Pro-active Approach to Common Cycling Injuries Chad Eldridge,DC The Movement Mechanic

Objectives  Common causes of injury.  Brief description of joint by joint approach to movement.  Importance of proper breathing mechanics and core stability.  Make it clear that training for injury prevention and performance are not mutually exclusive.  Introduce a few exercises that you can incorporate into daily routine/warm up.

Common Injuries  Traumatic injuries  Nontraumatic  Nearly 85% of injuries  Asymmetric variants of the human body collide with the symmetric design of the bicycle, producing high stress loads on the muscles, tendons, and joints  Constrained posture leads to repetitive stress loads of the knees, cervical spine, scapulo-thoracic region, hands and gluteal region  Neck and back pain occurs in up to 60% of riders  Due to a loss of adequate stability and mobility throughout the body.

Stability  Defined as the ability to control movement at a joint.  Control in the presence of change  Necessary for force transfer.

Mobility  The ability for a joint to express the full range of motion.  Takes into account joint, muscle, fascia, neural, and intra-articular restriction.

Joint by Joint Approach  We are all alternating series of mobile joints on stable segments.  All joints should have both mobility and stability, but each need more of one than the other.  Guiding tenet for quality movement.

Why You Have Joint/Soft Tissue Pain  We tend to sacrifice mobility at a joint when the neighboring joint has lost stability.  We have to move, so our body finds the path of least resistance.  When CORE stability isn’t present your body will create tension above and below to make up for it.  This will translate into dysfunctional movement and overuse of surrounding structures.  End result will be injury and/or decrease in performance.

Breathing  Perhaps the single most important human function with huge musculoskeletal implications.  “If breathing is not normalized, no other movement patterns can be.” –Karl Lewit, Czech neurologist  Without proper breathing techniques you are unable to have core stability or quality movement.

Faulty Breathing  Increases neck muscle, pectoralis, and thoracolumbar muscle activation.  Destabilizes the core.  Cause of early fatigue in sports.

Restore Proper Breathing

Improve CORE STABILITY

Improve Controlled Hip Mobility

Chad Eldridge,DC The Movement Mechanic