Feature

Fri 17 Jul, 2:00 pm BST

Health: Lower back pain

By Andy Wadsworth, Cycling Plus

If you suffer from lower back pain, you’ll know that it can really get in the way of living your life. Take time to assess why you’re getting the pain and what you can do about it.

The lower back muscles are very strong as they have to hold your spine and pelvis in place, but often they’re worked too hard due to other muscles in the trunk of your body being weak. Try doing the following tests:

Test one: Get into the plank position, keeping your abdominals and buttocks tensed, and time how long you can hold the position without your hips lowering or lower back hurting. Less than 60 seconds will indicate a weakness in your core muscles, especially your abdominals.

Test two: Lying down, pull one leg up towards your chest while keeping both legs as straight as possible. If you can’t get your leg beyond 90 degrees, your hamstrings (muscles at the back of your upper leg) are too tight, which will lead to tension further up your body and lower back.

Test three: One-leg squat. Do this in front of the mirror and watch what your hips are doing: if they’re moving sideways or rotating, your buttocks are weak and therefore the back has to take too much of the strain while you are cycling.

Resolve the problems with the easy exercises illustrated below:

1 Hamstring stretches

Use the same position as you did for the first test and do three 20-second stretches three times a day.

Hamstring stretches:

2 Abdominals

Lying on your back, pull your belly button in and up so you feel your lower back being pushed into the floor. Do three sets of 10 and build up to three sets of 20.

Abdominals:

3 Bridges

Lying on your back, pull your belly button in and up, and then raise your hips off the floor by tensing your buttocks. Do three sets of 20 (avoid tensing your hamstrings).

Bridges:

About the author

Andy Wadsworth BA SHMS is an amateur off-road triathlon champion and director of My Life Personal Training. You can contact Andy via www.mylifept.com or phone him on 0117 923 7111.

User Comments

There are 16 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 16 of 16 comments

  • Very useful tests, thanks.

  • Guy in the first pic looks like he's has an 'accident'!

  • Some diagrams of the tests would have been helpful.

  • Be really careful with self diagnosis of back pain. Go see a Dr if it persists, it may be muscular or it may be skeletal. I have two discs out and permanent femoral nerve dysfunction all of which started as a mild back ache, if a butt cheek starts to hurt, if you get pain down your leg STOP CYCLING and see a Dr.

    I binned swimming for cycling and there is no doubt a bike is better for your back than a pool.

    Get a full sus or a Thudbuster they'll both make it easier.

  • Is the writer a physiotherapist? Nahhhh,,,,Never heard of his 2nd qualification ................

  • not good advice, not good tests - you won't find them in a clinical examination or orthopaedics textbook. If you get pain, see an osteopath.

  • @ seataltea

    i suffer with a pain in my lower left side. witch then gose thro my grion and then down my left leg. i am pretty sure its a trapped nurve. so as you said be carfull. if you have pain see a doc its better to be save than sorry

  • I think everyone is getting a little critical of the article. If you did these stretches and exercises and the pain still persisted, you would obviously seek medical advice of some sort.

    So basic stretches and an abdominal plank will help average Jo and these exercises would not be a contra-indication to back pain.

  • I was knocked off my bike six weeks ago and as the car ploughed into me from behind i took his wing mirror off with the base of my back/buttocks and landed on my coccyx area, having severe bruising and muscle damage to the area my doctor has said now that i have a dislocated coccyx, and have been seeing a physio and she has surgested a few of these exersises in this artical.

    apart from the lying on my back, which i can not do for it is still to sore.

    i would like to ask for any recomendations for a comfortable seat for my new bike.

    I hope to be back on the roads soon and take care fellow commuters.

  • I have lower back pain that comes and goes. It seems to be particularly bad in the morning. I blame myself for lifting my toddler son wrongly all the time. Went to see a physio who started me on pliates because I "had a weak core". My question is this: why won't my rear derailleur go in to 9th gear?

  • i suffer with sciatica which can be very painful travelling from my back down the back of my legs, went to physio and was informed once you have back problems you will always, just the degree of pain levels that change.

    I was shown exercises like to ones in this post, just remember it can be a slow road to recovery. easy streching ofn th hamstrings and back certainly helps before and especially after i have a hard ride.

    One thing i have done is buy a full susser which helps too

  • Just to play safe. It the lower back pain does not come from muscles. I recommend you consult a doctor because I read that lower left side back pain can be an indicator for spinal or colon cancer.

  • As someone who has and does suffer with back pain I would say these tests and the exercises are good. Iv'e had the same/simalar reccomended to me by a range of people who were way more expensive and seemingly better qualified than the source this advice. They are also effective. I would say that if you follow this routine and there is no improvement then you need to see someone about it.

  • Particular conditions may cause the joint from working rightly resulting in stiffness in muscle pain in the low back.

    References:

    http://www.causes-of-low-back-pain.co.cc/

  • Far too many of you people would be better off at the nearest adult dyslexia centre. If you are going to post your opinions for public consumption have the decency to learn basic reading and writing skills!

  • Think the tests were designed/suggested so if you were in any doubt, they would confirm your fears. Then you would escalate to a trained expert. Too many people doing crunches and other abdominal exercises aiming for what seems the fitness magazines "Holy Grail" of a 6 pack, without counterbalancing. Back exercises like Dorsal/Hyper-extensions.

    Well said Isaac - I thought I was possibly getting over critical. Glad I am not on my own...

  • 1

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