Cycling with a bad back

miss notax

Good idea or not?

I have a really bad back at the moment - something to do with a loose pelvis which sounds terribly alarming :shock: - and my chiropractor says that mtbing is ok. Went out on Wednesday night and riding was ok, but my back even worse yesterday and today. Actually my back is ok, but for some reason my left leg isn' t quite working properly anymore....

Anyway, does everyone else just plough on regardless or am I being an idiot? It doesn't actually hurt mtbing, so I figure it can't be doing anything that hideous? And if i've got a bad back, then I would rather have some fun mtbing with a bad back than watching tv with a bad back. If you see what I mean.

Obviously the ideal solution would be to go away to go on holiday for a few weeks and lie on a beach thus avoiding all activity whatsoever. But that's not going to happen anytime soon!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Pippen33

Whether in or out of the saddle, keep your lower back straight (stick your ass out). I don't think having a 'loose pelvis' is at all a bad thing, but you should avoid strenuous (back) activity because if you do develop a problem as a result it may not correct itself, and you'll be mtb'ing like a hunchback

Chobber

Three years ago I suffered a really painful back injury caused by a ruptured disk (otherwise known as slipped disk). Took around 6 weeks to recover fully and physio said best therapy is to keep moving to prevent muscles going into spasm and making it worse.

Other week out on my road bike and it goes again, but I was about 16km from home. No choice but to keep going until I got home. Recovery time?? 3 days this time. I'm convinced that by keeping going stopped the injury worstening.

Clearly other people with other back problems may have a different experience!

Chobber

Stig-OT-Dump

Was at the doc's this week with a bad back. He said stop running, keep biking and swimming, avoid taking up new stretching till its ok, then start doing more stretching