Improving Your Bike Posture

​After completing the Science of Cycling course recently, I have a much greater understanding of the importance of a good bike fit for comfortable and powerful cycling.  This seems logical enough but it surely isn’t where it all stops. Just think of the “ergonomic” workplace assessment. You just got the perfect monitor and desk height, your chair is perfect but your discomfort may not be completely resolved. Could the ergonomic assessment be wrong? I feel that this sometimes is not the case. As with a bike fit, when fitting someone to their workplace we use certain suggested parameters or guidelines, so really it's about finding a good baseline set-up and working with it, rather than accepting yours as the perfect arrangement.

So if you slip into slumping at your desk, then your assessment fails to matter and the same can be said of good riding posture. Once you are set-up in a good position, not just that perfect pedalling and positioning found/applied by the bike fitter on your day in the shop, but are able to maintain this position out on the track, then you will feel the benefits .
So where do we start with my latissimus dorsi experience ? Firstly, my list of problems riding my mountain bike included numb hands, occasional back ache and some pelvic soreness. My bike fit was pretty good so it wasn’t making much sense that I had these problems. I feel that two things helped to improve my cycling experience.

1. The roadies tend to advise keeping the elbows in which includes better activation of the lats. This has implications for better shoulder control and some stabilisation of the lower back via tensioning of the thoraco-lumbar fascia via the muscles origin. It does do this.......a bit. Nikolai Bogduk, a well known lumbar spine researcher, suggests that this may only be a very small amount (6.4Nm). He based this conclusion on cadaveric studies as opposed to cycling posture, but I would expect that the effect would be quite similar.
2. The realisation of point one led me to increase my saddle height marginally and riding with a more pointed toe position (plantarflexion through the driving action). Effectively this would cause less anterior tilting of the pelvis and therefore weight through the hands and pubic rammi of the pelvis.

 To test the changes I found some, you tube clips and another roadie site which advised a look mum no hands position whilst maintaining your normal trunk position whilst riding to test the position of your handlebars. Basically you should be able to maintain a hands free riding position comfortably whilst maintaining your normal riding posture.

And there you have it. By gaining a better position over the saddle, losing the monkey arms and changing my pedalling position, I have been able to eliminate aches that I was experiencing after some longer rides.

I try to keep the blogs short but if you want some extra detail I have attached an excellent reference article below, and if you're still struggling then book in for a bike fit/cycling review at physiosense where I'll be glad to help.
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Triathlon/News/Blogs/Multisport-Lab/2015/December/08/Posture-Perfect-Exercises-for-a-Strong-Cyclist. 
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The words and other content provided in this blog and in any linked materials, are not intended as medical advice and are an opinion only. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern you should consult a medical practitioner immediately. While Physiosense Physiotherapy have made every  effort to ensure the information supplied on this web site is suitable, accurate  and complete, we accept no responsibility for any loss or liability incurred by  any party as a result of accessing or utilising the information on this website, blog or for any websites linked to or from this website. We try to  ensure the information on this website is up-to-date and accurate, however we take no responsibility for inaccuracies or any information that is out of  date.
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