As the year continues at an alarming rate and we start to look forward to summer, the number of cyclists out and about continues to grow (including myself getting back on the bike after a long hiatus). Cycling is a very effective form of low impact aerobic exercise, and while weight-bearing activity like running is important to maintain good bone health, it can be very beneficial to mix it up with some non-weight-bearing activities like cycling and swimming.

However, as with any sport, there are some common injuries to contend with. Cycling injuries are a relatively common downside to the sport, and some people are more prone to suffering them than others. Thankfully though injury can often be avoided with some pretty simple steps.

There are two main types of cycling injuries, those caused by falling off (acute injury), often resulting in fractures, contusions, abrasions and concussion. And then the more common overuse injuries caused by the repetitive nature of cycling including overtraining, biomechanical stresses and incorrect bike set-up.

This is why a postural assessment and having your bike set up checked, are particularly important if you plan on cycling regularly. And just because you have it done one year, doesn’t mean you’re sorted long term. Everyday activities affect our muscles balances and this can change over time. And it is very frequently these muscle imbalances, that cause injury.

The 8 most common injury sites, specific to cycling, are as follows:

- Burning feet (metatarsalgia)

- Achilles tendon pain

- Knee pain

- Iliotibial band pain

- Hip pain

- Back pain

- Hand pain

- Neck pain

I have a useful newsletter, which goes into more detail on each of these areas and what you can do to prevent these areas getting injured. If you would like a copy, please go to https://www.palmersportstherapy.co.uk/contact/ and use the contact form to leave your name and email address and request the “cycling injuries newsletter”.

As with any overuse, overload or training error injury, you have to consider your body’s tissue capacity. Musculoskeletal tissues including muscle, tendon and bone are constantly evolving and with the right balance of training and recovery time, the tissue gets stronger and develops better stamina.

However, over-loading or under-loading can cause a breakdown in tissues, tissue fatigue, and pain, leading to overuse injury. This makes monitoring your training load, and how it changes over time, an essential component of staying injury free when cycling; and this is relevant whether you’re a casual cyclist who takes their bike out once a week, or a more serious cyclist who trains daily.

Accessory conditioning is an essential part of injury prevention and improving your performance on the bike, particularly in training your core muscles. It doesn’t matter how strong and powerful your legs are, if you don’t have the core stability to transmit the power through the pedals. Good strength in the core and gluteal muscles creates more controlled and efficient power transmission, leading to increased speed and decreased injury rates.

There are three general components to get right if you want to stay injury free on a bike:

A – Alignment ie. muscle imbalances, weakness, flexibility issues, leg length discrepancies and being flat-footed can all lead to injury.

B – Bike set up – Incorrect bike set up can be the cause of injuries that could side line you for months and yet it’s easy to get right with some good advice.

C – Conditioning and fitness – a good stretching and strengthening programme to correct the muscle imbalances and ensure you’re strong where you need to be.

Like any repetitive motion sport, cycling can produce a catalogue of niggling aches and pains, which if left untreated can become more serious. Learn more about the specifics of the most common cycling injuries and how you can manage and prevent them by requesting a newsletter at https://www.palmersportstherapy.co.uk/contact/.

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Creating a Not So Vicious Cycle

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