lower back pain

s4lnj · 09-14-2008, 07:55 AM

i know this has been gone over before, but wanted to see what some people thaught of my situiation

starters-- i am a mechanic, so i'm bent over a hood for about 10 hours a day.

i race bmx bikes--

just over two months ago, i broke my collar bone. so i was off the bike for some time. i logged a ton of miles on the stationary bike to keep my fitness up, but the mechanics of a stationary bike and that of actually being on a 20inch bike over jumps is MUCH different.

so about three weeks ago, i went to the track to try and start training again. after about 35-45 minutes, my lower back started to hurt. i was just about done so i pushed through the rest of the workout.

it was sore for about 4 days. my collar bone was stil ify so laid off the heavy track time.

yesterday i returned to racing, as any more missed races and i would not qualify for end of year titles.

halfway through the first straigt in my first moto... bang!! there was the back pain again.

i'm hoping this is just due to time off the bike, some people suggested adding yoga into my training.

what do you guys think

thanks in advance
dave

ArmyBoots · 09-15-2008, 12:34 PM

yea im interested in this as well.. my lower back recently started hurting when i run.. tried some deadlifts to strengthen and now its pretty sore. i know its just muscle soreness and nothing structural, just uncomfortable.
-ps not thread robbing.. just in the same boat

dindysport · 09-15-2008, 12:38 PM

not a doc but mine used to hurt off and on during soccer so I just worked w/light weight on my lower back and concentrated on my abs and since then I have not had any probs with my lower back...

bfentress · 09-15-2008, 03:41 PM

I?m not a doc, but I have had some experience with back problems. There is a good chance that the back pain is due to taking a break from riding your bike, kind of like you stop lifting weights for a week or 2 and you are sore again. Does it go away after about 3 or 4 days? If so you probably have sore muscles and they are just building back up. If it does not go away and if the pain goes into the lower body (your legs) go see a doctor.

For the 2nd post same thing, take some time off the big lifts, dead lift, squats, and use machines for a couple of weeks. See if the pain does not go away. You may be over working your back. You can also use lighter weights as mentioned above.

If you go see a doctor don?t let them just do and x ray. Make them give you an MRI or something that will see the soft Tissue, x rays are only good to see if you have broken your back, and if you are walking you probably have not done this.

jready67 · 09-17-2008, 03:51 PM

The solution to lower back pain that has worked for both my brother and I, has been training our cores. Mondays we do our back workout so we usually automatically have some sort of lower back exercises involved so we just add abs. Then on Wenesdays after our shoulder workout we hit a a few sets of one of the lower back machines and superset with a ab machines. We then do the same on Fridays after our workouts. Nothing too crazy to completely crush our lower backs but enough to stretch and strengthen. Another key is too make sure your stretching and working on your hamstrings because those can also play into lower back pain. This routine has really help both me and my brother and my brothers back pain seemed to be worse than mine but, I am no doctor I just know how my body responds.

dolson27 · 09-17-2008, 04:23 PM

Try some core exercises. Do an internet search and you can find some.

Here's a link to some that I do:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/...cise_type=core

I would stick to the easier ones for now like the plank, superman, back extensions, and swimming.

Good luck!!

MeHow · 09-17-2008, 05:57 PM

I'll tell you my story and you can decide if yours in anyway can be similar...
I used to spend my share of time cycling, road bike and tri bike. I set both bikes positions up myself and for close to two years I had no problems. I took a 6 month break from training and once I tried to get back into it I discovered I had lower back pain after pedalling for a while... I didn't think it was my position as my position remained unchanged, how could I get pain out of nowhere? I went to see a doctor. He said its probably just muscle and sent me for xrays and that was the end of that... My pain still persisted and got worse to the point where it hurt even when I wasn't biking. I went to see a chiropractor and he said that I basicly don't have the "s" bend in the spine like im supposed to, my verterbrea slid down a bit and were compressing my nerves. Went 3 times to they guy and the pain went away, mind you I still get lower back pain if I'm pushing hard or if I bike for a prolonged time. Bottom line is it felt like muscle pain, I wouldn't have guessed it was my nerves being pinched!!! Since then I have been working on strengthening my core as others above have suggested, in my case that wont fix everything but it will at least help. Also, both my doctor and chiropractor suggest to swim as it helps with back problems for w.e reason...Bottom line good luck man hope it all works out for you!!! Back pain can be a real bi7ch when it stops you from doing what you really enjoy!! This whole thing for me came out of nowhere, I never had any problems whether I was squating or deadlifting or w.e, those are out of the picture now

ArmyBoots · 09-18-2008, 12:36 PM

cool thanks fellas, i appreciate it!

Fresch · 09-19-2008, 04:21 AM

How did you injure your collar bone? Were you able to keep working?

Working as a mechanic and bending over can cause you to develop stiffness in the back. This may have increased with no bmx, and then suddenly going back into it..

I suggest you try some McKemzie back exercises

Tile · 10-01-2008, 05:19 PM

Yea man feeling ya. I did my lower back with some bad form habits and moving plates around the gym.

I tried lots of different stuff, I didn't really want to fork out the money to see a specialist. 3 things worked for me:
1. Cut everything that works your lower back eg. do DB Rows instead of cable and BB and do bicep movements seated or on a preacher. After a couple weeks you should feel better in the back and you can start with adding a few sets of weighted hyperextensions each workout. I also added SLDL back in a few weeks ago and it feels good.
2. Keep your workouts short, I found that the longer I worked out the sloppier my form got and the more fatigued my stabalizing muscles got, therefore the more pressure that was going on my lower back.
3. Heat packs and stuff like deep heat were great after workouts and eased a lot of pain so I wasn't crippled in bed so much.

Hope this helps.

BTW Thanks for the tips on doing more ab work too guys.

akuzyk75 · 10-04-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by s4lnj

i know this has been gone over before, but wanted to see what some people thaught of my situiation

starters-- i am a mechanic, so i'm bent over a hood for about 10 hours a day.

i race bmx bikes--

just over two months ago, i broke my collar bone. so i was off the bike for some time. i logged a ton of miles on the stationary bike to keep my fitness up, but the mechanics of a stationary bike and that of actually being on a 20inch bike over jumps is MUCH different.

so about three weeks ago, i went to the track to try and start training again. after about 35-45 minutes, my lower back started to hurt. i was just about done so i pushed through the rest of the workout.

it was sore for about 4 days. my collar bone was stil ify so laid off the heavy track time.

yesterday i returned to racing, as any more missed races and i would not qualify for end of year titles.

halfway through the first straigt in my first moto... bang!! there was the back pain again.

i'm hoping this is just due to time off the bike, some people suggested adding yoga into my training.

what do you guys think

thanks in advance
dave

I was in a car accident 5 years ago and injured my neck and pelvis. My pelvis was twisted and after x rays and other tests, it resulted in a sciatica problem which I will have for the rest of my life but through specific core exercises and strengthening my core, I only see the chiropractor when needed. Please see a chiropractor for your condition. They are not quacks when you find the right one! Before I did, a osteopath gave me a shot of steroids in my back and it hurt so bad I cried! The chiropractor through treatments at 3 times a week, untwisted my pelvis and I was walking without a limp! It took strength training and lowering my bodyfat along with increasing muscle to eliminate these sessions. Good luck!