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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:56 am 
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Here's a pretty good article from Vox which sums up what actually works and doesn't work for back pain. In short, MTBers often have back pain b/c we are in a seated position for long periods of time, and on climbs we often "hunch" into the climb.

You may wish to read the entire thing, but here is a short summary:

- Most popular treatments (surgery, opioid painillers, steroid injections) are unhelpful and maybe even harmful.
- Moving is the best thing for your back. Exercises like yoga and pilates are good, but not necessarily more than other exercises that get you to move around and become stronger.
-Physical therapy, psychotherapy, chiropractors, massage, and acupuncture also work but cost money. Some of these are controversial or have mixed results (read the article).
- Improving the flexibility of your lumbar spine and hamstrings helps. (I would also say you should stretch your hip flexors w/ a simple lunch exercise, especially if you are a desk jockey like me)
- The article recommends 3 simple bodyweight exercises to help people stabilize their spines

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/ ... lternative

Cheers,
Mike

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:49 am 
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I'm just about healed from my 1.5 years of back pain, mostly by practicing Yoga and removing the backpack while riding. It feels great to be able to ride again. Now I just need to regain all of the strength I lost over the long recovery, which at age 57 is not an easy task to do.

My go-to Yoga exercises:

1) Childs pose.
https://www.yogaoutlet.com/guides/how-to-do-child_s-pose-in-yoga
This stretches your spine just like an inversion table. Your fat gut works in your favor with this one as your gut presses on your thighs which pushes up and elongates your spine. This is the starting stretch before I do anything else as it just feels so freaking good. Just make sure to do this one before breakfast (don't ask me how I know that).

2) Cat-cow.
A dynamic stretch of your full back. THIS WILL HURT AT FIRST IF YOU HAVE BACK PAIN so take it easy. This is a good indicator of lower back healing as when this starts hurting less you know it is healing. Just go to your limit on a given day and don't push it too hard. I found a video of a cutie doing this one for your viewing pleasure:


2) Twist stretches
Can't find a name or a picture for this. Lie on back with knees bent and arms out. Keep feet and knees touching together. Roll both knees to one side, while rolling your neck to the other. Once this gets too easy, do same with a large exercise ball under your ankles and roll each direction. When that gets too easy, remove exercise ball and make legs do same motion as you were using with the exercise ball. That really works the core.

3) Monkey (same as bird-dog in the linked article)

4) Various leg and hamstring stretches.

I also bought a frame bag for my bike and keep my tools and water bladder in that. No weight on my back as I ride at all. I felt naked without the camelbak pack for a while, but it finally feels natural. Needless to say, the bike weight increases dramatically by putting the water on the frame, and you won't be wanting to get air anymore. The bike behaves like a complete toad but heck, you are out riding and not complaining about back pain anymore. I call that a win.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:16 pm 
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mmm... cat pose....

Oops - got distracted. My back pain is always focused in the neck and shoulders. What works best for me is sitting on a mat with legs spread as wide as possible (sorry for that visual) and back straight, then and leaning as far forward as possible - I usually try to touch my forehead to the floor. Stretching my hamstrings like this really helps alleviate all that upper back and neck pain.

One thing that really puts a hurtin' in that area are too many push-ups or planks. I thought those would be a good idea for my fitness last year. Damn near laid me out after a couple of weeks. Push-ups are limited now, and planks are out the window these days.

I'd like to think that this pain is caused by too much of a good thing - riding all the time (which not the case unfortunately). I'm sure being chained to my desk and chair all week has nothing to do with it... :roll:

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:20 am 
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My wife's an athletic trainer, and I'm frequently broken, so I've managed to pick up a few things along the way.

For those of us who have desk jobs, we spend a lot of the day in chairs. What this does is shorten the hip flexors. This means that when you stand up there is a "pre-tension" from your hip flexors which pull your legs forward. It's like your body is trying to get back in that sitting-in-a-chair position even though you're standing. This puts your hamstrings in tension, and therefore your back, which leads to back pain b/c you are now over-loading your back through the mere act of standing.

So stretching your hamstrings like Shannon said is a good thing to do. But it's ALSO good to stretch the front side of your body, namely your hip flexors and quads. The first can be stretched with a simple lunge, and I'm pretty sure we all know how to stand on one foot and stretch our quads.

Generally, I've found that tightness in one part of your body is often caused by tightness on the *opposite* side. So while stretching the side that's tight is good, stretching the other side is good too! :thumbsup:

So does this mean we're doing post-ride stretches in addition to our post ride beers? :D

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:25 am 
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The plot thickens! Great tidbit here; thanks. Something more to incorporate.

Inconceivable wrote:

So does this mean we're doing post-ride stretches in addition to our post ride beers? :D


Absolutely. I'll bring my yoga shorts... :shock:

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:05 am 
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avidtest wrote:
The plot thickens! Great tidbit here; thanks. Something more to incorporate.

Inconceivable wrote:

So does this mean we're doing post-ride stretches in addition to our post ride beers? :D


Absolutely. I'll bring my yoga shorts... :shock:


Ummm....no mooseknuckle's is just one of the bylaws for Calavera ride


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