AJW2W11E

Unfortunately I have to do them. Somehow by riding a bicycle a lot, I developed my leg muscles but something went out of alignment in the rest of my core group and for a while I had terrible back aches. The only exercise that relieves the misalignment is doing situps on a sharp incline. Situps lying on a normal flat surface don't help that much. When I do them on a sharp incline, I can feel the stiffness , pain and tension in my back fade away especially if I touch my nose to my knees at the end of the motion.

This isn't much fun. Over a month I watched to see if anyone else at the gym was doing them. Mostly young ladies and guys in there twenties . I got to wondering, will I have to keep doing these?

shelbyfv

You forgot to mention how many you can do. And yes, Dr BF recommends you continue doing them indefinitely.
FWIW, be discreet eyeing the young ladies in the gym.

Speedskater

Is that a feet up incline or a head up incline?
Where do you find an incline like that?

rsbob 

0. Not recommended by my PT. Back in the day, I was awarded the JFK patch for doing the most sit-ups. Now, even half-ups are to be avoided. Let’s hear it for aging!

wolfchild

Sit ups are a waste of time and energy. There are far better core/abs exercise out there there than sit ups.

epnnf

such as?

rsbob 

Let me help you with the search function: Core exercises

wolfchild

kettlebell swings ( one of the best core exercises out there )
renegade rows
barbell squats
goblet squats
deadlifts
standing overhead barbell presses
loaded carries
leg raises
planks
TRX
........and many others

Carbonfiberboy 

The way to fight back soreness is to do back work. Back machine, deep squats, dead lifts, that sort of thing. Your posterior chain goes all the way to your shoulder blades. I never heard of a cyclist who got sore abs from riding. Sore back yes, all the time, like the OP.

Calsun

Have you tried doing a variety of plank exercises?

Trakhak

Or just ride your bike. I get back soreness maybe two or three times a year - usually from lifting something heavy, once in a great while from riding (especially if I do a lot of hilly miles on my fixed-gear bike after not riding it for a long time).

As with pretty much all such pains, I fight back soreness by just going out for more bike rides. Two or three rides maximum, and I'm fine again. I suspect the same would be true of all you gym guys, but I guess we'll never know.

SpedFast

I do 300 level situps using a barbell to hold my feet down. I could do more, but it gets boring even with my tunes going. Currently 74 years of age, but I'm working at reducing it.

Carbonfiberboy 

That's true, but apparently not for everyone, judging by the number of sore backed riders who post on Bikeforums, the OP being an example. My guess is it might be some time-limited thing. Takes a lot less time to build muscle in the gym than it does on the bike, i.e. high intensity vs. low intensity. So maybe riders who only ride 6 or fewer hours/week are more likely to get sore backs. Or maybe it's just physiology.

MinnMan

If I were to do sit ups at a 45 degree incline, I'd get vertigo. No thanks.

Crunches, planks, etc.

I used to think that riding my bike enough would give me all the core strength that I needed to ride my bike, but lower back pain does creep up on me from time to time on longer rides. And I ride quite a bit (10+ hours/week in the summer months, 8-10 in the winter, I 'd guess).

So now I supplement with some core exercises on my basement floor. No need to go to the gym. It helps.

nomadmax 

I love Bike Forums contests !!!! The first liar hasn't got a CHANCE

shelbyfv

OP kind of dodged that. True to form, he's never revealed his total.

CAT7RDR

This guy says use the heavy bag to work your core.