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Watch Your Posture!

01.07.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Those “Don’t slouch!” orders we got from our parents were important, and most of us have passed them on to our own kids. But guest poster Don Blount reminds us that even grownups have to pay attention.

Ouch, I did it again.

I strained the muscles in my left hip and lower back riding my bike. I’m sore enough that I missed a day of riding or working out in the gym.

The issue wasn’t my bike. My bike fit is fine, I check my bike measurements regularly to ensure that they correspond to my bike fitting. The culprit, as it has been the other two times I’ve done this was me, or more specifically my improper riding posture.

Instead of riding with my back straight like “a bridge,” I allowed it to bow downward so my pelvis pointed downward and the stress fell on the muscles of my lower back.

How did this happen?

I suppose that in attempting to stay low to work through a steady wind, I rode with poor posture that resulted in a painful reminder to ride with proper posture.

I didn’t begin hurting until near the end of the 18-mile ride. Later in the day I was a little sore at work. It was later that night and the next morning that I really felt the effects.

When I stumble into mistakes such this I refer to Joe Friel and some of his writings about proper riding posture.

Friel writes that proper riding posture requires the hips to be positioned as if spilling water out of a bowl. Riding in that manner surely would have kept me from bowing my back and straining those muscles.

I recently came across this site, which also provides some useful information on riding posture.

Fortunately, I don’t make this mistake often, so I don’t consider it a chronic problem. Missing a day of exercise and having an ice bag plastered to me is more than enough punishment.

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Categories // Technique Tags // bike fitting, posture

Comments

  1. oldguy says

    January 9, 2010 at 8:03 am

    Great post with helpful links.

    Reply
  2. wheelless says

    January 27, 2010 at 1:01 am

    Thanks a million. Useful links and info!

    Reply
  3. Posture Braces says

    March 1, 2010 at 7:18 pm

    This sucks trying to actaully find some quality blogs on posture. Hubby has a bad back and ran across your site, thougth I would say something considering I have visted countless others that were dead. Thanks and keep blogging!

    Reply

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