Bicycle season is here!

Portland offers so many great trails and bike adventures – no one wants to be sidelined from getting on their bike because of preventable joint pain. Especially not during the prime season!

Our three cycling self-care tips will give you more power so you can ride faster and further and will keep you from limping around with a sore knee while your buds are all out ripping up the asphalt!

Perhaps you just got a new bike, and you’re super excited to get out and feel the crisp gear changes as you fly along the bike trail. Or maybe you finally got your old bike tuned up and ready to ride. And now, you are looking forward to riding with your crew and enjoying those special biking friendships and adventures.

Whatever your starting point, if you want to prevent common joint pains, such as pain in the knee or hip, it’s wise to approach your summer bicycling time with a bit of self-care. It’s best to prevent pain and injury from the get-go, so there is NO downtime. Or, if you are already experiencing knee or hip pain, it’s good to get that fixed ASAP so you can get back out on the road!

TIP # 1 – Stretch EVERY DAY to prevent joint pain – it works!

Don’t wait for an injury or joint pain to start stretching. Why go hobbling into the doctor after you have waited a month for your appointment, so she can tell you to stretch? It is much better to start stretching today to keep riding tomorrow.

Make the decision! Make the time – 15 minutes a day. 

It’s realistic to never think of stretching as something you will get to later. You usually won’t. If you really want to stay injury free, I suggest you consider stretching a Daily Necessity – like eating, sleeping, and brushing your teeth. Self-care is not in the optional category.

Once you decide to get started, make sure you know the proper ways to stretch. There are a lot of theories and approaches, and not all of them are right for everyone. You can injure yourself from overstretching, so it is a good idea to get some guidance if you need it.

The first rule in stretching is to listen to your body. Pay attention to what you’re doing and how it is feeling. NEVER stretch into a sharp pain. Stop immediately. You should feel gentle tension, never sharp, intense pain.

Learn the proper ways to stretch your legs: Quads, Hamstrings, Inner Thighs, Hips, Psoas, and Calves.

You can sometimes get good guidance on stretching from a qualified, experienced Fitness Trainer. Physical Therapists are another great resource, as they will usually prescribe several stretches (and exercises) for problems you may be experiencing. I always recommend filming the things they show you so you can remember what to do at home.

Some people tend to overdo everything, so please avoid that when it comes to stretching. It is never a good idea to over-stretch or force a stretch. It will just add to your problems.

There are other approaches you can take, each with its own pros and cons. 

When you talk to experienced cyclists who have already dealt with knee or hip pain, they will tell you to make sure to stretch your quads (front of thigh). This is because those muscles can commonly cause knee and low back pain by pulling your knees and hips out of alignment.  Also, they are one of the most active muscle groups during riding.

TIP #2 – Check your Bike Fit with a Professional if needed.

You probably know the importance of having your bike fit your body correctly. One of the most critical areas that must fit well is your leg length to the saddle height.

If the saddle is too LOW, even just a little, your knee will experience too much compression in the front, and the kneecap will hurt. Sometimes it will hurt a lot!

When the saddle is too HIGH, your hamstrings in the back of your thighs will be overstretching as they have to overreach to get to the pedals and you may feel pain in the back of the knee.

Slight, incremental differences in saddle height can significantly affect how your body feels – especially your knees and upper legs. So it is very important to get the saddle height correct from the beginning. And adjust it quickly at the first sign of pain.

If you plan on riding a lot, it is an excellent investment in your future enjoyment and health

to invest in a proper, professional Bike Fit. 

Usually, you would go to a licensed Physical Therapist or a high-quality, full-service bike shop for that. Make sure it’s a place with a good reputation that specializes in Bike Fits. There are a few good ones in Portland, as you would expect in the biking city! They will make sure your entire bike – handlebars and all – fits your body well.

TIP #3 – Seek out high-quality Sports Massage Therapists. 

They will help to keep you excelling,not recovering.

Doctors, Chiropractors, and Physical Therapists ALL recommend massage therapy to patients who suffer from overused, too tight – and therefore shortened – muscles. Professional racing cyclists get massages often during the racing season. The massages help them to avoid injury and give them a competitive edge.

Injuries are kept away because a good massage helps address the primary muscles, which become tight and shortened and pull the body out of alignment. Once the body is out of alignment or a joint is compressed too tightly together, we experience pain. We lose our normal, pain-free movements. Massage, plus our other two tips, can help you avoid this downward spiral into forced time off your bike.

The good news – this process is not complicated. It is just these three things:

• getting your bike to fit your leg length perfectly,
• learning to stretch every day, and
• getting regular, high-quality, deep tissue/Sports Massage.

How often should I get Massage Therapy?

Getting a regular massage can mean from once or twice a week for a painful flare-up to 2 to 4 times a month for chronic issues. It is almost impossible to overdo massage. Most people decide how often they should get a massage by listening to their bodies. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

You wake up one morning and your body tells you,

“It’s time for a massage!”

Once you’ve been getting massages for a while, you will realize that regular massage helps you feel better overall, not just when you are biking. And you will quickly find out that it’s much better to book ahead. That way you can get the time and the day you prefer.

Call Listening Hands Massage today. Let Peter work his magic! Treat yourself to a therapist who is strong, experienced, knowledgeable, and insightful. This will help to keep you In The Saddle as you ride into the sunset!

 

Peter Black, LMT – Listening Hands Massage and Freelance Writer