{"id":176,"date":"2011-05-30T20:51:25","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T03:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/?p=176"},"modified":"2011-05-30T20:51:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T03:51:25","slug":"cyclingproper-bike-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/cyclingproper-bike-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling:Proper Bike Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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1) To prevent injuries when cycling, a fitted bicycle, accurate body positioning and proper knee alignment are <\/span><\/span>essential.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

2) A proper bike fit depends on accurate frame and handlebar heights as well as seat height, position and tilt.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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3) The most common overuse injuries from biking affect the neck (48%), knee (42%), groin\/buttock (36%), hands<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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(31%) and back (30%).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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4) Often, overuse injuries can be resolved and future occurrences prevented by adjusting postural alignment and<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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parts of the bicycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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5) To prevent neck pain caused by prolonged, excessive neck extension, raise the bicycle handlebars, raise the seat<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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post or tilt the saddle, slide the seat forward or shorten the stem. Wear the helmet further back on the head and<\/p>\n

remove the visor. Maintain a straight upper back with the chin tucked down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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6) To prevent knee pain, slide the bicycle seat back and raise or lower it and lengthen or shorten the cranks<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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connected to the pedals to maintain knee flexion at 25 degrees at the down stroke with the heel at three o\u2019clock<\/p>\n

in line with the forefoot. Also, pedal with knees in line with toes, ride in lower gears and on flatter surfaces and<\/p>\n

use shoe cleats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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7) Overuse injuries to the hip can be prevented by adjusting the bicycle seat height, leveling the seat tilt to neutral,<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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raising the handlebars or installing a shorter stem and shortening the pedal crank length. Intermittently standing<\/p>\n

up while cycling and using a softer, wider seat also may help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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8<\/strong>) Hand pain and tingling can be reduced or eliminated by wearing gloves, using padded handlebar tape,<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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frequently altering hand positions, replacing the seat stem with a shorter, adjustable or more upright version and<\/p>\n

rotating the entire handlebar forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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9) Low back pain while bicycling often is due to excessive bending for long periods of time. To reduce low back<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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pain, raise the handlebars, tilt the saddle nose down, properly adjust the seat height, limit the use of aerobars<\/p>\n

and dropdown bars and install shorter cranks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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10) Foot pain is most commonly caused by weak calf muscles and improperly fitted shoes. Foot pain while<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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bicycling can be reduced by inserting metatarsal pads or rigid arch supports if cycling shoes have enough room<\/p>\n

and moving shoe cleats back. Sometimes, just loosening the front strap of the shoe can relieve pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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11) Overuse injuries also can be alleviated and prevented by performing strengthening and stretching exercises that<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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target specific parts of the body and improve range of motion. Physical therapists, who are experts in human<\/p>\n

movement, function, wellness and fitness, can demonstrate proper body alignment for bicyclists and<\/p>\n

recommend individualized stretching and strengthening exercise programs.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span>Cycling \u2013 Proper Bike Fit <\/span><\/span><\/em>is a component of <\/span><\/span>Move<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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California, a statewide, public outreach campaign of the<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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California Physical Therapy Association.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This information is provided by the California Physical Therapy Association:\u00a0 \u00a0 1) To prevent Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23,28,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coast-physical-therapy-services.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}