More on Cycling Posture

Wow!  I almost forgot that I needed to follow up on my last post...this aging thing is a little rough sometimes!

Oh well...I finally remembered.  Better late than never...right?

In my last post Cycling Posture I talked about the postural distortion patterns that often plague cyclists, as a result of prolonged body positions and repetitive movement patterns.  We discussed the concept of adaptive shortening, and briefly discussed the resulting imbalances that frequently occur within the Human Movement System (HMS).

Today let's take a look at how we can begin to regain proper posture through a variety of mobility and strength exercises.  I promise to do my best to keep this post brief, so I will warn you up front...this may turn into another series of posts, in order to cover everything you need to know.

Are you ready?  Then let's get started!

Let's start with the upper body, since many of you who are reading this are probably competing in triathlons, whether Sprint, Olympic, or Ironman...this information could help to keep you performing for longer, without succumbing to nagging shoulder injuries.

You may remember me discussing Upper Crossed Syndrome (UCS), and mentioning that this dysfunction results in decreased clearance within the glenohumeral joint capsule...often resulting in an impingement of various soft tissues that lie in and around the joint.  Over time, impingement of these structures can result in degradation of the tissues, pain, decreased mobility, and instability of the joint itself.  As we have discussed many times in the past, the human body is a remarkable 'machine', and adapts quite efficiently to various situations.  The body will adapt in amazing ways in order to protect itself...we usually refer to these protective actions as compensations.

One such compensation that typically accompanies UCS is the drawing up and in of the shoulder.  This is typical among individuals who are experiencing some degree of impingement.  This action often results in an over active upper Trapezius muscle, as it is this muscle that is responsible for elevation and adduction (moving toward the body's midline) of the shoulder blades.  This action effective reduces the amount of movement within the shoulder joint, thus preventing further impingement of the surrounding soft tissues. 

While this serves to protect these tissues, it also compounds the problem, and can result in a condition known as Frozen Shoulder.  A frozen shoulder requires a great deal of physical therapy, and can be quite painful to rehabilitate.  We'll discuss the compensatory actions of the upper trapezius in a future post - but for now, let's take a look at the imbalance that occurs with UCS, and who the culprits are in this common postural distortion pattern.

The imbalance that is present with UCS involves the anterior chest muscles (pectoralis minor, pectoralis major) and a number of posterior chest muscles (mid-lower trapezius, rhomboid, sub-scapularis).  These are some of the major players in UCS, but understand that these are not the only muscles involved, and in extreme cases, physical therapy is necessary to reverse the effects of this postural deviation pattern.

It is important to understand that these imbalances commonly involve both strength and length...muscle strength, and muscle length.  Remember, many of these muscles have adaptively shortened due to prolonged positioning, and their antagonist muscle(s) have inversely lengthened.  The overactive, shortened muscles must be returned to their normal resting length, while the underactive, weakened muscles must be retrained and restrengthened.  Restoring balance in this manner will return the dysfunctional joint to normal function through proper positioning.

"So how do we do that?" You ask.

I am assuming you have all purchased a Trigger Point Therapy kit by now...right?  What?  You STILL haven't invested in your body, yet you are an active, aging athlete?  Stop right now, and click on the Trigger Point banner in the upper left corner of this page to order your kit right now!

Ok...if you don't have a TPT kit, grab a tennis ball.  What? No tennis ball?  Well then, I guess you really SHOULD click the link above then, huh?

Let's start by releasing tension in the pec major and pec minor muscles.  Remember, it's the tension and over-activity of these muscles that is pulling your shoulders forward (protraction). I've attached a short video which describes exactly how to perform this exercise, so take a moment or two to watch it before moving on.

http://youtu.be/2t7Z3CjQeZ8

I'm just like many of you...an aging, amateur athlete, who has a real job.  Therefore, I understand that time is precious.  One of the reasons I like this exercise so much is that not only do you get soft tissue work in the form of massage, you also get some stretching of the muscle tissue when you perform the pulling action.  By combining these two techniques into one quick and easy to perform exercise, you can get away with having to perform a separate stretching routine for your chest muscles...thereby making this a very time efficient corrective-based exercise, that can be incorporated into any current fitness or training regimen.

Check back soon for the next installment - see...I told you it would be another series!  Next time we will discuss some strengthening techniques for the mid and lower trapezius muscles, that will help to pull the shoulder blades down and back (depression and retraction), effectively creating more space within the shoulder capsule.

Thanks for reading, and as always...

Yours in Health and Performance,

John

Cycling Posture

I am a cyclist...I have Cycling Posture.

How about you?  Do you ride bikes?  If you answered yes, then I would bet that you too have some degree of postural dysfunction, as a result of your cycling.

Worry not however, you can be fixed...really.

