back. But I wouldn't describe that as pain, so much as soreness.

If it is a twinge or sharp pain, it seems more likely a pulled muscle, or something worse.

[etu]

Feels more like it's knotted up. For the upper back, rolling it out on a foam roller + stretching makes it better. Lower back - not sure how to work on it. Maybe stretching glutes might help?

[Ray]

Once you've had back problems, you can pretty clearly tell the difference between muscle soreness and pinched nerves. There's no upside to pinched nerves, although they vary a LOT in terms of how much of a downside they present. Some are mild and resolve quickly and some are horrible, damn near crippling, and take a looooong time to resolve, and may need treatment. Muscle soreness can be OK in the sense that it usually comes from work and leads to more strength. But, sometimes muscle soreness can also lead to nerves getting involved, so keep an eye on that.

I'm no kind of doc. Unfortunately, I've got plenty of experience!

-Ray

[benb]

Here is a comparison... do you lift weights? Any experience doing squats & deadlifts and such?

Bicycling IMO should never make you more sore than a squat/deadlift workout.. if it does something is wrong IMO.

[93legendti]

When my lower back is tight I find that sciatica stretches, Motrin and/or ice bring relief.

[Ti Designs]

I know a bit about your riding style, so here's my take on this. You've learned to leverage your body weight on the pedals, which means there's strain on the upper attachment points along the lumbar spine. Any strength program is based on overload, so I guess you could call it good pain, but let's not take that too far. As muscles gain strength they also tend to get shorter, so there will be more tension on the lower back. There are two solutions to this. The first is stretching those muscles, the other is to balance the system by working core muscles. I would vote for both...

[RFC]

I know a bit about your riding style, so here's my take on this. You've learned to leverage your body weight on the pedals, which means there's strain on the upper attachment points along the lumbar spine. Any strength program is based on overload, so I guess you could call it good pain, but let's not take that too far. As muscles gain strength they also tend to get shorter, so there will be more tension on the lower back. There are two solutions to this. The first is stretching those muscles, the other is to balance the system by working core muscles. I would vote for both...

I find that cycling tightens my muscles. After all, the position is one of a largely static upper body hunched over the bars while the legs are spinning. I find aggressive stretching to be crucial to opening up the body and, particularly, the lower back, gluts, hamstrings and quads. And I agree about strength training. Along with abs exercises, I do back extensions. My back problems are no more.

[etu]

I know a bit about your riding style, so here's my take on this. You've learned to leverage your body weight on the pedals, which means there's strain on the upper attachment points along the lumbar spine. Any strength program is based on overload, so I guess you could call it good pain, but let's not take that too far. As muscles gain strength they also tend to get shorter, so there will be more tension on the lower back. There are two solutions to this. The first is stretching those muscles, the other is to balance the system by working core muscles. I would vote for both...

Thanks Ed and others for your input!
I am naturally stretching more as it feels so much better afterwards, but seems like my "pilates light" is no longer adequate to keep my torso in balance.

[fogrider]

is there such a thing? wondering if back soreness can be just an indicator of a good core workout or something not so healthy.

I'm no doctor...and I know someone is...anyway, I found that working on my bike has done the most damage to my back. all that bending over to adjust brakes, derailleurs or just pumping the tires has cause a sore back. I'm really careful now. and yes stretching and back exercise helps.

[buddybikes]

Keep methododically taking care of the back, core, stretch, orthopedics if your foot gate is off, etc.

I am scheduled for a l4/l5 lumbar fusion in 3 weeks. If I had been methodical 15 years ago, perhaps this pressing (literally) need wouldn't have been. No idea if this is an absolute true but know above is a preventive

[benb]

I was posting about having some back pain recently too...

I think I've semi-narrowed it down for me right now to riding on gravel/dirt with no suspension and/or not enough tire or too much tire pressure.

I had rode Sunday on pavement with little irritation of my back and then yesterday I rode a dirt road which degrades into singletrack at the end.. hammered the dirt road and sure enough as it got rougher my lower back started to hurt. Got to the end, got back on the road, back loosened up in a couple miles, but then it was a little bit sore this morning when I woke up.

I'm going to have to be careful and/or drop tire pressures when I get to rough stuff and then air up again when I get back to pavement I guess. Kind of a bummer as I don't really enjoy stopping.