# Lower back pain while racing CX



## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

So I am running into an issue of extreme lower back pain (right above the butt crack) but only when I race CX. I don't have any issues on my road bike or on my MTB ever, this issue is only rearing its head during my CX races.

I mirrored my CX bike off of my road bike fit, but then I remembered that CX frame geometry is a little different than road bikes, so could that be the compounding factor?

This is bad enough that by the 3rd lap I am having to get up out of the saddle to try and stretch my lower back out, it ends up zapping my ability to put the power down. The duration of the race is doesn't bother and I can handle the pace, just the lower back pain stops me in my tracks.

Any advice?


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

During a CX race yesterday I pinched my sciatic nerve right above my butt on clearly on the right side. Was putting in a good dig up a hill and BAM. It was horrible. It still hurts a lot. Never had any issue like this before. Probably not related to you.

Does the pain subside after? Is it a dull pain, sort of like you might expect from some after long rides? Possible you need to lengthen your stem to flatten your back a bit.


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

Once I am off of the bike and stretch it out it is fine, a little sore for a couple of hours but nothing that bothers me the next day at all.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

The lower back pain you're having is one of the leading limiters among people I know. Cross places unique demands on your body - you're doing repeated explosive efforts, often from a very unstable orientation. Plus you're being bounced around on rough terrain with very limited suspension. A 45' cross race will cause more back fatigue and soreness for me than doing a 2.5 hour road ride/race or 1 hour crit will.

The usual core strengthening suspects like planks and all of that stuff are helpful, as is learning to consciously engage your core when riding, but to some degree cx is just a really demanding activity in that regard.


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## namaSSte (Jul 28, 2004)

Dave makes great points. There are so many variables that can factor into this. Have you had a bike fit done? That might be a good starting point. Simply mirroring your road setup is probably not going to put you where you need to be since, as you mentioned, the geometry is different, stem length may be different, crank length probably is different, even the handlebar reach and drop may be different.

I'd start with a proper bike fit then go from there. I'd also recommend doing the Belgian thing and getting your levers nice and high on the bars. This can relieve some pressure as well. Its also possible that your saddle plays into it. To isolate the "culprit" get the bike fit and see how it feels on a hard ride. If you still have issues, I''d start changing things one at a time (NOT all together!) and see if you can isolate the problem. Sorry to hear about your troubles, CX racing is painful enough already!


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks guys, as far as a fit goes I have not had a full fit done on the CX bike. I had them done on my road and MTB so I suspect that may be playing into it some. My thought on it this morning are going to be to look at shortening the stem up some and bringing the saddle forward some first. 

I already have the hoods up higher than what I do on my road bikes to try and help take the pressure off of my lower back and put it on my arms. Been trying to do lower back stretches and take some advil before the race starts, so I will just keep after it.


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## trailmonkey72 (Nov 11, 2015)

I have had the same issue in CX races and longer endurance races. Along with bike fit, I found two solutions:

1) more stretching. Like someone said earlier, you're doing LOTS of explosive efforts and typically those muscles are being subjected to harder efforts than ever before. A bit more flexibility will help help them respond and react better...rather than resist the new levels of pain.

2) LONG warm-ups. When 'cross became a regular winter activity for me, I started incorporating longer and longer warm-ups. From the typical 15-minute course pre-ride to 45- to 60- minute interval sets AND course pre-rides. Maybe you're already doing that.... The intervals weren't hard or gruesome....just strong efforts to get my HR up and blood pumping through all the necessary places.


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## namaSSte (Jul 28, 2004)

Great point on the warmups. I like to find some smallish climbs and do reasonably hard efforts on them before a race just to get the blood moving and lungs opened up a bit.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

I'll never understand people who churn away on their trainer for an hour (or more!) and think that they're "warming up". All you are accomplishing is fatiguing your muscles and spending yet more time hunched over the bike. By contrast, Team Sky has a 20 minute, rational, focused routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VL5JCqQhQ

Lower back stiffness is endemic to cyclocross, and IMO there's very little you can accomplish through bike setup.

Most bike racers don't have tons of free time for yoga/pilates/etc, so find a 10-15 min routine of strength/stretching that you can do on a REGULAR basis. There's a 12min Foundation Training youtube focused on lower back. Also a lot of physios are proponents of that Ido Portal squatting stuff.

I personally think that swimming is great for lower back, but not everyone has regular access to a pool and the skill at swimming.


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

Yeah my warm ups are 1-2 pre-ride laps at about 60%, then maybe some easy spinning just so my legs are not getting hammered from a dead cold position. Other than that and some mild stretching that is all I do for warm up.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

TJay74 said:


> Yeah my warm ups are 1-2 pre-ride laps at about 60%, then maybe some easy spinning just so my legs are not getting hammered from a dead cold position. Other than that and some mild stretching that is all I do for warm up.


