Have you ever hopped off your bike following a ride and felt muscle soreness immediately after, or during the subsequent days? By completing simple stretches after your ride, it may help reduce the soreness, and speed up the recovery time until your next ride! Read more
Common Cycling Injuries – Lower back pain
One common complaint cyclists will report is pain, stiffness or tightness in the lower back. This is often a result of the forward position required, however is largely preventable through addressing both bike and musculoskeletal dysfunctions.
Did you know lower back pain may be caused by incorrect positioning, excessive lateral (side to side) movement, low cadence, poor core endurance, limited mobility and aggressive increases to training load. Read more
Common Cycling Injuries – Lateral knee pain
Lateral knee pain is a common complaint from cyclists and often a result of ITB aggravation, with tight Tensor fasciae Latae (TFL), ITB flicking over the femoral condyle, or ITB pulling the patella laterally as a result of Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO) weakness. Read more
Tendinopathy refers to an overload-related disorder that involves tendons –strong, thick bands of connective tissue that attach muscles to bone. Common tendinopathies include the Achilles, patella, lateral elbow, and supraspinatus (shoulder).
Previously, such problems were thought to relate to an inflammatory response within the tissue as the cause of pain, hence the name tendinitis. More recent evidence actually demonstrates that mechano-sensitivity and cellular breakdown of tissue actually drives the pain. This is an important piece of information that ultimately underpins successful, sustainable rehabilitation of tendon problems. Read more
Common Cycling Injuries – Anterior knee pain
Anterior knee pain is one of the most common areas of pain in a cyclist. The symptoms are typically caused by poor biomechanics, poor technique or incorrect bike-fit. Often compression of fat pads or patella mal-tracking is the source of symptoms and can be managed by improving bike-fit and biomechanics. Read more
Ankle injuries are a significant cause of time away from sport and regular activities – yet they are often misdiagnosed and not treated appropriately, leading to ongoing pain and instability.
The term ‘sprain’ refers to ligament damage. Ligaments are strong bands of connective tissue that attach from one bone to another and have two basic roles:
Patellofemoral (front of knee pain) is the most common type of knee discomfort experienced by adults and can affect people of all ages and genders.
Usually pain onset is related to a significant change in loading that leads to sensitisation around the patella (knee cap). Pain is often worse with running or taking stairs.
Examples of load changes might include:
Benefits of Pilates for Cyclists
Both upper and lower body strength and endurance are typically ignored when it comes to improving performance on the bike, with a greater emphasis on increasing cardiovascular performance is most riders’ main goal. In fact thoracic, lumbar and hip mobility will improve both performance and comfort; while poor strength, control and mobility in these areas may lead to an increased injury risk, sub-optimal performance, and overall discomfort when riding. Read more
Often our posture in the workplace can be the source of discomfort and pain, affecting comfort and productivity. When we typically sit for 8 to 12 hours a day at our desks, in meetings, and during commutes to and from work, our bodies are subject to stresses and strains that may eventually result in us experiencing pain, time out from our favourite activities, and time on the physio treatment table. The lower back and neck are two common areas where you may experience postural related pain caused by poor workplace ergonomics.
Did you know that nearly 80% of all adults will experience lower back pain more than once in their lifetime? The frequency of low back pain in an office worker is even greater, and is often a consequence of the worker maintaining a seated position for prolonged periods without postural variation.
Here are a few cues to encourage “Good Posture” and avoid “Pain Promoting Posture”… Read more
When we train for sports, we set aside time to develop our skills. We break it down into drills and skill sets to highlight the niche movement strategies required to perform.
Why then when it comes to running do we often go straight into it without much question or thought for technique. Sure, naturally our bodies can often lead us towards a movement strategy that generally works well, however, what happens when injury strikes, or performance plateaus or lags? What next? Do we stop running and ‘rest’ and try again in a little while in hope that things will be different? Read more
So, now that you know how such an interaction with an elite NFL sports medicine team came to fruition, let us tell you about ‘the why’.
Why did we spend 17 hours on a plane flying to Houston, 3 hours in the transfer lounge, & a further hour in a taxi to a hotel, to be picked up at 7am the following morning & taken to the stadium of an elite NFL side. Time is something we all have equal amounts of, but time is also the most valuable asset that we each hold dear, & how we choose to use our time is what differentiates us.
We place high value on a meeting with a Sports medicine team that looks after an elite NFL side. If we didn’t place high value on this, we simply wouldn’t have spent the time travelling to the states, adapting to the time zone, spending 36 hours on the ground, before heading back to the airport to do it all again. Read more
Some of you may already be aware that earlier this year we attended a two day meet in Houston with the Sports Medicine team of the American Football Franchise, the Houston Texans.
We wanted to break down for you, all aspects of this amazing opportunity, & elaborate on three key sectors;
The following piece is written by one of our Evoker Physiotherapist’s, Andrew Robertson after suffering low back pain last year.
Stage 1 – The Injury
What began as a stock standard Wednesday in early October last year turned into an ongoing saga that ultimately helped me to gain more perspective on dealing with low back pain. Read more