Off cycle exercises to prevent shoulder and back pain.

Jumpy

Any of you long distancers know any exercises to perform off-cycle to prevent back and shoulder pain when you get toward the end of a long ride?
I am getting fit enough now to not get tired after a good distance, but what is slowing my training down now is lower back and shoulder pain after about 70km.

Lumen

Jumpy wrote: »

Any of you long distancers know any exercises to perform off-cycle to prevent back and shoulder pain when you get toward the end of a long ride?
I am getting fit enough now to not get tired after a good distance, but what is slowing my training down now is lower back and shoulder pain after about 70km.

Assuming your bike fit is good, the fact that you're in pain indicates that you are not fit. Fitness isn't just about how hard you can pound the pedals.

As you get tired your form goes and you start recruiting the wrong muscles.

Improving your core strength and flexibility will help (Stretching book is cheap and handy), but you may just have to be a bit more patient and not push the distance until your structural fitness is better. Get out more often for shorter rides, but rest properly.

There are some setup changes you can make to reduce the pressure on your arms and upper body, basically move the seat back (and down to compensate) and use a shorter stem to maintain reach. This has worked well for me until now; I recently reversed the changes and am now off the bike with back pain.

IANAP.

Jumpy

Ill try and get out as much as I can on short runs. Ill try and get the squats and deadlifts in to improve the core as well.
Watch out for the guy curled into a ball at the end of the Sean Kelly

Lumen

Jumpy wrote: »

Ill try and get out as much as I can on short runs. Ill try and get the squats and deadlifts in to improve the core as well.
Watch out for the guy curled into a ball at the end of the Sean Kelly

Look out for low tree branches to hang off. Worked for me in the WW200. They have trees in Waterford, right? Or else I'm not going.

DualFrontDiscs

Lumen wrote: »

IANAP.

Ryaner

Someone previously posted this for core exercises. Its quite useful. However if your lower back is getting sore, try get a proper bike fitting. I got one done by IrishFit and I haven't had any issues since. Feeling much faster too.