Learn about great ways to prevent the two main biking related injuries seen most often: the dreaded knee and low back pain…..
Spring is in the air, and the biking season is here! It’s time to pull our bikes out of winter hibernation and prepare them for the upcoming season. Putting some air in the tires, add some lube to the chain, we all know some basic maintenance is important to get our bikes ready for the road or trail but often we often overlook the most important machine of them all… the human body! Just like your bike, a little early season maintenance to your body can go a long way to a happy, healthy and injury free season.
Cycling injuries are often a result of weakness in key muscle groups, lack of mobility and increased stress placed on joints due to poor bike setup. Read on for our discussion and specific tips to help prevent the two most common cycling related injuries.
The goal of early season preparation is injury prevention! If you are currently injured, please consult your physiotherapist to see if these exercises are ok for you. The bike fit tips should only be used as rough guidelines, the position on our bike is highly individual and a custom bike fit may be required to meet your individual needs.
1- Knee pain
Pain in the knee area is one of the most common complaints with cycling. Common injuries in this area can involve the patella, knee joint and muscles surrounding the knee including hamstring and quadriceps muscles. Often these injuries are caused by two main issues: muscular imbalance and incorrect bike seat alignment. Over time, through certain postures we hold or previous injuries, muscle groups in our hip and knee become weak and inflexible. In response, opposing muscle groups will compensate and take over, leading to an imbalance. The resulting muscular imbalance can lead to injury by faulty mechanics and irregular stress on our tissues. Correcting these imbalances with specific strengthening exercises or stretches is key to preventing or curing injury. Squats, Step ups and hamstring stretches are a great place to start.
Bike Fit Tip for Knee Pain
Examine the Saddle position relative to the pedals. The height of your saddle and front to back position of the saddle can greatly impact your knee and cycling comfort.
Foot, pedal and cleat adjustment can also greatly impact our knees. These adjustments are highly individual and are part of a custom expert bike fit.
2- Low back pain
Low back pain is a common injury experienced by cyclists. In my experience, low back pain on the bike is often caused by a combination of poor back alignment, weak core muscles and back stiffness. Strengthening the muscles that support our back during riding, and ensuring our bike is properly set up to place our back in a safe, strong alignment is the best to prevent low back pain while riding. Core strengthening is key! Our core consists of our inner abdominals, pelvic floor, back and glute muscles. These muscles work together to support our back during cycling. If these muscles are weak, we experience increased stress and forces in our spine which can lead to injury. Two great exercises to strengthening our core muscles for cycling are the plank and bridge
Bike Fit Tip for Low Back Pain
Examine your upper body reach. Once our saddle position is correct, the distance to our handle bars or “reach” is the most important factor in determining a strong position for our back. The reach is determined by the length and height of our stem, which attaches to our bars. Having a shorter reach or elevating the handle bars can help to alleviate stress on our low back. However, too short of a reach can place our back in a rounded position and negatively impact our bikes handling.
Check out this awesome DIY Video on how to set up your bike for optimal fit.
These tips and exercises should be used as general guidelines to fix common issues associated with knee and low back pain while cycling. If you are experiencing pain during or after cycling, you should contact your physiotherapist to discuss how to address the source of the pain and eliminate it.
Happy Riding,
Ross – MScPT, BKIN
About the Author – Ross is a physiotherapist and awesome bike fitter. He is an avid cyclist enjoying two-wheeled adventures from road-riding, hitting the dirt on some trails, and simply commuting around town.
