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Chest Pain / Handlebar Width?

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  • August 17, 2016 at 3:06 pm #26149
    newtonk

    Hi All,

    Recently, a couple of days after a couple of longer rides (2-3 hours) I’ve experienced a quite strong pain across my chest (at the height of that lumpy bone that sticks out a bit!) – I’m pretty sure I’m not having a heart attach or anything, it feels more muscular!

    Has anyone else experienced this before? 

    I thought it could be perhaps that my bars are too narrow, as the pain goes away if a lay on a harrd floor and have a good stretch for a bit.  Is there a measurement for working out the correct width for your body size?

    I’ve had the same bike for around 5 years now and done some similar length (and longer) rides previously but this issue has just arisen in recent months.  Could be that I’m just getting older, but nobody wants to hear that, eh!

    Any Ideas?

    Cheers

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  • August 20, 2016 at 4:04 am #876847
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    Vejnemojnen

    I have chest-shoulder and

    I have chest-shoulder and trap pain, if I punish my pectorals-shoulders the day before riding.

     

    I have some triceps tenderness, whenever I do lot of dips before riding.

     

    I often have some upper back tenderness, when I do more than 100 pullups and suspension trainer rows the day before.

     

    Oh, and I can get nasty hamstring-glute tenderness, when I do too much lunges.

     

    Chest pain from angina is different, like crushing pain, often radiating to the left shoulder-upper arm. 

     

    On the other hand, if I’m not sore, I can spend whole day in the saddle without numbness-tingling-funny feelings. I’d do some general strength training with suspension trainer-core excersizes-pushups-pullups-rows-dips, stretch, and even take a look at bike fitting.

     

    Ur hands are not for support. they are for handling-cornering, but not for weight support đŸ™‚ 

    August 19, 2016 at 3:10 pm #876845
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    matthewn5

    GO AND SEE A DOCTOR. Please.

    GO AND SEE A DOCTOR. Please.

    It might be postural, or it might be a sign of incipient heart attack. Seriously, do this.

    August 19, 2016 at 11:05 am #876843
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    Acm

    I’d also check bike position,

    I’d also check bike position, having too much weight on your hands (often due to saddle too far forwards or tilted too far downwards) creates extra work for your upper body. Doing some light weight training (deadlifts and squats) with good technique can also help develop back strength which also will help take weight off your hands and keep you stable.

    as others have said, developing all around strength is never going to be a bad thing.

    August 19, 2016 at 7:24 am #876841
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    CXR94Di2

    Cycling is a wonderful form

    Cycling is a wonderful form of excercise but long rides in the same position can and do expose other physical weakness’s.  Cross training, like moderate weight training, stretching, core strength work wonders for better bike posture.  I do  basic compound exercises, like chin ups, dips and squats to keep overall fitness.

     Move around, change hand position and get out of the saddle when riding.  Dont keep the same position for too long or stress injuries can occur.  

     

    August 18, 2016 at 10:51 am #876839
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    Anonymous

    It’s amazing what you can

    It’s amazing what you can wrench sometimes. Managed to strain my triceps from having a death grip and pulling myself about, instead of relaxing on the bars and using my core to get in and out of the saddle.  

    August 18, 2016 at 9:36 am #876837
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    tritecommentbot

    Have a shot at building a

    Have a shot at building a little strength in the chest before splurging out on new gear I reckon. Just do some half pushups for a bit, girly ones, then work your way towards full ones. Two or three times a week. 

    PITA to do stuff like that, but sometimes you do need to do a little strength work if an area starts playing up and chest is pretty easy to target..

    Won’t always work, but it’s free so first port of call. 

     

    (FWIW, I have to do crappy indian knot and cat stretches few times a week. Hate it but if I slack off even for a week my ITB and back pain starts to creep in again).

    August 18, 2016 at 9:26 am #876835
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    newtonk

    Hi All, and thanks for the

    Hi All, and thanks for the replies. 

    VeloUSA, I’ll check out the vid on handlebar sizing, cheers for that.  I know I have quite narrow bars but I actually like the size of them compared to when I’ve had a go on friends’ bikes with wider bars etc.  I’ll measure up and see what is recommended though.  I do have an excellent Osteopath locally who cycles but she also knows how to charge!  Hence I thought I’d ask on here first – definitely in mind if the problem persists though.

    Butty, No, I’m not stretching before riding, obviously this would be a good idea though and I definitely will do so before any longer rides in future.  I know it’s probably common sense to stretch before and after any physical activity but hey, I’m a bloke – and a pretty slapdash one at that!

    Yorkshire Wallet, mostly rolling terrain (Surrey hills and most recently rode London to Brighton on Sunday) but I don’t get out of the saddle much at all really – I prefer to spin up the hills at a fairly gentle pace rather than attacking them with any sort of gusto!

    unconstituted, PUSH UPS!!!  I could count on one hand the number of push ups I’ve done in my life I reckon.  If I was pushed, I reckon I might be able to do two consecutively before writing it off as a bad idea.  đŸ™‚    I’m generally in good health though and average size/weight, so not a total slob or anything!

     

     

    August 18, 2016 at 7:38 am #876833
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    tritecommentbot

    How many proper pushups can

    How many proper pushups can you do in one go? Truthfully.

    August 18, 2016 at 7:35 am #876831
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    Anonymous

    What sort of terrain have you

    What sort of terrain have you been riding? Have you been tackling stuff where you’ve been getting out of the saddle and maybe keeping too much tension in your upper body?

    August 18, 2016 at 6:34 am #876829
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    Anonymous

    Are you stretching before

    Are you stretching before riding?

    I’m having to do 15/20 minutes with my advancing years, insead of just jumping on a bike as in my youth.

     

    August 17, 2016 at 8:12 pm #876827
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    VeloUSA

    Here’s a quick Art’s Cyclery

    Here’s a quick Art’s Cyclery video link on determining handlebar sizing

    https://youtu.be/clskb8I9-j0

    Do you have a  sports medicine doctor in your area who’s an avid cyclist? He/she may understand the cause of your chest pain from a medical point of view. I’m no doctor by any means but one particular would be Pericarditis, inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.

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