Lower Back Pains - 16 year old

elmoreynolds

Hi, im 16 year old male, who rides with a cycling club and races on there behalf aswell. I started cycling last year and joined a club, bought myself a Raleigh airlite 100 56cm for a cheap price of 290 pounds. Enough of that, the details of my problem is that i ride between 200-300 miles a week for training for pre season and i get horrible back pains on the road, never on the turbo though. On the road, i like to adapt to a 90 degree angle on my elbow for an 'aerodynamic' advantage, but don't see that as the cause, would you say my cleats are adjusted wrong?

imposter2.0

Cleat position wouldn't have been top of my list, to be honest. It's going to be difficult to answer meaningfully without seeing a pic of you on the bike.

elmoreynolds

Darn, i deleted my turbo video yesterday that i did to look at my position :@ I'll try to get a picture up tomorrow, Frame size may be a problem, its a 56cm, and im 6'1, My seatpost is as high as it can and i think it could do with going up another cm or 2. I did adjust my cleats a while back when i was in the road season, i moved them inwards at the top as i read on here from somebody that it brings your knees in more when your in the drops

styxd

Perhaps your bars are to low? try flipping the stem.

elmoreynolds

I flipped the stem a while back when i first started to cycle, my coach in fact insisted i did it to improve position, it is a -6 degree at the moment, i have moved it up on the spacers which helped a bit but problem is still there, i find when doing club events on the weekend, i dont get the pain as quick when in a group, only when doing a solo ride i get pain within 20 miles:/

ride_whenever

Go see someone who does bike fit professionally, you shouldn't be getting back pain and your coach does not sound like a source of reputable advice.

elmoreynolds

Here is a pic of the bike that i took last week if it helps with anything...

elmoreynolds

ride_whenever wrote:

Go see someone who does bike fit professionally, you shouldn't be getting back pain and your coach does not sound like a source of reputable advice.

I'm going for a professional bike fit on my new race bike, but this is just for winter bashing whilst the weather is crap, my coach has been brilliant to me and a great inspiration for my to carry on cycling British cycling qualified i think:)

ju5t1n

When I was your age (hmm, 24 years ago now) I also suffered a lot with lower back pain. I found that building up my core strength through cross training helped. At the time I used swimming and running, but these days I use the Concept 2 rowing machine at the gym.

Tom Dean

ride_whenever wrote:

Go see someone who does bike fit professionally, you shouldn't be getting back pain and your coach does not sound like a source of reputable advice.

Nothing wrong with recommending a bike fit, but what grounds do you have for questioning the OP's coach?

OP - assuming you are with a decent club etc. and are happy with your coach's credentials, just listen to your coach. This saves you having to filter through the drivel on here to find good advice.

ut_och_cykla

I'm guessing your bike is just too small for you. At your age your legs may well be long in proportion to your height too which will complicate things. Low back pain could also be caused by lack of strength /endurance in thigh muscles meaning lower back has to work to keep up with the others! (why you don't get pain on group rides - no continual effort, or on turbo - no long session!
You only started last year - I think the answer lies in - poor bike fit and overdoing things. BAck off on teh long sessions and get your bike sorted for comfort - speed can come later!

Tom Butcher

Agree with that. Get the fit on your race bike asap - then try and adapt your winter bike so it's as close as you can get - if you can't get it close then use the race bike and clean it.

If you still suffer once you are on the race bike then you are looking at getting an experienced physio/sports therapist/osteopath etc to have a look at you. There are a number about who have been high level cyclists and then qualified - these are the people you need to see as it should give you the best chance of them sorting it - alternatively just someone via personal recommendation. Depending on where you live I might be able to recommend someone or else someone else may be able to help. Whatever you do don't go and pay to see a random physio straight out of uni.

elmoreynolds

Hi guys, thank you so much for the response, my legs are long but i guess i cannot help that, i think i realise that the bike is small for me, but the race bike should be able to be ok for that. In terms on strength etc, i am 6'1, weigh about 160lbs and have 10% body fat, i trained my strength on my legs for 5 months at the gym, but i will be getting a bike fit on the race bike as soon as possible. I'm based in birmingham and race for Solihull CC ( A really great club ) I will see how things are on the bike, im going to assess my position and cleats and have a ride on wednesday to see if it helps, change my handlebar angle etc. Will update you guys and thank you for your help, much appreciated

Tom Butcher

If you are in Brum then you aren't that far from Martin Early in Hilderstone, Staffs - never used him myself but only heard good things and as a former pro cyclist would have an extra insight. Hopefully a bike fit will sort you though.

mikenetic

elmoreynolds wrote:

Hi guys, thank you so much for the response, my legs are long but i guess i cannot help that, i think i realise that the bike is small for me, but the race bike should be able to be ok for that. In terms on strength etc, i am 6'1, weigh about 160lbs and have 10% body fat, i trained my strength on my legs for 5 months at the gym, but i will be getting a bike fit on the race bike as soon as possible. I'm based in birmingham and race for Solihull CC ( A really great club ) I will see how things are on the bike, im going to assess my position and cleats and have a ride on wednesday to see if it helps, change my handlebar angle etc. Will update you guys and thank you for your help, much appreciated

The other thing to consider is your back and hamstring flexibility. Some tall pro riders can maintain a really dropped position, but they will have worked on their core strength and joint mobility. I spent a while faffing around with cleats, small saddle adjustments etc, but it was only when I started cross training that the problems went away.

kamil1891

This is the problem I'm experiencing. I'm also relatively young, only 21 and tall at 6'3'', however flexible. Started cycling 1.5 years ago. I've been having problems with my lower back. Had a bike fit etc, etc. The position is perfect but I think with a lower back you cannot really help. When I push really hard I would get a pain in about 1-1.5hr, when I'm not pushing so hard I can ride all day long. I think I have to improve my core strength to get it sorted though.

Gabbo

kamil1891 wrote:

This is the problem I'm experiencing. I'm also relatively young, only 21 and tall at 6'3'', however flexible. Started cycling 1.5 years ago. I've been having problems with my lower back. Had a bike fit etc, etc. The position is perfect but I think with a lower back you cannot really help. When I push really hard I would get a pain in about 1-1.5hr, when I'm not pushing so hard I can ride all day long. I think I have to improve my core strength to get it sorted though.

Any referral of pain? I.E down lower limbs..

kamil1891

Gabbo wrote:

kamil1891 wrote:

This is the problem I'm experiencing. I'm also relatively young, only 21 and tall at 6'3'', however flexible. Started cycling 1.5 years ago. I've been having problems with my lower back. Had a bike fit etc, etc. The position is perfect but I think with a lower back you cannot really help. When I push really hard I would get a pain in about 1-1.5hr, when I'm not pushing so hard I can ride all day long. I think I have to improve my core strength to get it sorted though.

Any referral of pain? I.E down lower limbs..

I don't exactly understand what you mean (I'm not English) but if I'm thinking correctly then I think the lower back pain also made pain inside of my right knee. I'm not having knee pains anymore unless I push far too big gear for far too long. In that situation back is dead first and then the knee. Apart from that, it seems that the lower back pain appears a lot quicker when climbing.

I've started some exercises for lower back and I can feel it hurts, therefore I presume it's pretty weak.

TakeTurns

I'd say work on flexibility and core body strength. Being on a bike isn't a natural position for the human body. Therefore, you need to adapt to it. In order to do so, you need to be doing regular stretching exercises and core body strength workouts. Ask your coach if he has resources for cycling specific ones which can direct you.

It will help to improve your comfort and overall performance on the bike.