Managing the Aches and Pain Biking Can Cause

photo credit: JoshuaDavisPhotography.COM

Biking is a strenuous sport, especially when you decide to take on long distances. Long distance cycling can lead to a lot of different aches and pains in quite a few areas of the body.  What it comes down to for a lot of these pains, especially in the beginning,  is that you are using muscles in a way they are not used to being used.

To solve this problem you can do some things to condition your muscles, which will help eliminate the pain biking may cause, but you can also use stretches to help alleviate muscle aches and pains you are already dealing with.

I was reading a bike blog the other day, Bike Carson, he had posted a video from Luke Wold (of Wold Fitness in Carson City)  about some stretches you can do to help prevent low back pain after a long bike ride.  The video was great, and the stretches have definitely helped, even though I haven’t experienced a lot of low back pain, I could tell the muscles the stretches were targeting were, in fact, really tight.

What was really cool was I asked about my crazy toe cramps after the Walnut Valley ride and Luke (the guy that made the video) was kind enough to respond with some exercises I can do to strengthen my toes and feet, as well as some things I can do to help alleviate the foot pain.

Here’s what Luke had to say:

Hey Jackie,

Toe and foot cramps are really common in cyclists. This is because of weakness in the feet.

See, if they wear a stiff cycling shoe, they crunch their toes up trying for some extra power. If they wear regular shoes, their foot flexes and works some muscles they don’t normally use.

To strengthen the muscles of the toes and feet, I like to have my clients work out in their socks. This has an added benefit of fixing a lot of knee problems.

Think of a foot next to a shoe. For performance and health, which of the two should be stronger? A great foot will do good in a crummy shoe, while a great shoe can’t make up for a weak foot.

I’d prescribe:

- sock/barefoot walking and warming up when doing land-based exercises
- Massaging the whole sole of the foot with a tennis ball
- taking your shoes off at your desk and crunching a towel up with your toes, then spreading it out and crunching it up again
- adding in some calf raises where you really focus on pointing down your great toe, this trains the flexor hallucis longus, which seems to cramp the most
- making sure to drink enough water

Have fun riding!

~ Luke Wold

PS – For you really hardcore types that want a KILLER calf exercise, try one-legged hops holding a dumbbell on the same side as the working leg. Hop hop hop!

I thought it was great that he was able to give me some real suggestions to help with this problem, when I’ve pretty much heard “get cycling shoes” from everyone else. I’ve been doing the toe exercises ~ it’s pretty easy since I sit at my computer desk every day. Now I find myself grabbing things with my toes all the time, whether it’s sand when I’m out playing with Hanna or the dog who’s laying on my feet. My feet are still kind of achy, but I think that’s because I’ve been giving them such a workout the last few days.

You really should stop by Bike Carson it’s a pretty fun read, and I love to check out other places in the country where people are riding. It’s so interesting to see the different landscapes and environments people get to enjoy. So make sure you check it out, and here’s the video on back stretches to prevent the lower back pain bike riding can cause.

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1. Lady… My Ass Hurts EVERY Day
2. How to Succeed Climbing Hills ~ 10 Tips for Easier Hill Climbs
3. Walnut Valley Metric ~ My First Bike Ride!
4. 10 Tips to Create the Perfect Bike Ride
5. 5 Great Workouts When You Can’t Get Outside to Ride Your Bike