Common cycling injuries

Common cycling injuries

Some of the most common cycling injuries are caused by over-training and muscle imbalance often resulting in knee and hip pain, this is often referred to cyclist and runners knee. 

Read more about how to fix cycling knee pain

Cyclists who suffer wrist and forearm pain are generally the result compression against the handle bars. Symptoms include numbness and tingling. Good padded gloves will help and frequent changing of hand position will help 

Lower back pain is very common and often postural in origin, a good bike fit can eliminate this with some soft tissue massage ultrasound and postural correction program.

Click here if you would like to know more information about how to fix common cycling injuries 

    

Sports overuse and overload injuries

Over Training injuries, running , cycling, gym etc.

Sports injuries which are not impact related are often caused by over training and overloading muscle tissue. This type of injury is common for runners and cyclists to train for this type endurance sports in the belief that the more miles or Kilometres in a week is best.

Unfortunately this is only partly true, we do need to prepare mentally for the challenges of endurance sports by putting in the miles so we believe we can achieve the goal however the higher the mileage the more we are at risk of overload and over training injuries like tendinitis, bursitis etc.

Continuous training does 'exactly what it says on the can'  It prepares and adapts the body for low level continuous activity over long periods however the more we train the more we risk injury. It also does not prepare us for anything else. If we reach an incline or hill our which our bodies are not prepared for then......

Interval training will help reduce and prevent over training injuries by lowering the amount of training per week required with better results. It is the best way to improve VO2 max, the rate at which we can take in Oxygen and deliver it to muscle.  This type of training is preferred as it mimics real sports activity with the up and down of the heart rate, and so trains the heart muscle better than continuous training. Care should be taken not to push the heart rate too high and to allow the rate to drop and recover back to normal between the peaks. Often people will use  20 seconds high intensity and drop to 10 seconds of recovery.

If you would like to know more about training take a look at my website  

To see more on Cycling overuse injuries and Interval training click here  

 

Exercise & the over 50s




Cycling in France

 Much is written about exercise and the over 50s in terms of safety, maximum heart rates, blood pressure, good nutrition, sports drinks, supplements injury prevention aids etc.

In truth, many generalisations and claims are made to cover the many different levels of fitness and abilities. Some of the claims have foundation but often are designed to sell a product which could be very important for the professional athlete but may really have little or no benefit to the weekend athlete.

It is true however, that before you embark on a new  exercise regime you should be checked out by a doctor / practice nurse and then a  personal trainer can assess your individual fitness level and advise on safe programme, tailored to your specific needs.

Warming up and warming down
Warming up & down must always be a part of a good exercise regime. If the muscles are cold and stiff without good blood flow and then pushed into explosive exercise this will greatly increase risk of injury.

Too often this critical  part of exercise is  is missed and the results often end up in clinic with torn or ruptured muscles & tendons. Warming down also assists in removing lactic acid in the muscles and helps to avoid cramps and muscle pain.

Stretching before and after exercise 
There has been some debate about the benefits of stretching pre exercise. However there seems to be no doubt about the benefits of stretching off post exercise. Stretching will lengthen the muscle and return the muscle resting length to normal plus it will align the colegen fibres and assist in the removal of lactic acid preventing cramps and pain.

If a muscle is allowed to shorten and remain in that shortened position it will be less effective and need more effort to perform the same contraction, thus the athlete becomes more fatigued quicker.
Muscle shortening will also adversely affect the joint associated with it and cause the joint to wear (osteoarthritis).

Sports massage 
Many over 50s have niggles and some muscle or postural issues from general wear and tear. The benefits of sports & remedial massage are well documented on my website, a good therapist whilst assisting in keeping the athlete in optimum condition will also pick up any postural deviation caused by over tonic muscles. They will be able to offer good stretching advise for post exersise to prevent that shortened muscle memory becoming a real problem.

High or low impact sports
For those over 50 it should be carefully considered those sports which involve sports high impact or high wear on the joints are apporpriate. Recovery time from injury takes longer as we age and encouraging the early onset of osteoarthritis should be avoided. Osteoporosis is another consideration however low impact and low stressing of the bones will encourage the body to create stronger bones.

Cycling, Swimming are fantastic sports for the over 50s, the picture as above on this post shows several cyclists in there 70s fit and well and still acheiving over the 80miles in a day!