Have a sore back after mountain biking? We’ve all been there. You’re stoked to hit the trail and just as things get tough your back starts screaming. Discomfort in the low back can stem from a myriad of reasons, but from a riders perspective the crouched position can wreak havoc over the course of a long mountain bike season. Beyond having a proper setup, the rider needs adequate ranges of motion at the hip in order to drive power from the hips to pedals instead of overstressing surrounding areas like the lumbar spine. Some simple exercises can help strengthen the areas around the back, helping to remove back pain and soreness from your mountain biking routine.  
 

 
 The lower back is meant to be a stabilizer, not a huge power generator. Without proper core stabilization and adequate ranges of hip flexion, the low back is forced to pick up the slack. For small periods of time this might not matter, but as these postural stabilizer begin to fatigue it’s hard to let it go unnoticed. This is a major cause of back pain and soreness when mountain biking.

Having a strong core might be a buzz word, but it cannot be overstated. It’s paramount to generate stability throughout the torso while still being able to fully inhale and exhale. Not only does the core assist in bending and twisting the torso, but it must be able to resist rotation as well. When done efficiently, the core acts as a brace that transfers force equally to the areas that are prime to handle it, and away from areas less optimized such as the low back.

Large ROM at the hip enables the powerful glute, quad and hamstring muscles to do their job, which in this case is generate force to the pedals. The hips act as a shock absorber to distribute energy to the bike and away from overstressing the lumbar spine. Of course, proper hip function is essential for this to take place, so pay close attention to the hinge variations included below. And for fair measure, we’ve included some recovery techniques that may prove helpful to combat any low back tightness unexpectedly discovered while on the trail.