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      • Are You Up for A Challenge?
      • Avoid These Exercises
      • Cycling Mechanics & Orthotics
      • Mobility Matters
      • ACL Injury Prevention
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      • Top Ten Foods to Try in the Spring/Summer Season
      • Meatless Mondays
      • Six Tips to Curb the Holiday Eating Extravagances
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      • Do You Know What Yoga Does for You? (Part 1)
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Aspen Club
mountain biking
Move

Cycling Mechanics & Orthotics

An average cyclist can spin their wheels 4,000 to 7,000 times per hour. That’s an average of 22,000 revolutions on a four-hour ride. With this amount of repetition, proper cycling biomechanics is crucial for injury maintenance and performance. Proper fit and mechanics can greatly influence the rider and their injury potential. Custom orthotics are a powerful piece of the puzzle when attempting to improve any of these factors.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Energy must be delivered from the legs, core, and upper body down through the foot and ankle to the pedal. If the foot is over-pronated or collapses, a significant share of that energy will go into flattening the arch of the foot. This is a large “mush” factor that creates inefficient pedal power.

The goal of cycling is to deliver as much force as you can efficiently and effectively from the body to the pedal to turn the rear wheel. To do this, your body must work together with the bike to deliver power to the pedals with as little “energy leaks” as possible. The body does everything it can to produce a consistent and efficient force to the pedals. Poor bike fit, as well as body imbalances, can drastically affect this.

The contact point between the deliveries of the body’s force to the bike is at the pedal/shoe interface. Everything the body does amounts to force produced on this one point of contact. Energy can easily be lost at this link in the chain if force is being delivered through an unlocked, too-flexible foot. Due to compensations for poor biomechanics, tissues can be overstretched or stressed, creating injury and pain anywhere along the chain – foot, ankle knee, hip, and low back. A fully supportive and corrective orthotic in the shoe translates into a more rigid foot and transfer of power from the foot to the pedal. This equals potential for you to ride faster longer and stronger.

Cycling-specific custom orthotics have been found to reduce pain and improve economy, postural stability, and pressure distribution while on the bike. Cycling should not elicit joint pain. If you experience foot, ankle, knee, hip, or low back pain while on the bike, have your bike fit and body mechanics evaluated. Custom orthotics can play a significant role in improving full foot stability for efficient pedaling and lower extremity alignment, minimizing injury potential and optimizing performance.

Move

ACL Injury Prevention

Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common knee injuries sustained in sports. The anterior cruciate ligament attaches from the femur to the tibia and is one of the four primary ligaments that stabilizes the knee joint. The ACL prevents the tibia from translating forward excessively on the femur and gives rotational stability to the knee joint.

An increase in participation of youth in sports has led to a rise in ACL injuries in young athletes. Female athletes have a significantly greater risk of ACL injury than their male counterparts due to multiple anatomical and neuromuscular factors. Most ACL injuries occur during non-contact situations such as during landing and decelerating, cutting, or pivoting. Specifically, these injuries are most likely to occur when the knee is in a valgus position (inwards) or when the knee is straight or hyperextended upon landing. Recent evidence shows that targeted preventative programs can be effective in reducing risk of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury in young athletes.

There are multiple factors that contribute to an increased risk of ACL injury. Poor movement patterns during landing, cutting, and pivoting can cause excess stress to the knee. Other factors that may predispose an athlete to injury include muscle weakness or poor muscle balance, decreased joint range of motion, as well as decreased flexibility. ACL injury prevention programs should be unique to each athlete; however, they will generally focus on strengthening the core, gluteal, and hamstring muscles as well as optimizing muscle flexibility for that individual. Training athletes how to move effectively and safely through agility and plyometric training can decrease their risk of injury when placed in a competitive, dynamic situation.

An effective ACL prevention program typically consists of training a minimum of 2 times per week for 6-8 weeks prior to the competitive season. Ideally, exercises can be integrated into warmup and cool down by coaches during the sports season. Proper performance of exercises should continually be monitored.

All athletes, young and old, can benefit from targeted neuromuscular and strength training to reduce their risk of knee, and specifically, ACL injury in the future. By teaching movement strategies and proper biomechanics as well as targeted muscle strengthening, prevention programs can contribute to decreased risk of ACL injury.

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