joonyoung82

Does anyone else have lower back pain when riding?
How did you deal with it?
My quick research tells me it's more of my posture than anything.
I got my saddle height fitted at a bike shop (didn't touch handlebars).

ThermionicScott 

You're using your back muscles in a new way. Keep riding and they'll get stronger.

HTupolev

When does it hurt?

Do you do core exercises?

GhostRider62

If you pull back on the upstroke, stop.

rm -rf

I still get some lower back pains when grinding up steep climbs in a very low cadence. I see some riders using low cadence all the time, with their shoulders moving side to side with each pedal stroke.
If that might be you, try shifting one or two gears easier, to raise your cadence and lower the pedal force. "Spin" instead of "mash" the pedals.

Seattle Forrest

Common advice is core strength exercises like planks. No situps or crunches because of how they load your spine. But also check your fit all around.

guachi

I get lower back pain when I ride on the aerobars for extended periods (30+ minutes). Finding an excuse to get on the hoods and arch my back usually does the trick after being hunched over.

I have lower back problems and the only way to keep it from being awful is very high core strength. Lots of planks and related exercises. Also, I went to physical therapy and the stretch they recommended was to lie face down and push myself up with my hands and put pressure on my lower back. Have to force myself to relax my back muscles as I do it. After a few months it really worked.

downtube42

Mark the saddle location, then try lowering it a half cm. See if that helps.
Alternatively, go back to the fitter with your story of back pain

shelbyfv

I take Aleve or the generic.

Carbonfiberboy 

While it is true that cycling is perhaps the best back exercise there is, back pain and knee pain are the two most common complaints among riders. Thus it seems that many but not all riders need to do supplementary stretches and exercises. Planks and pushups are good. Post 7 recommends a stretch which is one of a series of stretches called the McKenzie Method: https://spineone.com/mckenzie-method-back-pain/

I do all 7 of those exercises every morning. Back pain on the bike is gone no matter how many hours on the bike, though I still have it doing dishes, etc., but I'm 76.

Maelochs

Two unrelated possibilities .... and possibly both.

Fit is a lot of it. You can have the saddle at what even an actual "expert" says is the right height but You actually ride the thing. Depending on your posture, build, strengths and weaknesses, you might need to make minor adjustments. Also, saddle Height is usually felt in the knees. Lower back is usually seat location relative to hand position. Shorter or taller stem, spacers, bars with more or less reach are options.

More likely, depending on how long you have been riding, is just fatigue. Your legs hold you up less well as they tire, so you lean forward more, putting more weight on your hands. The legs don't absorb as much shock, so you are focusing all your bouncing on the slower spine--compressing it as well as moving up and down, all of which hit those muscles.

Whenever I start riding more miles, I get back pain. i get leg fatigue first, but i can cheat and lean forward, or sit on the saddle to rest .... but the lower back feels sharp pain after a while, not just fatigue. usually a five or ten-minute rest gets me another ten of 15 miles down the road before the pain comes back.

Not sure this has anything to do with your situation ... I just wanted to kill some time and grab for some attention.

jayp410

A few years back I got pain that manifested as hip pain, especially while riding, but which turned out to be a pinched nerve from a bulging lumbar disc. At the worst point, it was agonizing to ride in the car as a passenger, or to sit on the couch for more than 5 minutes. Doctor visits, MRI, PT / core exercises, standing desk, lots of day hikes, and 5 months later, it gradually went away. Still, even a couple years later I couldn't ride more than maybe once a week. The back would feel "stiff" after 20 miles. I believe it was a combination of my Ti road bike, 25mm tires, and riding on a couple of roads in particular that were hella bumpy. Some of it may be fit or posture, but I would classify the ride of my Ti bike as "springy".

So, built up a gravel bike, 38c tires, full carbon, with an eye towards shock absorption in every component. Happily I can report that the new bike is not giving me back pain so far, even going over bumpy roads. I also try to ride "light" in the saddle, if I see large bumps coming. Also, the gravel riding is slower (less jarring) but more intense per mile (steeper hills), and I'm not bent over quite as much.

pgjackson

Try rotating the handlebars upward a few mm. That helped me a lot. Was trying to be too aggressive years ago. Rotating the bars a bit did the trick.

10 Wheels

Worked for me.

sw20

I used to suffer with really bad back pain after about 2.5 - 3 hours in the saddle, I tried stretching, core exercises nothing worked, I ended up trying a 10mm shorter stem, best £10 I ever spent! No more back pain!

mschwett 

i get a kind of crampy, painful twinge in my lower right back on a long ride. made some fit tweaks but in the end just stopping every two hours to stretch and walk for 3 min seems to make a huge difference.

guachi

Thanks for the link in post #10, carbonfiberboy. That's exactly what I was attempting to describe. Over a period of weeks I advanced from #1 to #3 as things got better