AMAZING article on Bike Set-up for injury prevention: Introducing Sean Fyfe: Sean Fyfe is a physiotherapist, tennis coach and director of TFP (Tennis Fitness Physio), a Queensland based company specialising in sports medicine, elite tennis player development, strength and conditioning and childhood motor learning programmes By: Sean Fyfe In 2003 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to venture into the Pyrenees mountain range in the south of France to witness the penultimate mountain stage of the Tour de France. It was one of the greatest stages in recent years, when Lance Armstrong fell off his bike in the final ascent only to remount, attack and put the winning time on Jan Ullrich to clinch his fifth consecutive tour victory. I had watched the tour on TV before, but it wasn?t until I was on the mountain that I could grasp the passion and fanaticism surrounding the sport of cycling. Injury to any cyclist with even the smallest amount of the commitment I saw on the mountain that memorable day would be devastating. Fortunately, in the sports injury world cycling is more often a benign force than a cause of trouble. Because it is low impact, it provides many people who otherwise would struggle to perform regular exercise with the chance to stay healthy and active. Among recreational and competitive cyclists, compared to high impact sports such as road running, the rate of injury is favourable and injuries are often easier to prevent and address. Nevertheless, clinicians should have a clear appreciation of the sport?s biomechanics and in particular how bike set-up relates to injury. It can often be something as simple as a small change in bike or shoe set-up that is the direct cause of an injury, so unless this is accounted for during assessment and management, the injury will never be properly resolved. MORE morewoodkid2010-05-10 02:59:24
