Cycling Induced Muscle Imbalance

As a result of a two recent ailments (petellar tendon inflammation and rotator cuff pain from weak upper back muscles) I have begun doing a bit of research on cycling induced muscle imbalance. The following article does a nice job of laying out the problem. Unfortunately the second article referenced and linked to below does a poor job of providing much in the way specific exercises or stretches. I will continue to post my findings here for other to enjoy. Please provide additional information if you have any.

Integrated Training for Improved Cycling Performance

As we all know cycling is a great way to improve your overall cardiovascular fitness. However, what you may not know is that over time the demands of cycling can lead to muscular imbalances which can limit the body's ability to perform at peak level and dramatically increase chance of both over-use injury and chronic pain.

To get a clearer idea of how these imbalances can occur we'll take a look at the riding posture starting from the feet and moving up to the head:

Pedaling places a lot of stress on the calves. Tight calves can cause the feet to flatten and place undue stress on the heel cord, plantar fascia and knees. The major muscles involved in cycling are the quadriceps. You can see that by looking at any professional cyclist. However, miles of cycling in the bent over cycling position can create tightness in the quadriceps and the psoas (hip flexors). These tight quads and hip flexors pull the pelvis out of optimal position into a forward tilt. This anterior tilt of the pelvis sets in motion a cascade of muscle imbalance. The forward tilt of the pelvis causes an increased arching of the lower back. This over loads the muscles of the lumbar spine while at the same time lengthens and weakens the abdominals. Another muscle group negatively affected by these dominant quads and hip flexors are the gluteals. The glutes are a major pelvic stabilizer and the main hip extensors of the body. Tightness and over-activation of their opposing hip flexors cause the glutes to become weak and under-active. In this situation, because the glutes cannot effectively extend the hip, the hamstrings must pick up the slack. As a result, the hamstrings get over worked and become tight.

Moving up to the shoulders and mid-back, we see the back rounded. A rounded upper back causes the shoulder blades to elevate and protract. As a result, the muscles in the chest and upper trapezius become tight leaving the shoulders hiked up and pulled forward. Tight pecs major and upper traps weaken the mid-back and scapula stabilizers. Weak scapula stabilizers can place undue stress in the shoulder joint during overhead movements while tight upper Traps are a major contributor to neck tension and pain.

The last body part to look at is the head. Cycling posture pulls the head forward. The cervical spine was designed to efficiently support the head and evenly distribute its weight among the seven cervical vertebrae. As the head is pulled forward the distribution of its weight shifts and more force is placed on the vertebrae at the base of the neck. This can lead to calcium deposits and arthritic changes in the cervical vertebrae. A forward head also leads to tightness of the neck flexors and weakening of the neck extensors. This places undue stress on the muscles in the back of the neck and commonly results in neck pain and tension head aches.

As you can see, cycling can cause some serious muscle imbalances that can lead to pain in the body. The next article will look at how to correct these imbalances using an integrated training approach that encompasses muscle balance, postural efficiency, core stability and flexibility.
Reference
Part 2

 

I knew it! - and all this time I thought it was because I was overweight and out of shape.

 

Thanks Brian, my doctor was telling me that some of my problems have been due to doing to much cycling and not enough other exercises. I was doing much better when I trained for tri's, but I still had some issues. I start PT Friday to see if I can get rid of what they call frozen shoulder. My rotator cuff is pretty much gone and there's not a lot they can do for it but the PT is supposed to help. Hopefully they can tell me what other exercises I can do.

 

Its a nice study but I dont think it completely applies to much to most all of us. When they reference cycling its obvious they are talking about tiding a road bike. I do agree the need to do more then just ride a bike.

 

Some more good stuff from the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association.
Resistance Training for Endurance Cyclist

This one has links to specific exercises with photos.

 

Nice write up on dealing with a tight IT Band by Denmother, http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/racing-training/47833-tight-band.html

 

I love how all the models are elderly, gray haired men and they are working out in their road gear! :lol:

 

I know. It's pretty typical for that site. And really bad looking kits too.

 

As the rains have caused me to do more "cross training" when I return to the bike I find I am feeling better and stronger. Noticing the kinks I have in the stressed areas I naturally move to work it out. This is such good information and now I can move a bit more deliberately. Now I can really justify all those massages. Thanks!

 

Although I don't know the technical terms, I do believe cycling can induce problems.

Keep in mind that I actively participate in many types of cycling: mtb XC (both geared and singlespeed), downhill, road, and BMX. Despite that all of these types of riding do share similar use of muscles, they are all very different, which I believe helps me as a whole.

Keep in mind that I only ride bikes. I don't go to the gym, and I basically do no other form of exercise (i.e., situps). I know I should, but I don't.

As a result of the cycling, I believe I've developed fairly strong shoulder and back muscles (especially from aggressive riding and BMX racing). Unfortunately, none of the riding I do works on stomach muscles. As a result, I am fat in the mid section (I only weight 195 pounds at 5'11", so I'm not that fat).

The bad part? Since my frontal core is weak and my back is strong, I find that doing BMX gate starts and manuals uses a tremendous amount of back/shoulder muscles. And with my core having a muscular imbalance, I occasionally have back problems after a lot of BMX racing, and I especially can have back problems without sufficient warmup.

This is an example of the effort required when accelerating out of a gate (this photo is from 2008...my wife's starting technique next to me is not nearly as hard on her back). This wasn't a problem when I was young, but now at over 40 and the further imbalance it's becoming more and more of a problem. But alas, the solution for me is to work on my frontal core.

 

interesting, maybe its in my head, but I have noticed I tend to have tense shoulders pulled forward. I catch myself at times and try to relax them. Bike induced, possibly

 

This is very similar to my upper body problems and we are focusing on in PT. My shoulders rotate forward as a result of weak back muscles. The PT is giving me a routine of exercises to build up my shoulders and upper back.

 

Unfortunately I already know a little bit about this.

How's that saying from Ryan Leetch go? Cycling makes you look 2x younger and feel 2x older?

For me something really clicks when the bike saddle time goes over 8-10hours a week. That's when I can really feel it in my back, ITbands, calves etc. When my PT eval'd me awhile ago tight quads, hip flexors, calves were off the charts. So when I bike more I have to concentrate on cross training like swimming, stetching/lower back excerises becomes really important. I'm going start tha Yoga program too. I guess I have to pay to play (on the bike).