Is your Neck Ache a Foot problem?

Is your Neck Ache a Foot problem?

(or the danger of fitting by numbers)

Through an interesting and largely irrelevant series of events I have been talking to more and more cyclists about how a bike fit works and what makes a Chartered Physiotherapist look at things differently.

I have to start with ‘we are all unique’.

While this helps us feel significant, it also explains why I hear about bike fits not really working for some people.

We have to start somewhere with every fit, so after looking at and listening to the body, why not start with the feet. After all, these are the parts of our body applying the force to pedals that is generated to push us along the road.

Now consider a cyclist who is not completely stable through the core postural muscles of the body, you know, the person who is unable to stand comfortably in a symmetrical position for more than a few minutes at a time, often hitching one hip or pointing either foot out to the side. (To have a good core you don’t need a ‘six pack’ I won’t get started on that here…)

This same cyclist has a foot that displays a slight flattening of the arch on the inside of the foot when loaded with body weight, i.e. the arch gets a little longer.

Now putting this same cyclist on his or her bike and asking for a pedalling effort will result in pressure (or power) being transmitted through that foot at around 90 times a minute on average.

At the interface between the foot and the shoe there is an alteration of the contact area when applying greater effort (or power). As the contact area alters so will the part of the shoe that is applying the major part of the effort to the pedal via the cleat. This is potentially highly inefficient.

Moving further up the leg, the knee will be forced to rotate and may move in towards the bike more than the knee on the other side of the body.

This leads to the thigh moving down further than on the other side of the body and then a rock at the hip and pelvis. In effect the leg is required to ‘reach’ a little further to the bottom of the pedal stroke.

With this happening, the lower back will be forced to rotate as will the rib cage.

Next in line are the shoulders. However, if the shoulders roll excessively then the bike would follow and riding would be very difficult indeed. Instead, what we often see is the shoulders use the attachment of the arms, via the hands, to the handlebar to stabilise and counterbalance the movement.

This leads to increased tension in the shoulders and neck, not to mention a whole lot of wasted effort and energy.

The foot movement may not even be the main issue for the cyclist, but it would be work knowing…  

Like to know more, contact us at Fit Me Up or please have a look at The Physio Bike Fit

Thank you

Fit Me Up