Sore neck / upper back after ride

mathrees

Hi All,

Been out and about and am suffering with a sore base of neck / high upper back after a longish (30 mile plus) ride. This is caused I guess by the head having to look forward for longer than usual in an unusual position.

Will this get better as the neck muscles get used to it?
Is there anything with the setup of the bike that could be done to ease this problem?

Thanks All!

LinkD

I suffered from (and still do occasionally) acute back pain and a sore neck when I first started out. You will eventually become accustomed to the position. However i'd recommend that off the bike, you try some neck and back strengthening exercises. Instructional videos for such exercises can be found on youtube. With regards to setup, you could look into getting a bike fit.

Hope this helps.

JayKosta

Doing some neck, arm, and shoulder stretches and exercises on a daily basis will help.
Even a few minutes a day will make a difference - perhaps while watching TV, etc.
No need to 'break a sweat', or become tired.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

Doony

You could also try keeping your head a bit more.. straight. You don't need to tilt your head at the horizon to see up the road, just move your eyes, also move your head around every once in a while, looking down at the back wheel occassionally, helps your neck from becoming stiff from being in the same position all the time.

johntheboy84

As everyone else says your body will have to get used to the position a little.

Daft question,but does your helmet have a peak? If so, remove it. I did this and hey presto my neck was fine, couldn't believe how much of a difference it made!

Initialised

Try doorway lunges for that sort of pain.

Dippydog2

Initialised wrote:

Try doorway lunges for that sort of pain.

20 supermans a day and the pain will be gone in two weeks.

keef66

Initialised wrote:

Try doorway lunges for that sort of pain.

Is that the kind of thing a shoplifter does when he realises he's just been clocked by security??

mathrees

Door way lunges?
Supermans?

What are these??

I took the peek off the helmet!

Cheers all for the ideas!

Mikey23

I used to get this a lot when i started out but it kind of went away as i got more experienced. As training for ride london i have done four hours and five hour rides recently and have been getting neck and back pain again.

Scotteesh

I suffered with these pains for ages, tried adjusting my technique, stretching and strengthening exercises. They all helped but the best thing was a bike fit.

Dippydog2

mathrees wrote:

Door way lunges?
Supermans?

What are these??

I took the peek off the helmet!

Cheers all for the ideas!

When you don't understand what people suggest there is this amazing thing called Google that will explain it to you.

If you ask Google what Supermans are the first answer is a video showing what to do.

If you do not know how to do this ask anyone under the age of ten to explain.

chrisaonabike

Mikey23 wrote:

I used to get this a lot when i started out but it kind of went away as i got more experienced. As training for ride london i have done four hours and five hour rides recently and have been getting neck and back pain again.

Yes, my experience is exactly this. At times the pain has been excruciating, like (I imagine) being stabbed in the neck when I turn my head sideways a bit to look behind.

I managed to alleviate it enormously on Sunday - I did an 85 miler non-stop, but every 5 or 6 miles sat up, hands off the bars. and rolled my shoulders forwards and backwards several times to stretch everything out.

It was a lot better - not gone completely, but bearable.

Vladimir2007

I'd say that it would be worth getting a professional to take a look at the problem.

For full disclosure I am a sports masseuse and also in the final year of my osteopathy degree.

The main question in my mind is whether you are a desk bound worker, as well as whether you have any other pain in the back at all, or in fact anywhere else.

Whether it will get better - that depends entirely on what is causing the pain, there could be a multitude of reasons there. In some rare cases, you would be wise to stop cycling in the position, period.

Which bring me to the final question - is this a drop bar, or flat? Is the stem at the same height as your saddle, or is it lower/higher?

With the best will in the world it would be very difficult to ascertain what the problem is on a forum. I wouldn't trust myself to do it.

juanerasmoe

I had the same issue and I notices that part of the blame was on my glasses. The problem was that I was using regular glasses while cycling and the lenses were too small, and because of this I had to rise my head higher to look at the road through the lenses instead than over the them.
I you're cycling with regular glasses consider buying some cycling glasses. Their lenses are bigger and they won't make you rise your head as much. I'm using these http://goo.gl/ugmwcN with prescription inserts and their are definitely helping with this issue.

steerpike

If you try masturbating furiously after a ride, it may help loosen things up.

Cartebleu

It's funny that I should read this thread after a visit to the osteopath for exactly the same reason. I started getting neck & shoulder ache a while back but this has worsened to upper back pain behind my left shoulder blade.

A couple of tips the osteopath gave me were:
1. Try to keep your spine straight as you're cycling. Pull your stomach in to help achieve this.
2. Pull the shoulders back (I.e. straighten them) as this frees up room for the neck to move.
3. Change hands position from time to time between resting on the brake hoods to the middle of the handlebars to the drops.

She also suggested ensuring you stretch your back and shoulders before a ride.

Obviously this is very generic advice and I've paraphrased what she said. But I would advise you seek professional help who can give you more specific advice.

deswahriff

...I've just signed up for a couple of yoga classes to try and sort this...(though caused by the day job more than the cycling..)