Getting your bike ready for spring cycling!

As the warm weather comes through there is no greater way to soak up the sun and enjoy spring but on your bike.

Cycling is a great way to get active for the recreational or competitive cyclist whether it be around the bay, through the park with your kids, through the bush or up and down dirt tracks on rugged terrain.

But before you get started here are a couple of tips on how to pedal and set up your bike properly to minimise injury and maximise your effort!

Firstly lets talk about seat height.

What is the optimal seat height?

Having a straight knee when the heel is resting comfortably on the pedal when you are sitting down on the bike. This means the knee will still be slightly bent on the maximum down stroke of your pedal.
Studies have shown that a forward seat tilting of 10-15 degrees will reduce the incidence of low back pain.

What happens if the seat is too high?

• Your hamstring (muscles as the back of your thigh) efficiency is reduced increasing the risk of hamstring strains.
• Your pelvis will tilt to the side thus causing your back to bend sideways too, causing jarring forces through your back and pelvis on that side.

What happens if the seat is too low?

• Your knee will bend more through the cycle which will increase forces onto your knee cap causing anterior knee pain (“patellofemoral pain”).
• Your hip will also go through greater ranges of bending potentially causing hip pain. Also, your back will have a tendency bend forward more increasing the load through the joints.

What is the ideal Handle bar position?

• When sitting on your bike, your spine should always be flat to reduce strain on your back
• the optimal trunk flexion (bend in your back) should be 20 degrees from horizontal, however, for recreational cyclists, 40-60 degrees of flexion is more comfortable and it will also reduce the strain on your back and neck as you have to look up to see the road ahead!
• Make sure the bend forward comes from your hips as much as possible rather than from your back.

Have you got the right pedalling technique?

• A good pedalling technique involves your ankle being at 90 degrees on the down stroke.
• When you ride too much with your toes you put more forces through the knee which can result in knee pain.

A good cycling revolution is:

• Push down using your buttock muscles, thigh, and calves pull across as you hit the bottom of the revolution then just relax on the up-phase of the revolution as the other leg starts to pedal down- do not try to pull the leg up! Its unnecessary work and will slow you down!
• Try to cycle without jolting when transitioning between the right and left leg; try to smooth it out.
• Concentrate on keeping your pelvis stable.

What can cause knee pain in cycling?

• The seat is too low or too far forward which increases the amount knee bend.
• Your bottom muscles are too weak! If they are too weak your quads will have to work extra hard to compensate.

What can I do if I have knee pain?

• tape up your knee – your local physio can show you how
• knee pain also commonly results from some muscles being too tight (eg your ITB) and others being too weak (eg your VMO and gluts (butt) muscles) – once again, your local physiotherapist can assess you and show you how to correct these problems

Check your program! Have you :

• Iced it for 20 mins post ride and relative rest i.e. reduce the intensity of your ride e.g less hills etc.

Well, this has been a whirlwind tour of how to get out and start pedaling in our beautiful Sydney weather. If you would like more information about cycling then check out http://www.topbike.com.au/physio.htm for heaps of information.

I hope you don’t mind another article primarily about running injuries today, but with the onset of the Sydney running festival upon us, but we’re seeing an awful lot of them at the minute!

But this one isn’t just for runners, it’s about using custom made orthotics and is relevant for anyone with pain in their foot, ankle, Achilles, shins and knees.

First up, rather than me re-writing a whole load of info, just check out  for some great background reading on common leg and foot conditions.

Custom made orthotics are inserts made specifically for you that fit in to your shoes to correct your foot position. Correct foot position is vital for efficient functioning of the joints and muscles not just in your feet, but of your whole lower limb and can also affect your pelvis and spine.

It’s important to note that although you can buy orthotics off-the-shelf from many pharmacies and sports stores, these “one-size-fits-all” orthotics are not designed specifically to be right for your foot and therefore are much less likely to be effective. It’s kind of like buying a one-size-fits-all T-shirt – if you happen to be the right size then it’ll be great for you, but most people won’t be the “standard” size so it won’t fit well at all.

As well as runners, other groups of people who we regularly treat that benefit from custom made orthotics are;

Sports groups:

• team sports which involve a lot of running and pivoting such as rugby, football, hockey & netball
• racquet sports
• gym users who do a lot of classes such as Pump and Body Attack
• people who use personal trainers for boxing, boot camps etc…

Occupational groups:

• people who are on their feet a lot such as retail sales
• people who are on their feet all day in work boots such as store-men, pickers-&-packers, labourers
• people who have to wear more

Often if you have problems that initially respond to treatment but then plateau and persist at a low level, or settle for a while and then recur in the future, it’s because there’s something going on in the background that is causing the imbalance within your body to keep coming back. In the case of leg and foot problems, poor foot position (or poor foot biomechanics) is often the culprit.

So custom made orthotics is a valuable treatment option not just to help your current problems fully settle down, but to minimise the risk of them coming back in the future. Check the rest of the website through the link above to get lots more information about how poor biomechanics can cause a multitude of problems, and also how orthotics can help you.

I hope you find this information really helpful. Please feel free to email me through any questions you have, or suggest topics for future posts that would help you out.

Cheers, Chris