Stay Active, Stay Safe : Authors : quadzillakd

I’m a certified athletic trainer and I’m also a triathlete. The weather down here in southern California has been unseasonably wonderful lately – I went for a ride today and I’m pretty sure I got a tan! While riding, I was wondering what I should blog about and low and behold, an idea flew right past me! As I watched Speedy Gonzales pass me, I noticed how horrible his form was. After the bitterness wore off that this guy with horrible form could ride so much faster than me, I thought it would be interesting if I blogged about proper cycling form. Riding with proper form can prevent overuse injury, unnecessary soreness, and can also lead to more speed. Who doesn’t want more speed, right?

Making sure one’s bicycle is the right size and fitted appropriately is step one. Your local bike shop can help you out here, or they can tell you where to go to get the help you need. Step two is mechanics in the saddle. Here are just a few tips based on my education and training regarding posture, biomechanics, and efficient and functional movement:

1. When cycling, try to keep your neck in neutral as best you can. This means don’t have your head so far up that your neck is cranked into extension. Keeping your neck near neutral and looking upward with your eyes can help keep your neck muscles, trapezius muscles, and other shoulder musculature more relaxed, and consequently less tight.

2. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed. If your shoulders are up near your ears, you’ve got a problem for reasons similar to the things listed in item 1. Your upper trapezius muscles and your latissimus muscles should be relaxed and your rhomboids should be the muscles that are contracted. This will keep your shoulder blade flush against the rib cage in a more stable position and lead to less tightness in your shoulders and form that is more biomechanically sound. This problem is more common among people who take a lot of spin classes because on a spinning bicycle, the bike doesn’t move so your shoulders have to. On a real bicycle, the bicycle should rock, not your shoulders.

3. When you pedal, your lower back shouldn’t move a whole lot. Your hips and legs should move like pistons without really disturbing your lumbar spine. A good way to prevent lower back pain is to learn to move your legs and hips independently from your lumbar spine. A good way to check this is to have a friend ride behind you (like I did with Speedy) and tell you if your back is wiggling around a lot. If it is, turning on your core muscles and focusing on moving your hips and not your back can help break this habit.

4. The knees. Oh, the knees! When cycling, the knees should move straight up and down. So many cyclists’ knees are all over the map, making a pattern like a question mark or any other myriad of something that’s not a straight line. Remember, the shortest (and most efficient) distance between two points is a straight line. Making this change may eliminate knee or hip pain, and may improve tendonitis or IT band syndrome symptoms.

5. When pedaling, you should have equal weight across the entire ball of your foot. Often when we push and pull on the pedals, we put more pressure on the outside of our foot. Make sure to press evenly throughout the foot during your pedal stroke, and also do not pedal with your toes pointed. If you want the most power out of your pedal stroke, push flat through the ball of your foot and your heel.

I hope these tips prove helpful! Happy cycling!

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The Great Debate - Ice v. Heat

Posted by quadzillakd Oct 31, 2008

Is it wiser to numb away the pain of injury with ice or to melt the pain away with warmth? And in choosing one over the other – which is

the correct choice? Well, that depends, since all pain is not created equal.

_When Ice is Nice _

Traumatic injuries that occur immediately and cause a sudden onset of pain are known as acute injuries. Typically with injuries such as these, it's fairly obvious what the cause is – usually some form of impact, fall, sprain, or collision. These injuries can cause swelling, bruising, tenderness, pain, and skin that is warm to the touch. This acute phase starts at the time of injury and can

last up to four days, sometimes longer. During these four days ice is the best choice. Ice is also always the best choice post-workout.

When you put ice on an injured area, it decreases inflammation resulting in decreased pain, can stop muscle spasm, and it decreases blood flow which can slow the bleeding in the tissues. If you were to put heat on an acute injury, this may cause increased

inflammation and increased pain.

Application: Usually, you want to ice for about 15-20 minutes to give the ice time to penetrate to your deeper tissues, and you can do this every couple hours if you have the time. Also, make sure you have a thin layer of cloth between your skin and the ice/heat pack…a

bag of frozen peas in a tea towel works great for ice. If you’re using the store-bought chemical ice bags, be careful not to leave it on too long as you may burn your skin. If, however, you are using a plastic bag with crushed ice or ice cubes, you can put it right on your skin.

When Heat is Neat

After the first 4-5 days, inflammation should be just about under control and it is safer to use heat. Keep in mind, though, if you still have swelling or significant pain, you’ll want to continue using ice and may want to think about seeing your physician if you haven’t already.

Heat is generally used for chronic injuries or conditions that have developed over a long period of time. Chronic injuries usually

present as sore, stiff, nagging pain. In these cases, heat helps reduce muscle spasm and stimulate superficial blood flow, bringing more oxygen and nutrients with it. Heat can help the tissue feel more flexible, but research shows most types of heat don’t reach the deep tissues, so if you’re looking to get bang for your buck as far as pain relief goes, apply ice to your injuries. Also, athletes with chronic injuries will often use heat before exercise to loosen joints and relax tight muscles, but an active warm up (jogging or biking) is much more effective.

Application: Heat should be applied to an injury or aching muscle for no more than 20 minutes. As with ice, never apply heat directly to your skin, and don’t lie on top of the hot pack/heating pad or you may burn yourself.

If you have any questions about your specific injury and whether or not you should ice or heat, you can ask your physician, a certified

athletic trainer, or a physical therapist. If you experience any abnormal sensations, see that your skin is turning white, or you see hives under the ice or heat, put more layers between your skin and the ice/heat or take it off completely.