Stationary bike problems. Cutting off blood supply to the nether regions.?

Question

The gym I use has lifecycles with the wide seats. I generally sit straight up to keep good posture (bad back). There are no sit down bikes. After even 20 min, the blood flow to my nether regions is entirely cut off. I would like to keep the bike in my repretiore of cardio workouts, but this is way to unconfortable and disconcerting to continue. Does anyone have advice?

Answer 1

I run into the same problem at the gym, which frustrates me because I can last 5 hrs on the trails on my own bike without any pain.

One problem could be frequency. The more often you ride, the more riding your butt can handle. Stick with it for a couple weeks and see if it reduces the pain.

Stand periodically.

Increase the resistance slightly. I find that when I push harder on the peddles, it naturally lifts my body & reduces the weight on the seat.

I've also started wearing my cycling shorts to the gym. No, not spandex, but the baggy shorts with a pad built into the crotch. That helped a lot.

Answer 2

Both previous answerers gave good advice, here is a little bit more.
* make sure your position on the bike is correct, if your seat is too high, it may cause this problem. Set the saddle position so that when the ball of your foot (the big toe knuckle) is on the pedal, there is a slight bend to your knee. the leg should _not_ be straight.
* the seat might be mounted on the bike so that the nose points upward. Change this if you can be loosening the mounting bolt and tilting the saddle nose slightly downward until you feel the pressure on your crotch go away, if not, drop the seat a little lower than the above step.
* Go to a sporting goods store and see about a wide seat cushion for bike seats. Take it to the gym with you, put it on the saddle, and take it off when you leave.
* like the other answerers said, change your position often, stand on the pedals until feeling returns.
* One last note, something I do to stave off boredom. Don't spend more that 20-25 minutes on the bike to begin with. I am fortunate in that my gym at work has a number of cardio machines. In the off season I'll spend 20 minutes on the treadmill (set the incline high and keep the pace slow to minimize impact while keeping your heart rate up), 20 minutes on the stair master, then 20 minutes on the lifecycle. It really helps break up the workout and pass the time faster.

Answer 3

Sitting straight up may actually be your problem. On a regular bike, sitting straight up might seem like the most comfortable way to ride, but since there is none of your weight on the handlebars, all of your weight is being held by your saddle. Try putting some more weight on your hands and see what happens. Also, try to move around a bit. Stand up on the pedals every once in a while to take pressure off of areas temporarily. Good luck!