It’s the season for outdoor cycling. Since the invention of bicycle, riding has become a hobby of many people. With the rise of bike-sharing, more people ride bicycles. Both cyclists and people who use bicycles as a means of transportation should pay attention to the fact that incorrect riding posture and bad riding habits will bring pain and health damage to the body.
1 Excessive riding can easily lead to chronic pain.
Like any sport, improper riding will bring a series of health problems. For example, too "forward"; Seat position adjustment is too high; "Feet" or "Legs" when riding; Bowing one’s head and holding one’s chest or looking up and pouting one’s hips will increase the load on one’s cervical vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, knee joints, shoulders, elbows and wrists. Generally speaking, the most common health problems caused by incorrect riding methods are chronic pain of musculoskeletal system and diseases of genitourinary system.
The external thigh muscle, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius are the main muscles responsible for pedaling. If the seat is too high, the biceps femoris, gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior, that is, the back of thigh and the front of calf, are prone to fatigue; If the seat is too low, the gluteus maximus, rectus femoris and lateral femoris, that is, the middle and lateral thighs and the posterior pelvis, are prone to fatigue.
When riding a bicycle, due to the hard seat and bumpy road surface, the lower body is in a state of being oppressed and stimulated for a long time, which affects the local blood circulation and will lead to discomfort and pain in the prostate region. The longer you ride, the more obvious the symptoms are. The research on the risk factors of prostatitis suggests that riding a bike or motorcycle is one of the risk factors of chronic prostatitis. Similarly, excessive cycling may also cause compression of blood vessels and nerves in the lower body for women, and a few people even have hematuria or dysuria. The probability of occurrence is related to the time and intensity of cycling.
Clinically, it is found that the health problems related to riding include neck and shoulder pain, back pain, lumbago, knee pain, plantar pain, wrist pain, pelvic sacrococcygeal pain and so on. If you find similar problems, you should go to a professional rehabilitation institution for diagnosis, treatment and evaluation in time. The rehabilitation doctor will evaluate your muscle strength and tension, range of motion of spine and limbs, biological force lines, plantar pressure, etc., find the cause of pain or discomfort, and make targeted adjustments and corrections.
2 Exercise, don’t be a "weekend warrior"
The most important purpose of mastering the correct riding posture is to avoid injury. The correct riding posture is: lean forward slightly, straighten your arms, tighten your abdomen, adopt abdominal breathing method, keep your legs parallel to the beam of the car, keep your knees and hips in harmony, and pay attention to the riding rhythm. Therefore, we need to master the following six riding knowledge.
First, choose the correct riding posture. Don’t imitate the posture of professional cyclists, it is not suitable for ordinary people.
The second is to choose the seat that suits you. Many cyclists will choose a bigger and heavier seat, thinking that a wider seat is more comfortable. In fact, the key to determine whether the seat is comfortable or not is the shape design of the seat and the installation height and position of the seat. Too high installation position of the car seat will make people unable to maintain a stable posture during riding and increase the friction area, while too low installation position will increase the pressure on the contact parts of the human body.
What is the appropriate height of the seat? From the point of riding efficiency, the higher the seat, the better the efficiency, but too high a seat will cause riding danger, and 95% of the height of the greater trochanter is more suitable (the height of the seat does not exceed 95% of the length from the sole of the foot to the greater trochanter of the femur). From the point of view of muscle fatigue and healthy riding, 75% rotor height is more suitable.
Third, pay attention to rest during riding to avoid keeping the same posture for a long time.
The fourth is not to be a "weekend warrior." Regular exercise, combined with a variety of sports methods, to avoid short-term assault riding.
The fifth is to avoid riding on rugged roads for a long time.
Sixth, when riding for a long time, it is necessary to do warm-up activities before the start and relaxation activities after the end.
Not everyone is suitable for cycling. From the perspective of safety, it is not recommended for the elderly or children under 12 to ride independently, especially on traffic roads. The eyesight, hearing, balance and coordination of the elderly are degraded, and it is easy to fall and cause fractures, brain injuries and soft tissue injuries. Children should not use adult bicycles, because they are petite, it is difficult to control the vehicle well, and the riding posture must be abnormal, which is easy to cause injuries. Although cycling is not a taboo during pregnancy, cycling should be reduced as much as possible in the first trimester, the unstable fetal state or the third trimester to avoid accidents. For patients with hemorrhoids or lumbar disc herniation, there is no clear medical evidence to prove that cycling will aggravate the disease, but we should always pay attention to the unwell symptoms of the body and not force it.
3 Slow cycling is suitable for dieters.
Different riding time, speed and energy consumption efficiency achieve different sports effects. If you ride at a speed of less than 16 km/h, you will burn about 235 to 370 calories in one hour (the specific calories burned vary according to people’s weight). When the speed reaches 19 km/h, riding for an hour burns about 350 to 550 calories. Therefore, making full use of the combination of different speeds and riding modes can achieve better exercise effect.
Ride slowly. Generally, it does not exceed 65% of the maximum heart rate (simple calculation formula: 220- age). If it lasts for more than 20 minutes, it will burn more fat to supply energy. This method is more suitable for people who aim at reducing fat.
Ride fast. At this time, the human body mainly supplies energy through anaerobic glycolysis of glycogen (anaerobic glycolysis: the process in which glucose or glycogen is decomposed into lactic acid and energy when the body is in a relatively anoxic situation, such as strenuous exercise), which can improve the anaerobic exercise ability of the whole body, especially the thigh muscles, and help raise the anaerobic threshold. In other words, after repeated rapid cycling training, the tolerance of anaerobic exercise will be improved and the discomfort will be postponed.
Combination of speed and speed. This kind of riding mode needs the scientific guidance of professionals, which is more suitable for people who aim at improving their competitive sports ability.
Ride at a medium speed. Medium-speed cycling is a good way to exercise cardiopulmonary function and aerobic exercise ability, which is more suitable for older cyclists.
Extended reading
What are the benefits of cycling to people?
Riding is a combination of aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise, which is beneficial to systemic vascular function, cardiopulmonary function, musculoskeletal system and metabolic system.
1. It can improve vascular function. Cycling can speed up the heartbeat and blood flow. When blood flows rapidly and rubs against the blood vessel wall, it can produce nitric oxide, which is helpful to relax smooth muscle, dilate blood vessels, remove free radicals and improve blood vessel function.
2, can promote bone health. In addition to supporting posture and limb movement lever, bones also have the functions of hematopoiesis and calcium storage. When cycling, the bones exert force due to load and bear the ground impact caused by bumps, which will improve the absorption of calcium and help to reshape and strengthen the bones.
3, can improve cardiopulmonary function. When riding, the exercise intensity changes greatly due to the fluctuation of the speed and terrain of pedaling. The energy consumption types of exercise are constantly switched between aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise and alternating exercise, and the heart rate also changes, often increasing by two to three times compared with usual. Repeated exercises like this can promote strong myocardial contraction and improve cardiopulmonary function.
4, can burn more fat. The metabolic rate of the body-the efficiency of burning calories and fat not only increases during cycling, but also lasts for several hours after cycling. When cycling, the energy consumed by adding fast intermittent cycling mode is 3.5 times that of slow cycling. Besides, compared with running, cycling has much less damage to the knee joint.
5, can enhance muscle strength. Long-term riding is particularly significant for the activation of quadriceps femoris, gluteus and gastrocnemius of lower limbs. Strong muscles can not only prevent people from being injured during exercise, but also play a positive role in supporting and protecting bone joints and delaying joint degeneration and aging.
(Author: Physician, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Tsinghua, Tsinghua University)