Home› Chat› General Chat

Back problems after last tri

GGBGGB Posts: 482
in General Chat
Since the FGS Tri at the weekend I have had a very painful back at the base of the spine - looks like it will be a trip to the Chiro/physio again as have had back problems on and off for years.

One thing I noticed at the weekend when on the bike on the tri bars I was perched right on the end of the saddle - I know this is a bad thing and may well have contributed to the back problems. Will a reverseable seat post help with this or am I just barking up the wrong tree and should really just bite the bullet and start saving for a proper tri bike ?

Any advice on either back problems or seatpost/tribike query will be welcomed.

Comments

  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    I suppose the obvious thing to check first is the set up of your bike, have a look at this:
    http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/ ... kefit.html

    My own opinion is Tri bike does aero better, I have lower back problems, spodilitis and an arthritic left shoulder yet am very comfy aero on my Focus Izalco
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    GGB,

    This is the voice of experience. I'm still taking foocking diazepam and coedine at the moment. My back goes into spasm quite a lot. I had a serious back injury when I was younger. Everything was fine until I was tinkering with the set-up on the bike.

    However, I was informed that my hamstrings have tightened up quite a lot and that I'll prob need to go back to physio to sort it out. I'm not sure if this is common in triathlon or not but I would expect its a contributing factor in my case.
  • Ron99Ron99 Posts: 237
    Just a thought, but how's your flexibility overall? Do you make a point of stretching and working on your core? Pilates or anything like that??
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    I'm interested in this thread since I've got a long term lower back problem (no running for me) and at the moment I'm riding my much beloved hybrid but having done my first tri I have got terrible bike envy and am thinking about up grading to a road bike but I'm worried that the position will play havoc with my back - I know I can't hold forward seat on a horse for a long time without having problems.

    I'm guessing that a proper fitting is even more essential than normal and that a not too long reach will help to keep the weight back a bit - but I'm unsure if I wouldn't be better off getting a flat bar road bike.....

    Also like all these things I suppose core stability is the key - sigh, I am working hard on it.

    @ GGB tight hamstrings are really common with runners and cyclists and tight hamstrings or quads puts pressure on the tilt of the pelvis and therefore pressure on the lower back, I (try to) make a habit of stretching at least both those groups twice a day - have a particularly horrid quad stretch which my flat mate named "evil stretch" after seeing me with sweat breaking out on my forehead every morning!
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I know the very stretch you are talking about and its the one I'm dreading....
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    he he, Shadowone1. They always say "hold for ten good breaths" - which I think translates as 10 x "oh f**k"

    It's a great stretch though - really does the job and gets the hip flexors too
Sign In or Register to comment.