Low back pain is a common problem with mountain bikers. Here is a simple 5 exercise routine I use to loosen up the hips and upper back so that the body can move freely at the hips and take the stress off the lower back.
Here is the routine:
- Hip Flexor Stretch X 5 reps
- Tactical Frog Stretch
- ½ Kneeling Ankle MOBS X 20 & T-Spine Twist X 12
- Arm Bar
- Touch the Wall Deadlifts X 10-20 reps
If you currently have low back pain try doing this routine daily for a couple weeks, at which point you can cut back to once or twice a week for maintenance. This routine makes a great warm up for strength training, especially if you have deadlifts or swings in your workout.
I’ve been using the kettlebell arm bar a lot in my facility recently. Here is the video demo of it and why it is important for mountain bikers to use. Hint: core strength and shoulder stability, two thing most of us lack…
The deep squat pattern is very important for mountain bikers to have cleaned up. If you have trouble getting down into a deep squat position then this dynamic flow routine will help a lot. Use this routine on a daily basis for increasing mobility or as a warm up for a workout that requires front squats.
Please note that this routine is from the book Athletic Body in Balance by Grey Cook. Check that book out if you want to get some great insight into how you move and how that affects your riding.
Here is a video I shot this morning show one of my workout partners how to do the Wall Squat and Down Dog-Cobra “Prying” Drill. These are great for “crushing” some mobility out of your hips and upper back. Alternate back and forth a couple times between the exercises, doing 5 reps of each.
I had a reader point out that he had come across this video demos and that it had helped him with his low back pain. He suggested I re-post it as there are probably a lot of new blog readers who had not see it yet. I thought that was a great idea.
Here is a video demo I did on some ways to loosen up your hips. Tight hips are one of the main causes of low back pain and decreased leg drive, both of which all mountain bikers want to avoid.
Here is a video I shot showing my Monday morning workout crew the “Bretzel” stretch which I picked up from Gray Cook’s TGU video. This is an amazing stretch for those of us who are tight in the hips, upper back and neck (which means all of us). Have fun with it and remember to stay relaxed…
