Posted on May 20, 2019 by scottBMX and Back Pain, part 2 View this post on Instagram BMX and Back Pain, part 2 Rotation is an important part of a healthy back. It's also a quality that we tend to lose as we age. It doesn't happen simply because we're older but instead because we stop maintaining the ability to do it. A lot of factors work to "steal" our rotational ability over time. The more time someone spends sitting, the more our posture takes on a stiff, rounded shape. Our sport of BMX actually reinforces this posture also. Even quite a few of the activities people do to get fitter take away our rotation! Weight training as it's typically done has us in fixed postures and can tighten us up. Endurance training adds thousands of reps and hours in position. Our rotation should come mostly from our thoracic, or upper spine. While our lower back can and should rotate some, we will run into trouble if we try to use it for too much of our rotation. If the upper spine doesn't rotate well, the lower back has to help out too much and we're then at risk for back pain or injury. If you can rotate better, you'll be more fluid and powerful on the bike. Test your rotation: sit on a bench or chair and keep your knees and feet pressed together. Don't allow them to move! Put a dowel or PVC pipe on your back. Sitting tall, slowly rotate to the side as far as you can with your own strength. Practice a few reps to each side, then note how far you could go. Ideally, you can go to at least 45 degrees to each side, and left and right are roughly equal. This test can be used to improve your rotation. 1-2 sets of 10 per side, done slowly and held at max rotation for 2 seconds each works well. However, there are other things that work better if you are really stuck. I'm happy to post more on this if anyone wants, let me know! #oldschoolbmx #midschoolbmx #bmxfitness #bikefitness A post shared by Scott Hagnas (@scotthagnas) on Dec 3, 2017 at 12:23pm PST
