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Looking at some cyclists hunched over their machines, does cycling have consequences for the health of your spine? Are there more risks in a time trial position?
By Pierre-Maxime BRANCHE. Photos: Pixabay, Uyn, DT Swiss
It’s not uncommon to hear that, due to their forward-leaning position, cyclists are often hunchbacked or aspire to become so. That’s the impression it can give. But this is absolutely not the case, and saying that cycling is bad for your back is completely false. Just look at the riders on the podiums: you can clearly see they’re straight as a board!
On their bike, cyclists rest on two main support points: their glutes and their hands. There is no compressive load on the spine and no top-to-bottom stress along its axis. When pedaling, it therefore works under no load. The spine is a stack of small bones held together by muscles. It can be compared to a boat’s mast held up by shrouds. If they’re not there to support it, the mast falls. However, all these small supporting muscles are heavily solicited when the cyclist pulls and pushes on the pedals. This is why riders, whether professional or amateur, often experience more pain in their glutes or back, but in a muscular sense, not a skeletal one. This is why, mechanically, due to the spine being unloaded and the muscular work involved, cycling is not bad for your back.
A good therapeutic approach
Furthermore, people think that cyclists suffer more from lower back pain or sciatica. No, they don’t appear more frequently than in the general population. On the contrary, these pathologies are much more present in other activities such as athletics (35% of high jumpers, long jumpers, and pole vaulters) or running (10% of long-distance runners, marathon among others), while this figure drops to less than 5% in cycling. Of course, when a cyclist experiences lower back pain or sciatica, cycling is not recommended during the acute phase of the pathology. However, it is a very good therapeutic approach when resuming activity to re-accustom the muscles to work.
Working under no load
Cycling is therefore completely harmless for the back because, due to the rider’s position on the machine, the discs between the vertebrae do not work under compression, but in full opening towards the rear. Even a poor riding position will not cause harmful consequences because if the support points (glutes and hands) are not perfectly situated, there will always be no load on the spine and muscular work of the back. At worst, a few minor, benign tendinitis cases are observed.
The body is indeed endowed with a faculty of adaptation and muscular and tendinous tolerance, unless the change in position (seatpost, stem, etc.) occurs abruptly, i.e., significantly and overnight. Finally, regarding time trials and triathlon, it is much more the lack of regular training in this particular position that logically causes some muscular pain. But even there, there is no alarming observation. Only some lumbar tensions may appear during the effort. These are then referred to as muscular micro-traumas that disappear quickly.
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