From Injury Prone to Bullet-Proof

Strength Exercises Every Cyclist should be doing.

The old guy, working at the bike shop in Calpe, Spain, had legs, arms and face the colour of mahogany. His cycling tan was pin sharp, but he moved slowly, like every part of his body hurt.

He stooped, like he had been folded in half and could not quite unfold himself. He grumbled about his stiff back and busted knee.

But when we talked about the best rides to do in the area, his eyes sparkled with anticipation of when he would be out on his bike again. His aches and pains were the price he was paying.

This week, we are talking about injuries and how to make yourself injury proof so you can ride your bike with the joy this brings, free of aches and pains or serious hurt.

This Part 3 of my collaboration with Cycle Strength guru, Andrew Harding.

Link to Andy's Website

This week we are looking at:

- The most common over-use injuries

- How to prevent them

- How you go from being injury prone to bullet-proof through Strength and Conditioning

This week Andy has designed a program that will make us all ‘Bullet Proof’ bike riders.

But just how injury prone are we?

In 2 studies by Wilber and Others, 518 randomly selected recreational cyclists responded to a questionnaire. Overall, 85% of the cyclists reported one or more overuse injuries, with 36% requiring medical treatment. The most common complaints reported by both male and female cyclists were neck problems (48.8%), followed by the knees (41.7%), groin/buttocks (36.1%), hands (31.1%), and back (30.3%).

A second study, by the same group, found that 44.2% of male and 54.9% of female recreational cyclists presented for medical treatment of neck pain.

Weiss and others also reported that 66.4% of recreational cyclists reported neck and shoulder symptoms following an 8-day, 500-mile bicycle tour

The reported injuries were attributed to poor bike fit, improper equipment, training errors, and individual anatomic factors.

However, in a study of 109 pro cyclists, 58% experienced lower-back pain and 41% had anterior knee pain over 12 months; 36% consulted medical professionals for knee pain. This is group of riders who spend a great deal of time and money getting bike fit right! Perhaps no amount of bike fitting can compensate for extreme ‘over-use’.

Interestingly mountain and off road – gravel – riders seem to be a little more robust. Knee pain affects 20 to 27% of riders, neck pain was reported by 16 to 43%, and lower back pain by 24 to 41%. Might this be attributable to a more relaxed position compared to road bike riders? Or are MTB and Gravel riders just tough?

But it does not have to be this way!

Andy will provide a detailed breakdown of the go-to movements for cyclists that will help keep us all riding:

- Free of pain (apart from the self-inflicted variety)

- Injury free

- With more mobility and flexibility

- With improved stability

- Stronger!

He will explain why these movements work and provide links to some new ‘how-to’ videos. not yet on Andy’s website.

In addition we will provide some tips on the best time of year to be doing this work and details of:

- How many reps

- How many sets

- Weekly frequency

- Recommended rest and recovery protocols

In short, a simple to follow but specific guide to staying strong and resilient, injury free and able to enjoy your riding.

This detail is available to paid subscribers to Cycle Scribe. As a paid subscriber, you will have access to parts 1 and 2 of this series (links below) as well as the full Cycle Scribe archive of articles.

Climb Hills with Confidence

How to produce more Power

If you would like a one to one consultation with Andy, here is a link

Contact Andy