Many cases of postural dysfunction are the result of muscle imbalances...most of which are a direct result of a process referred to as adaptive shortening.  If you have been following along with my ranting for some time now, the term adaptive shortening shouldn't be new to you.  I have mentioned it numerous times in the past few months.  On the chance that this is your first visit to The Aging Athlete, I will briefly describe the concept of Adaptive Shortening.  If you are familiar with it already, then fast forward two paragraphs.

Adaptive shortening is the process of a muscle or muscle group adapting to repetitive positioning within the human body.  A common example of this process involves the hip flexors, and their ability to create improper positioning of the pelvis.  We spend a great deal of time sitting.  Sitting in front of the computer (as I am doing right now), sitting in planes, trains, and of course...automobiles.  We sit in front of the television, and when we eat.  When we go to the movies, we...well, I think you get the point.  We sit...and we sit ALOT!  When we sit, our hips are in a flexed position.  Hip flexion is a result of contracting the hip flexor musculature (psoas, tensor fascia latae, rectus femoris...to name a few), thus flexing the hip joint, drawing the knees and chest closer together.  Over time, these muscles begin to adapt to this 'normal' shortened position.  The muscles that control hip extension (gluteals) reflexively relax against the constant pull of the hip flexors, resulting in the pelvis being tipped forward.  This is known as an Anterior Pelvic Tilt.  When the pelvis tilts forward, so too does the spine.  Rather than lean forward constantly, we instinctively stand up straight, which results in an increased curvature of the lumbar spine.  Over time, this increased curvature can result in low back pain due to compression of the intervertebral discs, as well as degradation of the vertebral body itself.  This postural deviation is due to a relatively minor muscle imbalance, that was created when the hip flexors adapted to a repetitively shortened position.  This position is often referred to as Lower Body Postural Distortion Pattern, or more commonly...Lower Crossed Syndrome (LCS).

There are a number of postural deviation patterns common within the human body and the human movement system (HMS)...many of which can be alleviated (and even avoided) by incorporating some relatively simple corrective-based exercises into your current workout regimen.

If you are a cyclist, there is good reason to believe that you not only have Lower Crossed Syndrome, but you are likely to have another postural distortion pattern commonly referred to as Upper Crossed Syndrome (UCS).

Like LCS, UCS is the result of muscle imbalance due to adaptive shortening.  In the case of UCS however, the muscles that have shortened are primarily the pectoral (chest) muscles.  Adaptive shortening of these muscles is the result of repetitive or prolonged shoulder protraction, or rounding of the shoulders.  Individuals with UCS typically have rounded upper backs, forward rounded shoulders, and a forward protruding head, as shown in the picture above.

I often refer to this postural distortion pattern as computer posture, as hours of sitting at your workstation or home computer often result in this type of posture.  If you are a cyclist to boot, then you are getting a double-whammy, so to speak.

Think about your body position when riding.  Not only are your hips repetitively flexed, but your back is typically rounded, your shoulders are rolled somewhat forward, your head tends to be pushed forward and up, and much of your weight is being supported through a constant contraction of your chest muscles.  More advanced and experienced cyclists are able to minimize the amount of body weight being supported by the arms, through body position and core strengthening exercises, but the majority of amateur level cyclists fall victim to this issue.

In the photo above, you can see two distinctly different riding positions.  The first position is a pretty common position, while the second is more correct from a postural perspective.  As you can see the second image shows proper alignment of the spine, with a 'neutral' lumbar spine.  The shoulder blades are being rolled back and down along the rib cage, resulting a retraction of the shoulders.  The head is being held in a neutral position as well.

The rider in the first picture, is surely supporting much of his body weight with his arms, resulting in prolonged contraction of the chest musculature.  Adaptive shortening of the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor musculature is guaranteed, which will eventually result in the forward rounded shoulder positioning shown in the picture above depicting UCS.

This protracted positioning actually minimizes the amount of space that is normally present within the shoulder capsule, aka glenohumeral joint space.  Over time, this can result in the impingement of soft tissues such as the biceps tendon and supraspinatus tendon of the infamous Rotator Cuff.  Probability of tissue degradation and even a rotator cuff tear, is high...especially if you partake in other activities such as golf, tennis, or swimming.  

So...for those of you who compete in triathlon, I encourage you to read on!

A proper swim stroke is highly dependent on a highly mobile shoulder joint.  If you have reduced the amount of room within your shoulder capsule, you will instinctively compensate to avoid the discomfort associated with impingement of soft tissues against the acromium process (the distal end of your collar bone or clavicle).  Repetitive friction within the joint will most likely result in some degree of tendonopathy...often requiring surgical intervention.

So what can we do to minimize our risk of low back pain and shoulder surgery?

Check back soon to see what the answer is!

Yours in Health and Performance!

John