OK just to clarify, I'm not saying don't warm up. Watch that Team Sky youtube and try to grok exactly what they're getting at. The caveat is it works out differently for CX because of the logistics of the races. Practice laps are like the first phase of warmup, then there could be 30-40 minutes off the bike before your off-course spinning and short sprints. Some people, though, spend that whole hour before the race spinning away on their trainer, and personally I think it's wasted energy that serves no purpose. People will swear up and down they "need" an hour to warm up, but look at how mindlessly they just spin away on that trainer.


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## kjdhawkhill (Jan 29, 2011)

pretender said:


> OK just to clarify, I'm not saying don't warm up. Watch that Team Sky youtube and try to grok exactly what they're getting at. The caveat is it works out differently for CX because of the logistics of the races. Practice laps are like the first phase of warmup, then there could be 30-40 minutes off the bike before your off-course spinning and short sprints. Some people, though, spend that whole hour before the race spinning away on their trainer, and personally I think it's wasted energy that serves no purpose. People will swear up and down they "need" an hour to warm up, but look at how mindlessly they just spin away on that trainer.


more than a half hour of warmup seems like overkill. Or "training through."


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## JohnStonebarger (Jan 22, 2004)

pretender said:


> ...People will swear up and down they "need" an hour to warm up, but look at how mindlessly they just spin away on that trainer.


For the most part I agree with you. I do think, though, that some people use that longer warmup as a ritual to psych themselves up for battle. Not my thing, but I get it.

An interesting study I read about a few years ago compared performance in a 3K time trial after 1) steady warm up, 2) sprint warm up, or 3) no warm up. It found less advantage to sprint warm up compared to steady warm up, and not surprising both were better than no warm up. But the thing I found most interesting was that the advantage of a warm up was only in the first K -- one hard kilometer was enough of a "warm up" that the second and third K was just as fast.


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## GearDaddy (Apr 1, 2004)

TJay74 said:


> Yeah my warm ups are 1-2 pre-ride laps at about 60%, then maybe some easy spinning just so my legs are not getting hammered from a dead cold position. Other than that and some mild stretching that is all I do for warm up.


I would suggest a longer warm up. My usual warm up strategy is to ride for at least 30 minutes, where I start at a fairly easy pace and then slow ramp up intensity. I try to keep the cadence up throughout the warm-up, and I'll only do a few short intervals towards the end to get the heart rate up mostly. After that I'll try to do a lap (or maybe two) on the course at a fairly easy pace.

As far as the back problems, I'd agree with others that this is a common occurrence in CX, as you're doing a lot of seated intervals in the course of a race. Do you race road and MTB? Had you done a lot of 5 minute seated interval workouts leading up to the CX season? If not, it just may be your body responding to the lack of interval training needed to prepare for CX.

I dealt with some lower back strain issues in last year's CX season, mostly because I wasn't that prepared going into the season. After one race in particular that had a lot of bumpy conditions, where I was spending more time grinding it out at a lower cadence, and I ended up having more persistent back pain. I actually had to stop for about a month, and then slowly ramp up training again.

If you are just getting some back soreness as the race progresses, I'd suggest trying to concentrate on riding smooth and keeping your cadence up, as that will prolong the stress buildup in your lower back. Also, in training sessions just keep working on building up strength with interval sessions, again trying to keep the cadence up. And do more stretching and core strengthening exercises too.

However, if you're getting back pain right away, or the back pain persists after race day, then you might need to let it chill for awhile.


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## TJay74 (Sep 9, 2012)

Soreness is just as the race progresses. 40 minute events and I am starting to feel the pain around the 25 minute point.


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## KonaSS (Aug 18, 2006)

I think back/core strength is key. Do this at least 3 times a week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI


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## namaSSte (Jul 28, 2004)

Core strengthening helps in any discipline for sure. The thread kinda tailed off slightly (in a good way) regarding warmups but I don't think you'll find a warmup is going to help the back issue (stretching should though). 

Regarding the warmup, I think its rather personal in nature. Given the nature of a CX start, I know that if I don't get my heart up to threshold a few times before the whistle, that first lap is going to hurt more than normal. How I get it there is less important to me than getting it there. Either way, lap one is all about who can suffer the most above threshold then "recover" enough to race another 40+ minutes at a level very close to that. Warmup will only factor into that to a certain degree so its just not something I overthink.


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## VeldrijdenAddict (Apr 29, 2008)

pretender said:


> I'll never understand people who churn away on their trainer for an hour (or more!) and think that they're "warming up". All you are accomplishing is fatiguing your muscles and spending yet more time hunched over the bike. By contrast, Team Sky has a 20 minute, rational, focused routine:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VL5JCqQhQ
> 
> Lower back stiffness is endemic to cyclocross, and IMO there's very little you can accomplish through bike setup.
> ...


I seem to agree with a lot of what you say. No different this time. I used to get the back pain my first few seasons of cross, for the first couple of races, Now I don't. I can't say I train too much differently all these years later. Maybe I lucked into better fitting bikes. Core work will help. Stretching is good. 

