By Kathy Ellis, Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute-Conway and Ray Hayes, Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute-Little Rock.
We all want that perfect ride, where you feel great during and after the ride, and your times are the best ever. But sometimes, try as you might, there is just something not quite right. Your pace is wrong, the rhythm is off, or you’re uncomfortable, maybe even to the point of pain.
Here are three tips that can help you perform better:
1. STRETCH
It is important to maintain good muscle flexibility. It is especially essential to maintain good flexibility in the Psoas, hamstring, and gastroc soleus muscles. The Psoas muscle is a long, ribbon-shaped muscle in your lower back and is responsible for flexion at the hips. If it is too tight, then you will have decreased hip motion, which will limit how well you can rotate the pedals fully. Tight Psoas muscles can also pull on your lumbar spine, causing increased pressure and pain in your back. If your hamstrings are tight, it prevents you from rolling your hips forward and ends up pulling your pelvis posteriorly, causing excessive lateral rocking as you go through a pedal revolution. This excessive lateral rocking is inefficient and will slow you down over time. Lastly is the gastroc soleus complex, which is part of your calf muscle. When the gastroc soleus is too tight, it causes the toes to point downwards, resulting in increased knee flexion when pedaling fully.
2. CORE STRENGTH
Good core strength helps you maintain stability while on the saddle. This is essential for optimizing function and efficiency while biking. Think of your core as the base on which all other motion is built. A weak core leads to fatigue, which can cause excessive side-to-side motion; overcompensation from other areas such as your shoulders, neck, lower back and hips; and increased risk for injury. Focusing on core strengthening exercises should help improve your performance. When riding, bringing your elbows in a little will help engage your core more.
3. POSTURE
Why does your posture matter? Using good posture while riding can allow you to engage your core more, prevent overuse of muscles and prevent strain on ligaments and joints. Maintaining a neutral spine while using an anterior pelvic tilt and hip flexion allows for more hip mobility when pedaling. Flexing at the hips and pelvis also helps to increase the amount of power and hip drive per revolution. It allows the gluteal muscles to help produce power as well. Getting to a neutral position decreases stress on the body and allows the trunk muscles to provide more stability. Good scapular stability and posture (shoulders back) help decrease the strain on the neck and shoulders, resulting in a more enjoyable ride.
As you get ready for the Big Dam Bridge ride day, focus on stretching, strengthening your core and improving your posture. Overall, this should improve your ride performance.