Anyone else notice this?
I've been dealing with a lumbar (low back) disc issue for 4 years, but it's really flared up since a stupid icy-ski-area-parking-lot-tumble-on-son's-bootbag last January. Lots of right lower back pain shooting down the thigh to the knee, which is completely numb. L3/4 disc impingement on MRI so I saw a surgeon who said to wait, and then another who said to operate. I decided to wait.
Come spring I gingerly returned to mountain biking, but lo and behold, every outing relieved my pain for at least 12 hours. Now I'm absolutely dependent on mountain biking, can't go 3 days without it or the pain returns. Not that its 100% gone, just a lot better if I bike. I ride with a rotating group of 5 guys and mentioned this recently, and two others have had a similar experience. One guy, an orthopedic surgeon, told me he has to mountain bike several times a week or his back starts to seize up. He does not have a known disc issue, just run of the mill 55 year old low back discomfort.
Interesting that I don't get the same degree of relief from a stationary bike. I don't road bike so can't comment on that. I do get some relief from vigorous uphill hiking, just not as dramatic.
Around here the mountain biking is fairly technical, lots of roots and rocks, super narrow, definitely not fast and flowy. Constantly moving up and down on the dropper post, leaning forward or back, left or right etc. Very dynamic body position and good balance required. We usually do around 9 miles averaging maybe 6 mph. Can't go much faster around here. Total climbing around 1200 vertical fret.
One caveat: don't fall. My one major fall this summer caused a setback that kind of undid all this goodness, at least for a few weeks.
Clearly some of this is just that activity and warming up helps any pain. Some of it must surely be core strengthening. But something about the dynamic positioning and core muscle activation required by mountain biking seems to make it uniquely helpful for low back pain. (Or maybe the 3 of us are just delusional and will find any excuse to ride!)
I've been dealing with a lumbar (low back) disc issue for 4 years, but it's really flared up since a stupid icy-ski-area-parking-lot-tumble-on-son's-bootbag last January. Lots of right lower back pain shooting down the thigh to the knee, which is completely numb. L3/4 disc impingement on MRI so I saw a surgeon who said to wait, and then another who said to operate. I decided to wait.
Come spring I gingerly returned to mountain biking, but lo and behold, every outing relieved my pain for at least 12 hours. Now I'm absolutely dependent on mountain biking, can't go 3 days without it or the pain returns. Not that its 100% gone, just a lot better if I bike. I ride with a rotating group of 5 guys and mentioned this recently, and two others have had a similar experience. One guy, an orthopedic surgeon, told me he has to mountain bike several times a week or his back starts to seize up. He does not have a known disc issue, just run of the mill 55 year old low back discomfort.
Interesting that I don't get the same degree of relief from a stationary bike. I don't road bike so can't comment on that. I do get some relief from vigorous uphill hiking, just not as dramatic.
Around here the mountain biking is fairly technical, lots of roots and rocks, super narrow, definitely not fast and flowy. Constantly moving up and down on the dropper post, leaning forward or back, left or right etc. Very dynamic body position and good balance required. We usually do around 9 miles averaging maybe 6 mph. Can't go much faster around here. Total climbing around 1200 vertical fret.
One caveat: don't fall. My one major fall this summer caused a setback that kind of undid all this goodness, at least for a few weeks.
Clearly some of this is just that activity and warming up helps any pain. Some of it must surely be core strengthening. But something about the dynamic positioning and core muscle activation required by mountain biking seems to make it uniquely helpful for low back pain. (Or maybe the 3 of us are just delusional and will find any excuse to ride!)