Don't get me started on all this warming up (or worse cooling down on the trainer after a race). Go ride your bike after the race! See the world around you. Chris Boardman had an article about warming up years ago and he had a quote that went something like "I've seen a lot of World Championships medals left on the wind-trainer" Haven't watched the Sky vid yet but Boardman's routine was also in the 15-20 minute range.


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## fotooutdoors (Nov 15, 2010)

I really agree on the core strength issues. I run into this on the mountain bike as well, though. My experience is that it happens when my leg strength outpaces my core strength. I do planks (side and front) and pushups to overcome this.
Also, make sure you aren't too stretched out. When I went to a shorter reach frame, the lower back pain diminished.


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## Manning (Jul 8, 2010)

+1 on core strength. I've worked on core more than ever in the past, and I've had less back pain during races than in the past. I think it is a direct cause / effect. 

Been doing lots of pushups and planks, and bringing "toes to the bar" while hanging. Not sure what those are called. They are killer, and work all kinds of stuff from fingers to hip flexors as well as blasting the abs.


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## JohnStonebarger (Jan 22, 2004)

I've had both back and hamstring pain aggravated by CX, but nothing that sounds just like what you're having. If you have any inkling of what might be happening to cause this, get more specific. If not... see someone about it. A PT, a sports orthopedist, somebody who might help you figure out why this is happening. Until then you're only guessing, and since every "back pain" is different, guessing might be a huge waste of time.

General advice is interesting, and might give you ideas of some things to try. (Personally swimming is about the best thing I've found for my back, before or after my spine fusion.) But unless you have plenty of time to play hit-and-miss, you owe it to yourself to take this a little more seriously and get some help.


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## elmar schrauth (Feb 19, 2007)

Try stretching of the hip-muscles: piriformis, psoas and gluteus stretch.
This gives me immediate release from lower back pain.


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## jrabenaldt (Mar 3, 2008)

+1 on the hip stretches. Mine have always been extremely tight and stretching them normally offers the most relief in the shortest amount of time.


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## radripperaj (Mar 7, 2015)

I just skimmed the posts real quick, but i didnt notice anyone say anything about tire pressure. I dont know what pressures yall are running, but i used to have a lot of back trouble when i first started as well. I noticed if i ran a lower pressure it absorbed more of the shocks from the bumps. However, you can only run so low before pinch flats become a problem with normal tube tires. I have switched to tubulars this season for racing. It has made a huge difference. now that i started running 32 psi in the back and 30 in the front I have had zero back pain. dont know if that will help or if you are already running tubulars but i just thought i would throw that out there.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

core blowing up. Cross is the hardest cycling discipline on the core. Cross Back is an actual term. Do core exercises however you can, make time. Yoga / Pilates are both great. Stretch well before racing.
As for warm up, I have a different method. I do a light warm up recon the course, then before the race work myself to a full lather before starting. If you notice the way a typical cross race goes
1) Crazy Fast start, sprint and peg your HR.
2) Laps 2 and 3 are typically shock, your body is revolting against the effort
3) By lap 4 you have settled into a manageable level of suffering for the duration. Hopefully you have one last bit of juice for an attack.

You can get to lap 4 physiologically on the trainer so you lose the lap 2 and 3 shock during the race. So you are in the 'manageable' state for more laps.


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## AFrizzledFry (Oct 3, 2002)

TJay74 said:


> So I am running into an issue of extreme lower back pain (right above the butt crack) but only when I race CX. I don't have any issues on my road bike or on my MTB ever, this issue is only rearing its head during my CX races.
> 
> I mirrored my CX bike off of my road bike fit, but then I remembered that CX frame geometry is a little different than road bikes, so could that be the compounding factor?
> 
> ...



Crossback! You are not alone. If you're serious about cross, cross training is essentially a requirement (for folks that have these issues...I'm sure some can get away without it). I do a light workout routine 2-3 days a week, and also go for 15 minute runs 2-4 days a week on top of riding (got some raging plantar fasciitis last season...the running helps keep it at bay).

Planking-type stuff, Romanian deadlifts*, push-ups, shrugs, biceps curls are all a part of my normal routine. My motivation is both 'cross and not getting to manorexic. 

*i believe these are probably the most important part of my routine with regard to lower back pain. Game changer when I reimplemented them.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

AFrizzledFry said:


> Crossback! You are not alone. If you're serious about cross, cross training is essentially a requirement (for folks that have these issues...I'm sure some can get away without it). I do a light workout routine 2-3 days a week, and also go for 15 minute runs 2-4 days a week on top of riding (got some raging plantar fasciitis last season...the running helps keep it at bay).
> 
> Planking-type stuff, Romanian deadlifts*, push-ups, shrugs, biceps curls are all a part of my normal routine. My motivation is both 'cross and not getting to manorexic.
> 
> *i believe these are probably the most important part of my routine with regard to lower back pain. Game changer when I reimplemented them.


I hooked up with a Pilates instructor, gave her a run down on the things cyclists encounter and we designed a class around it. You can do the same thing with a yoga instructor as well. Round up a handful of folks and you have your own group class


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