As we move into the middle of summer, you may be logging more kilometres and more consecutive days on your bike. Along with the increase in mileage comes an increased risk of injury.

Here’s a few of my Physiotherapy-recommended tips to help keep you injury-free:

1. Build Riding Load

• Just like any activity, being mindful of training load and stress is critical to avoiding injuries. When thinking about an activity, we must consider the balance between load and capacity. Load being the physiological stress of an activity, and capacity being the ability of your bodies systems to tolerate that load ¹. The higher your capacity, the greater load you can tolerate; in other words, your fitness can handle a greater training stress.

• When starting seasonal activities like biking, this balance is often different than it was at the end of your previous season. Unless you train year-round, your capacity decreases and your body will need time to re-adapt to a training stimulus and build capacity. In other words: your training intensity may not change but fitness has decreased; therefore, increasing the risk of injury ².

• To best adapt, it’s best to start with shorter and less intense rides and build up from there. Planning out your first few rides of the year is a simple way to slowly build load.

2. Keep Moving

• Vary up your positions while riding. Cycling does feature static positions that can create irritation through your neck, wrists, elbows and pelvis ³. While it seems like a simple tip, moving while riding is a small but effective habit that keeps you comfortable and safer on a bike.

• Strategies such as varying hand placement on the handlebars (hoods, horizontal bars, drop bars), standing out of the saddle to relieve pressure from your pelvis, and moving your neck and shoulders while riding or stopped, are great ways to avoid prolonged postural pain.

3. Be Preventative

• Make sure you Cross train. Cross training involves exercising across multiple forms. By cross training, you increase your overall fitness and performance while getting the benefits of other activities ⁴. For example, a common cross training strategy for cyclist is to maintain a strength training program. This allows the rider to get stronger, and build their capacity in an alternative way, while also adding training variety. Strength training has been shown to reduce your risk of posture related pain, increase your strength, and increase your overall cycling performance^4,5.

• Maintain your cycling fitness year-round. This is a great way to avoid the gradual re-adaptation period that is often needed after taking a winter off. Maintaining your fitness across the year through either spin classes, winter riding, or cross training will keep you more prepared for the next season.

• Consider a bike fit. A bike fit will optimize your riding posture for performance and comfort ⁷. In addition, if you’ve received a bike fit in the past, a subsequent fit maybe needed, as your body may have undergone changes since you last rode. You may also have different training goals, and equipment modifications.

Try out these tips to keep you prepared for cycling season and focused on achieving your cycling goals.

If you are interested in getting a physiotherapy bike fit done, I’d be happy to see you in the clinic for this. Or if you have any injuries or issues that pop up for you during the season, our team is here for you.

Book a session with one of us here.

Happy pedalling!

Chris Schreiber, Registered Physiotherapist & Bike Fit Specialist

References

1. Drew, M. K., & Finch, C. F. (2016). The relationship between training load and injury, illness and soreness: a systematic and literature review. Sports medicine, 46, 861-883.
2. Gabbett, T. J. (2020). How much? How fast? How soon? hree simple concepts for progressing training loads to minimize injury risk and enhance performance. Journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy, 50(10), 570-573.
3. Van der Walt, A., van Rensberg, D. J., Fletcher, L., Grant, C. C., & Van Der Walt, A. J. (2014). Non- traumatic injury profile of amateur cyclists. South African Journal of Sports Medicine, 26(4), 119-122.
4. Tanaka, H. (1994). Effects of cross-training: transfer of training effects on VO 2max between cycling, running and swimming. Sports medicine, 18, 330-339.
5. Yamamoto, L. M., Klau, J. F., Casa, D. J., Kraemer, W. J., Armstrong, L. E., & Maresh, C. M. (2010). The effects of resistance training on road cycling performance among highly trained cyclists: a systematic review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(2), 560-566.
6. Tanaka, H., & Swensen, T. (1998). Impact of resistance training on endurance performance: a new form of cross-training?. Sports medicine, 25, 191-200.
7. Scoz, R. D., de Oliveira, P. R., Santos, C. S., Pinto, J. R., Melo-Silva, C. A., de Júdice, A. F. T., … & Amorim, C. F. (2022). Long-Term Effects of a Kinematic Bikefitting Method on Pain, Comfort, and Fatigue: A Prospective Cohort Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 12949.