Avoiding Overuse Injury in Cycling
By Bill Becher
To avoid overuse injuries:
- If the temp is below 65 degrees cover the knees! Wear tights,
leg warmers, or the new Pearl Izumi knee warmers that are easy
to slip on and off over cycling shoes and convert your shorts
into knickers.
- Warm up properly! Spin in an easy gear for the first 10 minutes
of your ride. Gradually increase your pace, avoiding hammering
up hills for the first half hour of your ride.
- Don't push big gears, especially early in the season or in
cold weather. Gear down for climbs… minimum rpms in a climb
should be 75-80. Learn to spin in the 90's on the flats - faster
than most people pedal.
- Cool down! Only Freds try to "win" the training
ride. Go easy the last 10 minutes of your ride to cool down properly.
- Stretch! Get off your bike after the first ten minutes and
stretch you hamstrings, calf muscles, and quads. Come to the
next club meeting March 20th [check date?] to learn
proper stretching techniques.
- Strengthen! At the gym use the leg curl machine to strengthen
your hamstrings (cyclists tend to overdevelop quads and underdevelop
hamstrings, leading to injury problems. Avoid the leg extension
machine. It's not necessary for cyclists, is hard on the knees,
and is really only useful for getting extra loft when kicking
the cat after you loose a race.
- Make sure your bike fits. The bike frame needs to be the
right size, you need the right size and rise of stem, size of
handlebars, and proper adjustments to stem, seat post and seat
rails, and shoe cleat positioning. A good rule of thumb: if
the front of you knees hurts, raise the seat. If the back of
your knees hurts, lower the seat. Don't move the seat height
more than 1/8th inch per week if you can help it, to
allow your body time to adapt. Some people have leg length inequalities
that require shimming cleats: check with your orthopedist if you
suspect this is a problem. He may be able to spot this problem
quickly, or confirm it with an x-ray.
- If you feel leg strains coming on, try an anti-inflammatory
such as Ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil), together with RICE: Rest the
injury; Ice it (try 2 bags of frozen peas in a gallon ziplock
bag) for 20 minutes on, 10 off); Compression (wrap in an Ace bandage);
and Elevation (raise the injured part to reduce swelling). Though
it may feel good at first, avoid hot tubs, spas and saunas for
at least 72 hours. If pain persists, see your Doctor!
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